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Vent about the fastlane formula

D

DeletedUser84644

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Warning: this is a criticism of the fastlane that will sound like I'm being a slowlaner retard and challenging some of what is being preached about it. If you are disgusted by things like that then please do not read this post or make non constructive counter arguments against what I'm saying. My only intention is to get feedback from people who are open to criticisms against what they believe in so that they can educate me on any misunderstandings I may have of it. I am in no way shape or form saying that not of what it says isn't true, but what I am critiquing is how the message is being made.

With that out of the way; The fastlane is not as fastlane as it's being preached to be and here's why: You have a very good chance of failing (90%), especially for people who have never ran or built a business that's worth millions, billions, or in some cases, trillions of dollars. Even more so for the vast majority of people who have been taught to think and be employees all their lifes. Those who succeed on their first try in entrepreneurship are the exception, regardless of what skills or resources they've had at the time. And that success comes with a lot of painful sacrifice, hardship, and time (A lot of time for the ones who had to fail multiple times). Which works exactly as how it should because not everyone can be rich, and the immense difficulty that comes with trying to achieve such goal is why there are so few people that are rich. But here's the problem, there's one precious asset that you have to be prepared to sacrifice a lot of that's the most painful one to sacrifice, and that is time. The fastlane is sold as you being able to get out of the rat race in not so many years if you pursue entrepreneurship, in 10 years or less, except that's not really how it works in reality because it assumes succeeding on the first try, it also assumes that the business venture you choose can be scaled to a meaningful exit in less than that time as well. And the ones that do succeed tend to be in their forties or older according to this Age and High-Growth Entrepreneurship - American Economic Association

So it's objectively clear that your odds of actually attaining true wealth doesn't happen until you're a lot older, in terms of probability if you're starting at a very young age (Late teens or early twenties). The fastlane works best for people who are middle age, not young or old people. Now even if people didn't do the fastlane, odds are, they're likely to be in the top 10% in their middle age (From their job). So what does this all mean? It's not as fast as it's being preached for young people. Hell just look at MJ's case, he had to fail several times in order to get there, while he was still young when he finally did get there at the age of 33, that's not as young as being in your twenties with wealth like the guy in MJ's wealth exposed story. So really this makes a young person like me wonder what's the point of even trying to get rich if in the end you won't end up having it while young anyway? You may as well just not pursue it with too much seriousness. Yes financial freedom should be strived for, but not to the point where you're constantly going through a ton of misery and suffering to get there to only realize that you've pissed away most or all of your youth to have freedom. While that's great at first, but in retrospect it will make you miserable and unhappy, and utterly regretful of what you had to sacrifice to get there. You'll have wished you spent more time enjoying life and not so much of it in being in a constant miserable grind. Even if you're a passionate Elon Musk you'll still be miserable. In conclusion this completely disproves the sold notion that you can have wealth at a young age in not so much time when in reality the average rich person got rich a lot later in life, simply because most young people do not have what it takes to succeed in business due to lack of experience and knowledge, it's the exception, not the rule. Doing so makes you a unicorn. MJ does mean well with what he preaches, but he is factually wrong to suggest that you can just get rich on the whim like that. No matter what methodology you use to get rich, it takes a lot of time. The "fastlane" granted is a lot faster than the stock market, but it's not as fast as it's being incorrectly preached. So in the end the fastlane is worth a try but only for so much and so long, otherwise it will break you.
 
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MJ DeMarco

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Not even going to bother...

There are so many fallacies, misstatements, strawmen, and misinterpretations in your post that I'm not going to even entertain it.

because it assumes succeeding on the first try,

You see, when you start with a false premise as ridiculous as this, a strawman that I never said, in fact, something that I counter-reiterate over and over (entrepreneurship is like baseball needing many swings) your entire argument is already lost.

Believe what ever you want, but I'm not going to debate your fallacies and strawmen arguments.
 

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but he is factually wrong to suggest that you can just get rich on the whim like that.

I never suggested it, YOU DID. It also makes me think you read neither of my books if this is your errant conclusion. A whim is an event, a business is a process.

Anyone that thinks "Fastlane" is a whim is destined to fail.
Anyone that thinks "Fastlane" is something to be "tried" is destined to fail.

And here is a poll which demonstrates how many people normally fail in entrepreneurship.


In fact, I wrote about failure and "tries" in The Great Rat-Race Escape, and specifically say that "one swing" (one try, one whim) is futile.


