The Official 2018 Fastlane Summit Event Thread

[Robert_R]

That might take a while. That opens up a private forum, but no one really uses that any how.

 

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[GlobalWealth]

Whew, what a week. I finally got settled into my next locale and decompressed a bit after the summit.

I have been coming to this meetup for 8 or 9 years now (hard to keep track), and I say it every year - but this event just keeps getting better and better.

The quality of presentations as well as the networking opportunities are tremendous. The pure energy of this event is incredible. It truly fills my motivational tank. Hearing what people are doing and especially hearing from the previous attendees how they've progressed is mind blowing.

I used to host conferences as well as speak at a dozen or so a year for many years, but now have stopped hosting and only attend 2-3 events per year now. This event is one of my "must attend" events. I won't miss this one.

As usual, it was great to catch up with many old friends as well as meet a few new members of the forum.

Unfortunately, being an extreme introvert, I didn't get to meet as many people as I would have liked, but I did my best to break out of the shell.

I wanted to do a brief rundown of my own takeaways from the speakers both for the attendees to share the experience and for the non-attendees who are trying to decide if this is worth it or not.

@Arrabista . I'm not sure if I even want to come if Wadih is not the opening speaker anymore. He continues to impress me with his incredible ability to connect with nearly every individual and make you feel special. His strategies for connecting with people from different cultures should be required reading.

@MJ DeMarco . In all my many years attending the summit, this was hands down your best presentation. I am also a very analytical person and the wealth equation was really enlightening. I have worked for years to create my own wealth equation, but after your presentation I can definitely see a gaping hole.

@eliquid . Honestly I am woefully ignorant on your topic but it was fascinating to learn about a saas business model. My biggest takeaway was your relentless commitment to customer retention. Too many people focus on client acquisition and forget about nurturing the existing clients. It was a good reminder.

@DaveC . My biggest takeaway from you was your willingness to put in the hard work to find the deal. Most people would quit at looking at just a few deals when they don't find a good fit. But not you - your willingness to keep digging through hundreds of deals to find the one that works is inspiring.

@Chitown . Put the F*cking donut down. 'Nuff said.

@TheTruth . I've seen your progress over the years and have witnessed a lot of your ups and downs. I am ecstatic to see your success here and it is truly inspirational. The hard work you are willing to put in and keep driving and pushing is a great reminder of why most people never reach success - they just aren't willing to work as hard as people like Boris. Well done.

@million$$$smile . Randall, the RudeDog. You my friend are the example we should all aspire to. Your presentation a few years ago was incredible. Just to blue collar guy who "stumbled" into selling tool belts and hard hats online. It was an amazing story then. Now to hear about your private label deal on the boots, making your own products, and growing an amazon store from zero to X in a period of time that would just embarrass 99% of the ecomm kids....wow. Just F*cking wow. The problem have now is that you can never come back tot he summit and bullshit us about how you don't know what you are doing...

@AllenCrawley . Allen's Cream....bwahahahahaha. Still can't stop laughing about that. I'm sure it goes well with Allen's Meat.... That aside, excellent presentation. I have followed your journey for a few years now and I love to see this "overnight success" in progress. Your attention to detail on product quality as well as brand image is second to none. I seriously cannot think of another personal care product that comes close to my impression of the high end quality of your products. And for anyone that knows you, this should not come as a surprise.

@csalvato . My takeaway from your first presentation was that hiring right from the start is essentially a sales process and doesn't end on the employees first day on the job. But the payoff is much happier workers and a significantly better long term business model when you have team members who buy in to your vision. Your crypto presentation was also excellent. You were able to take a complex topic and explain it in such a way that even people like @Vigilante were capable of understanding. And that in itself is a feat...

@Kung Fu Steve . Unfortunately I had to miss this presentation due to some personal issues. My greatest apologies to my heterosexual life partner - Steve. You know I love you boo.

@biophase . Between my clients and friends, I have a lot of people in my network doing ecommerce - A LOT. But not one of them does ecommerce like Kenric. He is exceptionally thorough in his strategy and his social mission results in amazing profits. If you want to learn ecomm, this is who you listen to, bar none.

@SteveO . Best line of the summit....."When I go to hell I hope cattails aren't there". Pretty sure I spit my coffee. No one works harder than Steve, no one. The way he analyzes a deal, creates a turnaround plan for the project, the works the plan is incredible. I'm looking forward to the presentation where the rich neighbor makes you a sizable offer and you hook up that travel trailer and go undo all the parenting of your grandkids.

