There is a niche class of folks who don't quite fit the description of "Slow-lane" drivers but who have not really entered the #Fastlane. I'll call these folks the "Middle lane drivers" (MLD). Ironically you're most likely to encounter them driving to or from work in the middle lane of your city's ring highways. Here are some thoughts, written from a point of view in which I'm considering one for a teammate as a business partner.
Pros: Middle lane drivers (MLD) are typically professionals in established, reasonably stable businesses (airline pilots, engineers, architects, etc.); in their own well-run practices (lawyers, paralegals, accountants, doctors, or nurses); or in government (any level, and including tenured STEM university professors). Their services are typically in short supply so they will not remain unemployed for very long if they have the misfortune to be laid off. They have their own home and have been maximizing contributions to their tax-advantaged retirement accounts long enough that they could annuitize them for at least a token amount. Retired active-duty military personnel have already begun drawing a pension at a relatively young age. They have a limited amount of economic and personal freedom but cannot quite do exactly what they want exactly when they want to do it. There is a small chance they may make good silent business partners. They are likely to make very good entrepreneurs.
Cons: They're comfortable where they are. They are effectively in no danger of skidding off the road onto the sidewalk. They may not have been comfortable with risk or with the idea of sleeping on an air mattress in a shared studio apartment, hence the pursuit of a "Safe" career with decent salary prospects from their beginning. There is a large chance they will not enter into a partnership agreement or become an angel investor because they're afraid they will lose substantial portions of their savings and recognize that once gone, they will be unable to recover it. They will tend to think of their time in terms of their current or last salary and may evince disbelief at the notion one could earn much more than they are unless they've maintained friendships with #Fastlane entrepreneurs.
Recommendation: Engaging with MLDs early in their career may initiate a latent entrepreneurial spark that keeps them considering business ideas in the back of their mind. You may find that as MLDs progress in their field they can identify a performance or equipment gap that you or someone you know may be able to exploit with a good business idea followed up with action. For instance, lawyers have been using document templates for things like wills or powers of attorney for decades now, and entrepreneurs who can deploy artificial intelligence systems can currently enable them to rapidly assemble somewhat complex legal pleadings for their cases. At the latest, engage with them while they're still in mid-career and haven't maximized risk aversion. For those of us with access to military bases and the means to do so, consider donating books like The Millionaire Fastlane to the installation's transition assistance/skillbridge program in order to promulgate good ideas into a population that is likely to benefit everyone if they can be convinced to adopt a #Fastlane mindset. Retiring military personnel are accustomed to calculated risk-taking and bring phenomenal energy and focus to a surprising range of business tasks (just be prepared to mentor them to reprogram their jargon from military to business and to explain key differences between the government's cost/benefit analytical methods and business's bottom-line performance needs).
I hope this gives you just a little bit of insight into an admittedly small population of folks. I encourage you to find MLDs and encourage them to consider turning on their left-turn signal and moving out of the middle lane and into the #Fastlane.
Pros: Middle lane drivers (MLD) are typically professionals in established, reasonably stable businesses (airline pilots, engineers, architects, etc.); in their own well-run practices (lawyers, paralegals, accountants, doctors, or nurses); or in government (any level, and including tenured STEM university professors). Their services are typically in short supply so they will not remain unemployed for very long if they have the misfortune to be laid off. They have their own home and have been maximizing contributions to their tax-advantaged retirement accounts long enough that they could annuitize them for at least a token amount. Retired active-duty military personnel have already begun drawing a pension at a relatively young age. They have a limited amount of economic and personal freedom but cannot quite do exactly what they want exactly when they want to do it. There is a small chance they may make good silent business partners. They are likely to make very good entrepreneurs.
Cons: They're comfortable where they are. They are effectively in no danger of skidding off the road onto the sidewalk. They may not have been comfortable with risk or with the idea of sleeping on an air mattress in a shared studio apartment, hence the pursuit of a "Safe" career with decent salary prospects from their beginning. There is a large chance they will not enter into a partnership agreement or become an angel investor because they're afraid they will lose substantial portions of their savings and recognize that once gone, they will be unable to recover it. They will tend to think of their time in terms of their current or last salary and may evince disbelief at the notion one could earn much more than they are unless they've maintained friendships with #Fastlane entrepreneurs.
Recommendation: Engaging with MLDs early in their career may initiate a latent entrepreneurial spark that keeps them considering business ideas in the back of their mind. You may find that as MLDs progress in their field they can identify a performance or equipment gap that you or someone you know may be able to exploit with a good business idea followed up with action. For instance, lawyers have been using document templates for things like wills or powers of attorney for decades now, and entrepreneurs who can deploy artificial intelligence systems can currently enable them to rapidly assemble somewhat complex legal pleadings for their cases. At the latest, engage with them while they're still in mid-career and haven't maximized risk aversion. For those of us with access to military bases and the means to do so, consider donating books like The Millionaire Fastlane to the installation's transition assistance/skillbridge program in order to promulgate good ideas into a population that is likely to benefit everyone if they can be convinced to adopt a #Fastlane mindset. Retiring military personnel are accustomed to calculated risk-taking and bring phenomenal energy and focus to a surprising range of business tasks (just be prepared to mentor them to reprogram their jargon from military to business and to explain key differences between the government's cost/benefit analytical methods and business's bottom-line performance needs).
I hope this gives you just a little bit of insight into an admittedly small population of folks. I encourage you to find MLDs and encourage them to consider turning on their left-turn signal and moving out of the middle lane and into the #Fastlane.
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