TheGreatRatRaceEscape-Sample.png

This is why there will be no discussion. Just because you said I said "the sky is green," doesn't make it so -- and I refuse to debate it as if I did. And that doesn't even account for the rest of the fallacies that followed...
 
D

DeletedUser84644

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Not even going to bother...

There are so many fallacies, misstatements, strawmen, and misinterpretations in your post that I'm not going to even entertain it.



You see, when you start with a false premise as ridiculous as this, a strawman that I never said, in fact, something that I counter-reiterate over and over (entrepreneurship is like baseball needing many swings) your entire argument is already lost.

Believe what ever you want, but I'm not going to debate your fallacies and strawmen arguments.

Thread closed.
I am... Incredibly sorry... I have completely embarrassed myself. I am a moron, and was totally insensitive on my part. I regret making this post. You can delete this if you like. I should've worded my post better. I won't make anything like this again.
;(
 
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MJ DeMarco

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I am... Incredibly sorry... I have completely embarrassed myself.

A faux pas?

If your premise was true, then you'd have a point.

Very few people succeed on a first try -- I'm guessing the "Fastlane failure rate"for Attempt #1 is 99%. In that respect, you are correct.
 

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Most of us get there when we are older because we didn’t have MJ’s book when we were 18. I guarantee that if MJ had his own book at 18, he would have “made” it at 25.

In fact someone asked him where he would be if his book was around when he was younger.

Interesting question...

I think I would have spared myself a lot of heartache and been able to accomplish my goals by my mid/late-twenties instead of mid-thirties. It's part of the big reason why I write --- because my books are exactly what I needed when I was 20 and had no mentors, no guidance, and no clue.
 

biophase

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I am... Incredibly sorry... I have completely embarrassed myself. I am a moron, and was totally insensitive on my part. I regret making this post. You can delete this if you like. I should've worded my post better. I won't make anything like this again.
;(
It’s not about how you worded your post. But it’s more of an attitude of not trying. What do you think people tell most athletes that try to make it to the pros? Do those people quit because they have less than a 1% chance?

I’m sure many do. The ones that don’t at least have a chance to succeed. If you don’t do something because you are afraid to fail, you are guaranteed 100% to not to succeed.
 
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Johnny boy

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Fastlane means building a business using some sound principles (CENTS) will be a likelier and more enjoyable path to wealth than almost anything else.

I owe a lot to this forum. I'm 24 years old. Life on the lake is good dawg. Here's a rough overview of our revenue numbers.

2018: like 25k or so
2019: 90k
2020: 150k
2021: pacing 300k
2022: goal is to get to 600k

Profit margin: 45%

Tell me which job is going to let me do that. Pro baseball player? Top lawyer in my city? Brain Surgeon?

It's a lawn care company. Most basic, easiest, simple business ever. Right up there with a lemonade stand.

You're complicating something super basic.

Sidewalk: Idiots who are broke forever and work crap jobs and hate life
Slowlane: COCKY idiots who think they are superior by saving money from their 50k a year salary who have a million when they are 65 years old and love to share terrible advice
Fastlane: Build a business and be able to get into the 1% in your 20's. (currently on my way there)
 

kleine2

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Warning: this is a criticism of the fastlane that will sound like I'm being a slowlaner retard and challenging some of what is being preached about it. If you are disgusted by things like that then please do not read this post or make non constructive counter arguments against what I'm saying. My only intention is to get feedback from people who are open to criticisms against what they believe in so that they can educate me on any misunderstandings I may have of it. I am in no way shape or form saying that not of what it says isn't true, but what I am critiquing is how the message is being made.

With that out of the way; The fastlane is not as fastlane as it's being preached to be and here's why: You have a very good chance of failing (90%), especially for people who have never ran or built a business that's worth millions, billions, or in some cases, trillions of dollars. Even more so for the vast majority of people who have been taught to think and be employees all their lifes. Those who succeed on their first try in entrepreneurship are the exception, regardless of what skills or resources they've had at the time. And that success comes with a lot of painful sacrifice, hardship, and time (A lot of time for the ones who had to fail multiple times). Which works exactly as how it should because not everyone can be rich, and the immense difficulty that comes with trying to achieve such goal is why there are so few people that are rich. But here's the problem, there's one precious asset that you have to be prepared to sacrifice a lot of that's the most painful one to sacrifice, and that is time. The fastlane is sold as you being able to get out of the rat race in not so many years if you pursue entrepreneurship, in 10 years or less, except that's not really how it works in reality because it assumes succeeding on the first try, it also assumes that the business venture you choose can be scaled to a meaningful exit in less than that time as well. And the ones that do succeed tend to be in their forties or older according to this Age and High-Growth Entrepreneurship - American Economic Association