@Envision . Seriously, every single young entrepreneur should be doing exactly what you are doing. I love this story. Building wealth, building your business and living rent free. Love it.

@Get Right . In case the spec home thing doesn't work out, I am certain netflix would create a comedy show for you. I seriously forgot how funny you are. That aside, I love the never give up attitude as well as the detailed analytical approach to finding opportunity. And btw, the fb pics of your spec homes look cool af.

And as always a very special thanks to my JD Mudslide buddy @Red for making this happen. We all know MJ just shows up as the pretty face, but you are the one that makes shit happen. Oh, and also a pretty face.

 

[Greg R]

Hey All,

I'm still spiritually buzzed from the Summit.

It's going to take me all week to decompress, recreate my notes, come up with actionable steps, follow up with everyone, and write this.

But a lot of what I want to say has been said already and I echo ten fold how everyone has been feeling.

Since the event, we've had impeccable clarity with the direction we want to take our business. I can't wait to update my progress thread when this clarity turns into execution.

On the subject of progress threads, I've been humbled by what was shared during the presentations at the summit (REAL EXECUTION). Real execution is the only thing matters. The presenters really put things into perspective for me.

A few forum members and I have turned REAL EXECUTION into a game and are competing with various ways we are going to measure success. @Scot @JAJT cough cough.

I thought that @Vigilante was going to give me a verbal a$$ whooping but I think he took it easy on me since my wife was there.

I was also very happy that I got the chance to tell @MJ DeMarco that he change my life.

Since I left AZ, I was able to use the negotiation tactics that we learned at the Summit to leverage a big promotion and increase my hourly rate by $10/ hour. I will now be among the highest paid employees in my industry. This will help me fund my Fastlane even better.

To everyone that I spent time with at the Summit (you know who you are), you all kick major a$$ and have helped set the bar even higher for us. I'm impressed by the depth of character shared by you guys. My wife and I were telling each other that we didn't want to disappoint any of you when we come back to the next year.

To those that I either did not meet or did not get to spend enough time with, I cannot wait to talk more in the future. Specifically @AllenCrawley, @Get Right, @LightHouse, @SteveO.

There was one conversation that really stuck with me and that was with @ZCP. You are one hell of a guy and asked me those tough questions.

I haven't quite figured it out yet but there is something magical about @million$$$smile.

To @Gary and his wife, you guys ROCK!

Thanks again guys. I am still completely in awe.

 

[GlobalWealth]

No I was just aroused by your sultry looks in the front row.

I'm just glad I can be a positive influence in your life

Sent from my VTR-L29 using Tapatalk

 

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[BlindSide]

As someone who didn't attend the summit, you can just FEEL a different vibe around these forums ever since it happened. There seems to be more action-taking, and accountability being set up. And transparency.

It's pretty cool to see how something so valuable can be created, that it leaves it's impact even to others who weren't able to make it.

 

[Tom.V]

One of the many benefits of the summit was getting to hang out with like-minded folks in real life. As awesome as the forum is, there is an added benefit of getting together with folks face to face. If you don't have a local forum meetup in your area, think about starting one. But don't just post "[Area] Meetup" in the forum as the folks in your area might miss the post. Just put your area in the forum search box to see if you can find folks in your area. Then PM them to see if they are up for getting together.

A few weeks before the summit, I found a couple of other folks in the Portland area this way. When we met up, it was very much like the summit. Almost instant rapport and the conversation just flowed as we each talked about the different projects we are working on and bounced ideas off each other.

I know this won't work for many of you, but for some of you it might be worth trying, especially if you are in a more urban area in the U.S.

Me and @Ravens_Shadow were talking about doing something like this for the Raleigh area as I know there are several Fastlaners around here and in the surrounding areas.

Thanks for sharing your Uber to the airport, definitely owe you a beer at the next summit.

 

[amp0193]

Since I left AZ, I was able to use the negotiation tactics that we learned at the Summit to leverage a big promotion and increase my hourly rate by $10/ hour.

hahaha, awesome! Did you stare at them in silence until they gave you a raise?

My wife and I were telling each other that we didn't want to disappoint any of you when we come back to the next year.