So it's objectively clear that your odds of actually attaining true wealth doesn't happen until you're a lot older, in terms of probability if you're starting at a very young age (Late teens or early twenties). The fastlane works best for people who are middle age, not young or old people. Now even if people didn't do the fastlane, odds are, they're likely to be in the top 10% in their middle age (From their job). So what does this all mean? It's not as fast as it's being preached for young people. Hell just look at MJ's case, he had to fail several times in order to get there, while he was still young when he finally did get there at the age of 33, that's not as young as being in your twenties with wealth like the guy in MJ's wealth exposed story. So really this makes a young person like me wonder what's the point of even trying to get rich if in the end you won't end up having it while young anyway? You may as well just not pursue it with too much seriousness. Yes financial freedom should be strived for, but not to the point where you're constantly going through a ton of misery and suffering to get there to only realize that you've pissed away most or all of your youth to have freedom. While that's great at first, but in retrospect it will make you miserable and unhappy, and utterly regretful of what you had to sacrifice to get there. You'll have wished you spent more time enjoying life and not so much of it in being in a constant miserable grind. Even if you're a passionate Elon Musk you'll still be miserable. In conclusion this completely disproves the sold notion that you can have wealth at a young age in not so much time when in reality the average rich person got rich a lot later in life, simply because most young people do not have what it takes to succeed in business due to lack of experience and knowledge, it's the exception, not the rule. Doing so makes you a unicorn. MJ does mean well with what he preaches, but he is factually wrong to suggest that you can just get rich on the whim like that. No matter what methodology you use to get rich, it takes a lot of time. The "fastlane" granted is a lot faster than the stock market, but it's not as fast as it's being incorrectly preached. So in the end the fastlane is worth a try but only for so much and so long, otherwise it will break you.
So you used the slowlane arguments against the fastlane.
It's risky. It's not easy. It takes time.
That's all true.
But with the Fastlane approach you have more control and more potential and you learn more and experience more in life.
It's not like taking the bus versus the subway. It's a different kind of path to follow.
 
D

DeletedUser84644

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It’s not about how you worded your post. But it’s more of an attitude of not trying. What do you think people tell most athletes that try to make it to the pros? Do those people quit because they have less than a 1% chance?

I’m sure many do. The ones that don’t at least have a chance to succeed. If you don’t do something because you are afraid to fail, you are guaranteed 100% to not to succeed.
I just fear that by the time I do finally have my successful exit, I'll be older than I'd like to be. It would just make me feel unhappy and miserable with myself. I don't fear the failure rate but what I do fear is how many times it may have to take for me to get there. So let's say starting at the age I am now, 19, that I begin the fastlane but fail like 5 times, and let's just say I succeed at 35. While this would make me happy in the short term, it would make me feel miserable in the long term b/c with retrospective thinking, I would be like " Man... I wish I would've gotten this much sooner, so that I could've enjoyed my youth more and for a lot longer, but with abundance. I kind of regret sacrificing so much and so hard for this, putting everything on the line often." I.e I would feel very disappointed in the timing of its arrival. I would rather get rich young and ripe in my twenties or get rich never. Given that the odds of that actually happening are stacked against me I will no longer aspire to achieve that. But what I will aspire to achieve instead is financial freedom. The latter is far more feasible to attain than the former because you don't have to have the huge lump sum to have it in the beginning, all you need is just proper delegation of a business that is decently profitable,and then later down the road you make your exit so that you don't have to manage it at all. Except in my case even if I do manage to attain a fortune I'll just probably give it away because it's not going to make me happy, it'll make me miserable unless I happen to be young and ripe in my twenties. If not then I would only keep just enough so that I don't have to worry about bills and that's it. I wouldn't be entirely happy with the outcome of only having financial freedom and not wealth but at least it wouldn't make me as miserable as having wealth in the wrong timing for myself. I get it that the fastlane is about freedom and not money except I know I want to have wealth, but only if I'm young enough to enjoy it to its maximum potential. Otherwise I'd prefer it never comes to my door.
 