This is also incredibly motivating for me. I'm not in the shadows anymore. People in my town don't give a shit what I'm doing, and it makes it easy to coast when things get comfortable. You guys know better.

A few forum members and I have turned REAL EXECUTION into a game and are competing with various ways we are going to measure success. @Scot @JAJT cough cough.

I want in!

 

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[amp0193]

@AllenCrawley

Idea/suggestion for next year:

Can we ditch the Q&A time at the end of each segment?

If someone has a question they want answered, they can go up and ask the speaker 1 on 1. The rest can hang out / bathroom with whatever excess time there is.

I'm not saying Q&A doesn't have some value. There were some great questions answered.

I just think that 10min of hanging out with folks has more value. And it seems that a trend on this thread is that people wanted more time to hang out.

 

[IlyaP]

@AllenCrawley

Idea/suggestion for next year:

Can we ditch the Q&A time at the end of each segment?

If someone has a question they want answered, they can go up and ask the speaker 1 on 1. The rest can hang out / bathroom with whatever excess time there is.

I'm not saying Q&A doesn't have some value. There were some great questions answered.

I just think that 10min of hanging out with folks has more value. And it seems that a trend on this thread is that people wanted more time to hang out.

I get what you're saying, but there's also big value (at least to me) in seeing what other people were thinking about/had questions about. I think it's hard to get that balance between having speakers/having enough "hangout" time as we did have the evenings after the conference as basically hangout time. (8 hours conference, 8 hours hanging time almost if you include lunch/breaks)

+ as an introvert, I needed that time to recharge between diving in and talking to a ton of people. Everyone I met was amazing & I LOVED talking to them, but it still takes away energy from me, you know?

 

[amp0193]

I get what you're saying, but there's also big value (at least to me) in seeing what other people were thinking about/had questions about.

Interesting. I think my aversion to Q&A came from all those damn staff meetings back in the day, where someone would say "any questions", and everyone is thinking "no-one ask any F*cking questions", but there was always that one guy who asked questions. Not saying anyone at the summit was that guy, haha, they were good questions.

Everyone I met was amazing & I LOVED talking to them, but it still takes away energy from me, you know?

Yeah, totally gotcha. I thought there might be some different thoughts on the idea.

 

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[Chitown]

Interesting. I think my aversion to Q&A came from all those damn staff meetings back in the day, where someone would say "any questions", and everyone is thinking "no-one ask any f*cking questions", but there was always that one guy who asked questions.

@amp0193

I'm not trying - in any way, shape or form - to make light of what you're saying but the cinematic side of my brain kicked into gear while reading the above quote. Picturing that in my mind had me laughing a bit.

 

[amp0193]

@amp0193

I'm not trying - in any way, shape or form - to make light of what you're saying but the cinematic side of my brain kicked into gear while reading the above quote. Picturing that in my mind had me laughing a bit.

Haha, I was re-living it in real-time as I typed.

Pretty sure my blood pressure was starting to rise!

 

[Ravens_Shadow]

Next year I won't leave at midnight on the final day of the summit

 

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[JAJT]

Can we ditch the Q&A time at the end of each segment?

If nothing else we should strive to "one person, one question, one answer". There was one question posed to the entire group of presenters that killed 30-40 minutes and effectively ended the post-summit Q&A session. I'm sure this person didn't mean for this to happen (it was a good question, and genuine) but it was a great example of something we can do better next time.

 

[eliquid]

+ as an introvert, I needed that time to recharge between diving in and talking to a ton of people. Everyone I met was amazing & I LOVED talking to them, but it still takes away energy from me, you know?

This.

A lot of non-introverts don't understand this or know this.

I had to get away a couple of times myself.

.

 

[Greg R]

If nothing else we should strive to "one person, one question, one answer". There was one question posed to the entire group of presenters that killed 30-40 minutes and effectively ended the post-summit Q&A session. I'm sure this person didn't mean for this to happen (it was a good question, and genuine) but it was a great example of something we can do better next time.

^ This +1. I'm sure glad that I got my question off before that.

 

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[PedroG]

If nothing else we should strive to "one person, one question, one answer". There was one question posed to the entire group of presenters that killed 30-40 minutes and effectively ended the post-summit Q&A session. I'm sure this person didn't mean for this to happen (it was a good question, and genuine) but it was a great example of something we can do better next time.

Agree 100%.

 

[JAJT]

A lot of non-introverts don't understand this or know this.

I think even when we know it - it can be a struggle at times.

Reminds me of @Arrabista 's talk between the difference of East and West. It's hard for one side to truly relate to the other side at times because it's just not their way of life. You can understand it and acknowledge it but the guy who wants to get the task done is always going to want to get that task done. The guy who wants to talk about his family is always going to want to talk about his family. You can make efforts to accommodate each other but it's never the path of least mental resistance.

One of my closest buddies from childhood is one of the most extreme introverts I know and even after 20+ years we get in little spats over what is essentially two entirely different ways of life.

I'll be ecstatic to get on a plane, talk with my seatmate, go to a restaurant, chat up the bartenders, get on another plane, more chatting, do a non-stop week long event at the summit with 5 hours sleep between each night, do the plane / restaurant chat thing again, land, go visit my in-laws and chat extensively with them, and jump right into planning my social activities for the week. Downtime is like poison for me (just ask the folks I pestered at 6-7-8am leading up to the event while I sat in my motel room wondering where the "party" was at).

Introverts like my friend, however, will spend a quiet evening with his folks on Friday, get together with a few friends on Saturday, see his girlfriend on Sunday, and then take Monday off work because he is SPENT. He regularly tells me that he's not free Saturday because he had a pretty rough Friday. He'll turn his phone off, not answer the door and spend the entire day alone to recoup from even moderately exerting events. When he's "on" he's certainly "on" and as social as anyone I've ever met but that "off time" is CRITICAL for him. He may be an extreme example with his introversion dialed up 11 but it makes for a good example.

I get frustrated that he "can't just suck it up for a change" and he'll get frustrated that I "can't just relax for a change". It's a CONSTANT area of frustration for both of us and we both acknowledge and understand why. But it does go to show how important understanding these differences can be.

 

[amp0193]

If nothing else we should strive to "one person, one question, one answer". There was one question posed to the entire group of presenters that killed 30-40 minutes and effectively ended the post-summit Q&A session. I'm sure this person didn't mean for this to happen (it was a good question, and genuine) but it was a great example of something we can do better next time.

I wasn’t referring to the end of summit q&a, I just meant the ones at the end of each presentations.

Although, I’ve never liked panel q&a s either.

I did like the responses to the negotiating question though.

You could ask anything to those guys up there and I’d just be happy to listen to them talk.

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

The most profound thing the Summit does is actually quite simple: It humanizes the forum and the people behind it.

Sometimes we all (especially me) do NOT realize that there are actual people behind the screenname and avatars. It's very easy to dismiss someone with a bad question and forget, there's someone behind that somewhere on the planet!

It was nice to have the reminder because quite honestly, I forget. The whole forum-interaction thing becomes impersonal and 2-dimensional, almost to the point of dehumanization.

The meetup is like today's virtual reality when we are used to a first generation XBOX here at the forum.

Carry on...

 

[Dunkafelics]

Not to take away from the direction of the thread, but I asked this question to a few others from the forum who attended the Summit today:

It has almost been a week since we all arrived in Scottsdale (or arrived at the casino if you already live there). What is one thing that you have done to improve the quality of your life or the quality of your business since the Summit?

For me, it has been the implementation of Trello into daily life. It allows me to keep a master document for all tasks, training, and projects that need to be completed. It is helpful, because before the Summit I would write a task list in my journal each day and then the ones that were missed, would have to be documented the next day and the next...

My plan is to keep going through this Gold thread, as it seems that there has been some progression in programs used since the thread was first started:

Achieve Laser FOCUS + PRODUCTIVITY With The System Legendary Fastlaners Use...

 

[CurtRod]

I attended this summit as my first real foray into this world, I had read The Millionaire Fastlane and rejected my current Slowlane world. While wrapping that up and starting to learn what I could my brother, @GPM, told me about the summit and asked if I'd like to go. I figured that sounded like a pretty alright idea, it'd probably be useful. I was so very wrong. This summit was almost beyond description.

Meeting so many humble and genuine people was something else, everyone has faced different challenges and solved them different ways and everyone was willing to share their experiences. I am brand new at this and felt completely over my head, like I had nothing to contribute, yet not one single person looked down on me. I spoke to people in almost my exact situation and people who I previously figured I'd be beneath even a nod of acknowledgement. Everyone was absolutely fantastic and absolutely inspiring.