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biophase

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I would rather get rich young and ripe in my twenties or get rich never. Given that the odds of that actually happening are stacked against me I will no longer aspire to achieve that.
I can tell you that you are 100% wrong here. Your 40 year old self will thank the 20 year old you if you were a multi-millionaire at 40 than working a regular job. You think 30 is old. But do you plan to live until you are 80? You are talking about 10 years of your life compared to the next 70.

Funny thing is you are actually talking about MJs work on the weekdays and party on weekends on a grander scale, trading 5 days for 2 days. In your case, you say you want to work for 60 years, party for 10 years. If this is the case, getting a job is absolutely the way to go.

Being young all you think about is what the money can buy you. If you find a business that you actually like, you'll like the actual work in running your business.
 

MJ DeMarco

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I just fear that by the time I do finally have my successful exit, I'll be older than I'd like to be. It would just make me feel unhappy and miserable with myself. I don't fear the failure rate but what I do fear is how many times it may have to take for me to get there. So let's say starting at the age I am now, 19, that I begin the fastlane but fail like 5 times, and let's just say I succeed at 35. While this would make me happy in the short term, it would make me feel miserable in the long term b/c with retrospective thinking, I would be like " Man... I wish I would've gotten this much sooner, so that I could've enjoyed my youth more and for a lot longer, but with abundance. I kind of regret sacrificing so much and so hard for this, putting everything on the line often." I.e I would feel very disappointed in the timing of its arrival. I would rather get rich young and ripe in my twenties or get rich never. Given that the odds of that actually happening are stacked against me I will no longer aspire to achieve that. But what I will aspire to achieve instead is financial freedom. The latter is far more feasible to attain than the former because you don't have to have the huge lump sum to have it in the beginning, all you need is just proper delegation of a business that is decently profitable,and then later down the road you make your exit so that you don't have to manage it at all. Except in my case even if I do manage to attain a fortune I'll just probably give it away because it's not going to make me happy, it'll make me miserable unless I happen to be young and ripe in my twenties. If not then I would only keep just enough so that I don't have to worry about bills and that's it. I wouldn't be entirely happy with the outcome of only having financial freedom and not wealth but at least it wouldn't make me as miserable as having wealth in the wrong timing for myself. I get it that the fastlane is about freedom and not money except I know I want to have wealth, but only if I'm young enough to enjoy it to its maximum potential. Otherwise I'd prefer it never comes to my door.

Wow -- with this line of thinking, you'll never succeed, or worse, be happy.

I would suggest not starting a business, and first, get your head straight.

Take some courses from @Kung Fu Steve or @Black_Dragon43 and get your head right. Until then, you'll never win this game or be happy.
 

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I just fear that by the time I do finally have my successful exit, I'll be older than I'd like to be. It would just make me feel unhappy and miserable with myself. I don't fear the failure rate but what I do fear is how many times it may have to take for me to get there. So let's say starting at the age I am now, 19, that I begin the fastlane but fail like 5 times, and let's just say I succeed at 35. While this would make me happy in the short term, it would make me feel miserable in the long term b/c with retrospective thinking, I would be like " Man... I wish I would've gotten this much sooner, so that I could've enjoyed my youth more and for a lot longer, but with abundance. I kind of regret sacrificing so much and so hard for this, putting everything on the line often." I.e I would feel very disappointed in the timing of its arrival. I would rather get rich young and ripe in my twenties or get rich never. Given that the odds of that actually happening are stacked against me I will no longer aspire to achieve that. But what I will aspire to achieve instead is financial freedom. The latter is far more feasible to attain than the former because you don't have to have the huge lump sum to have it in the beginning, all you need is just proper delegation of a business that is decently profitable,and then later down the road you make your exit so that you don't have to manage it at all. Except in my case even if I do manage to attain a fortune I'll just probably give it away because it's not going to make me happy, it'll make me miserable unless I happen to be young and ripe in my twenties. If not then I would only keep just enough so that I don't have to worry about bills and that's it. I wouldn't be entirely happy with the outcome of only having financial freedom and not wealth but at least it wouldn't make me as miserable as having wealth in the wrong timing for myself. I get it that the fastlane is about freedom and not money except I know I want to have wealth, but only if I'm young enough to enjoy it to its maximum potential. Otherwise I'd prefer it never comes to my door.

As someone who was 19 not that long ago (well, nearly 5 years ago) my advice for you would be to listen and go with what the experienced folks say, even if it doesn't fit your logical/beliefs framework right now.

I never thought I'd have a mentor, but I found them on this exact forum. Their advice was painful to read at times and I didn't always 100% agree with it, but I still did it.

We got on a 3-hour call and I got completely demolished. My mentor said I had SO many limiting beliefs that I had ingrained into my everyday life which were COMPLETELY stopping me from making any substantial progress.

For example, even though I'd never tried, I was convinced I couldn't get foreign clients (from the US) because I live in Eastern Europe, look like an escaped convict, and have a noticeable accent. I also felt like I didn't "deserve" to charge more than X amount per project because of Y reasons. As the others above said, it looks like you also have quite a few limiting beliefs yourself.

After being in the worst financial situation just 7-8 months ago, I took and applied ALL of the advice I received and I am now doing what I like for a few hours per day and making enough money to feel successful and financially free. Oh, and no debt.

Trust me, it's either the above or spinning your wheels unit you're 25 and know better.

P.S. Focus on the present. Speculating about how you MAY feel in the future or how you MAY end up regretting the past after you supposedly got wealthy in the future is a huge waste of time and WILL certainly piss off any poor soul that falls victim to your ramblings.
 
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BlackLynx

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I am in my mid-40s and I have discovered that true success does not lie in the material things you manifest but in conquering your inner world.

It's not about accumulating money or rushing to "retirement". I'll never be retired. I love learning too much to ever be retired in the strict sense of the word.

I could write an entire book on my discoveries but I think it's about learning to die. I want to go out smiling - staring death straight in the face. This forum is filled with 20-somethings. In your 20s you are full of energy, you're basically a fool whose frontal cortex isn't even developed fully yet and death is a far-off concept.

But it's coming for you, too, friends. It's coming for all of us.

It's about arriving at the end of the line with zero regrets, knowing you have lived a life that is full and that you left this world a better place than when you arrived in it.
 

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I am in my mid-40s and I have discovered that true success does not lie in the material things you manifest but in conquering your inner world.

It's not about accumulating money or rushing to "retirement". I'll never be retired. I love learning too much to ever be retired in the strict sense of the word.

I could write an entire book on my discoveries but I think it's about learning to die. I want to go out smiling - staring death straight in the face. This forum is filled with 20-somethings. In your 20s you are full of energy, you're basically a fool whose frontal cortex isn't even developed fully yet and death is a far-off concept.

But it's coming for you, too, friends. It's coming for all of us.

It's about arriving at the end of the line with zero regrets, knowing you have lived a life that is full and that you left this world a better place than when you arrived in it.

We start dying the day we're born.
 

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@FauxPas

You have, unknowingly, shown that you have ability
that is crucial for getting on a fastlane.

That ability is beginning of "critical thinking".

There is also second ability:
You didn't silently bow down and leave
but openly said your opinion.

While posted opinion and critic is wrong, it doesn't
matter because if (or when) you'll learn
to direct criticism or standing up for yourself
in correct way, you'll be much more into fastlane
than majority of people around you.

Step back. Reevaluate. Take a choice.


P.S. To long term Fastlane forum members:
This post is giving benefit of a doubt.
It might be wrong. It might be good approach.
Lets try something that has 10% chance of succeeding.
Rest is up to him.
 
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Steeltip

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Hey buddy, it seems to me like taking a step back and work on your inner self before you think about what you want your life to be. I remember being 19 and I promise you, you will not want or think the same things in two years let alone five. Your perspective will change a whole lot and I encourage you to think about enjoying the process of learning and growing instead of focusing on the destination. Your absolutely right, money itself will never make you happy. However, you are wrong to think that being rich in your twenties is the only way to enjoy money. Take it from me, you don't need a lot of money just to party and have fun when you are 21. Oftentimes I had the best nights of my life in my early twenties with nothing in my pocket and some good friends and late nights. Even though I didn't even have enough money to buy myself a cheeseburger at the time I wouldn't trade those nights for the world.

I used to have a similar viewpoint as you in terms of only enjoying the money when you're young. But even though having money may be a big reason why you are here. I hope that you find out that the process of reaching for that wealth to be the thing you end up enjoying the most. There are some people on here who are serial entrepreneurs. These are people who enjoy the process so much that they are willing to take on the challenge of starting a business because it gives them their ultimate purpose in life. Shoot, even MJ is an example of this. He doesn't have to work another day in his life yet he still chose to undertake something that he found meaningful.