I will succeed in this, I will overcome challenges and obstacles. I will do this because of me, and because I am surrounded by all of you, and one day I will be the one speaking to someone just like me and showing them what is possible.

 

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[RaffUnscripted]

We aren't, at least at a rate commensurate of the time invested. The payback is seeing everyone rejoice in their new knowledge, their new relationships, and their experience.

I'm yet to get the casino's bill so I'm holding my breath and hoping to be in the black. We should be OK if our estimates and budgets are within 10% of expected.

There's a great benefit to having it at the TSR casino, it's lively, lots of places to socialize, it's a destination, not a dive.

But the drawback of going here is the cost: Everything is terribly expensive (the A/V setup cost twice as much as if we actually bought the equipment ourselves) and the food is ungodly expensive, especially for the quality. Coffee was $60 a gallon. Anyone get sushi? Each tiny piece of sushi was $6 bucks, and 20 people into the line it was all gone. Lesson learned. Not complaining, just trying to relay how expensive the casino charges to have events here, so it is very difficult to keep the ticket cost under $500 bucks when every other conference charges $1K, and they don't even try to feed you.

Ultimately if I could have it my way, I'd opt for the huge buffet option for everyone for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, which in itself, would cost more than 2X the cost of the ticket , and that's not even accounting for the other costs.

In years to come, this will by our (my) challenge, to keep a high standard of execution, but to keep the ticket from becoming a bro-marketing price ($1297!)

I feel like the food at these places usually isn’t the healthiest option anyway. I personally would be fine with doing my bulletproof fasting all day and then springing for my own dinner at night. To pay extra for a ticket for food is not an economical choice for me.

 

[Vigilante]

I feel like the food at these places usually isn’t the healthiest option anyway. I personally would be fine with doing my bulletproof fasting all day and then springing for my own dinner at night. To pay extra for a ticket for food is not an economical choice for me.

Were you there? The food was excellent and super healthy.

 

[IlyaP]

Were you there? The food was excellent and super healthy.

Is it still healthy if you eat as many of them like some people eat donuts?

 

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[Vigilante]

Is it still healthy if you eat as many of them like some people eat donuts?

I resemble that remark. So YES>

 

[Chitown]

If nothing else we should strive to "one person, one question, one answer". There was one question posed to the entire group of presenters that killed 30-40 minutes and effectively ended the post-summit Q&A session. I'm sure this person didn't mean for this to happen (it was a good question, and genuine) but it was a great example of something we can do better next time.

@JAJT,

That was probably me! My bad!

 

[RaffUnscripted]

Were you there? The food was excellent and super healthy.

I wasn't and I meant no disrespect.

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

That was probably me! My bad!

He wasn't referring to you or anyone on stage, but the question. When 15 people answer one question, it could take an hour. And it did.

 

[Arrabista]

I think even when we know it - it can be a struggle at times.
Reminds me of @Arrabista 's talk between the difference of East and West. It's hard for one side to truly relate to the other side at times because it's just not their way of life. You can understand it and acknowledge it but the guy who wants to get the task done is always going to want to get that task done. The guy who wants to talk about his family is always going to want to talk about his family. You can make efforts to accommodate each other but it's never the path of least mental resistance.
.

I am glad that resonated and stuck for you . What I was referring is how splitting people up into two generalised camps in terms of their preference : TASK focused people or Relationship focused people. No right or wrong ..just what their preference is .... In Asia/ Middle East / Latin Cultures from my experience of doing business with them they need the relationship first in order to work with you or do business ( in the West) . They are about the "WE" rather than the "I ".
Relationship focused cultures value the collective more than the individual focus.
Task focused people are happy to work and the relationship comes second to them in terms of preference ...ie in general in the West where Individuality is prized more than the concerns of the collective. Hope this helps !

Plus to add to what was mentioned regarding Introversion / Extroversion preference we can generally say that extremely task focused/ oriented people are generally introverted in nature .. where as someone like myself who has a relationship focus am more extroverted in terms of my preference ... Extroverted focused people get energised by being around people ..where as introverted people find it tiring / exhausting to be engaging with groups of people for long lengths of time ....
NO right or wrong ...its just preference .
"Inshallah" this has clarified it for you !