So if you take anything from this post, then just remember as cliche as it sounds to look at life as a journey, not a destination.
 
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Black_Dragon43

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Thanks @MJ DeMarco for bringing this thread to my attention, I'll be glad to drop my two cents.
With that out of the way; The fastlane is not as fastlane as it's being preached to be and here's why: You have a very good chance of failing (90%), especially for people who have never ran or built a business that's worth millions, billions, or in some cases, trillions of dollars. Even more so for the vast majority of people who have been taught to think and be employees all their lifes. Those who succeed on their first try in entrepreneurship are the exception, regardless of what skills or resources they've had at the time. And that success comes with a lot of painful sacrifice, hardship, and time (A lot of time for the ones who had to fail multiple times). Which works exactly as how it should because not everyone can be rich, and the immense difficulty that comes with trying to achieve such goal is why there are so few people that are rich. But here's the problem, there's one precious asset that you have to be prepared to sacrifice a lot of that's the most painful one to sacrifice, and that is time. The fastlane is sold as you being able to get out of the rat race in not so many years if you pursue entrepreneurship, in 10 years or less, except that's not really how it works in reality because it assumes succeeding on the first try, it also assumes that the business venture you choose can be scaled to a meaningful exit in less than that time as well. And the ones that do succeed tend to be in their forties or older according to this Age and High-Growth Entrepreneurship - American Economic Association
Almost nobody succeeds "on the first try". Did you succeed the first time you tried to walk? Or the first time you tried to swim? Or the first time you started riding a bike? Nobody did. The very idea of "success on the first try" presumes that there is no learning process, and even more, that somehow you are entitled to succeed because you're a very good boy, graduated from an Ivy League university, or whatever. That's precisely what keeps people in the Slowlane, or even worse, on the Sidewalk.

And if it takes you 10 years to fail once, my advice is to fail a little faster. You can go through 3-4 solid failures at a minimum and 12-20 depending on what business you're in, in a single year. Not in 10 years.

The point is that ALL the things that you're worried about "ughhh will this be successful in 10 years? Ughhh will this scale to a meaningful exit? Ughhh this survey says I need to be over 40 to succeed?" are BULLSHIT. NONE of the big hitters that I know even THINK about these things, MUCH LESS spend their time analyzing them. I mean why do you even search for a survey of the age of high-growth entrepreneurs?! I can care less about the statistics. I can care less about those numbers. Honestly. If the statistics said that only 0.00000000001% of entrepreneurs succeed in their 20s, I'd still be an entrepreneur.

What you have to realise is that the Fastlane is first and foremost a mindset. A mindset of being a producer, providing value, and being of service to others. It's not about give me the money, I just want money now, to get my Ferrari, and my bimbos, and head to the beach...

So it's objectively clear that your odds of actually attaining true wealth doesn't happen until you're a lot older, in terms of probability if you're starting at a very young age (Late teens or early twenties). The fastlane works best for people who are middle age, not young or old people. Now even if people didn't do the fastlane, odds are, they're likely to be in the top 10% in their middle age (From their job). So what does this all mean? It's not as fast as it's being preached for young people. Hell just look at MJ's case, he had to fail several times in order to get there, while he was still young when he finally did get there at the age of 33, that's not as young as being in your twenties with wealth like the guy in MJ's wealth exposed story. So really this makes a young person like me wonder what's the point of even trying to get rich if in the end you won't end up having it while young anyway? You may as well just not pursue it with too much seriousness. Yes financial freedom should be strived for, but not to the point where you're constantly going through a ton of misery and suffering to get there to only realize that you've pissed away most or all of your youth to have freedom. While that's great at first, but in retrospect it will make you miserable and unhappy, and utterly regretful of what you had to sacrifice to get there. You'll have wished you spent more time enjoying life and not so much of it in being in a constant miserable grind. Even if you're a passionate Elon Musk you'll still be miserable. In conclusion this completely disproves the sold notion that you can have wealth at a young age in not so much time when in reality the average rich person got rich a lot later in life, simply because most young people do not have what it takes to succeed in business due to lack of experience and knowledge, it's the exception, not the rule. Doing so makes you a unicorn. MJ does mean well with what he preaches, but he is factually wrong to suggest that you can just get rich on the whim like that. No matter what methodology you use to get rich, it takes a lot of time. The "fastlane" granted is a lot faster than the stock market, but it's not as fast as it's being incorrectly preached. So in the end the fastlane is worth a try but only for so much and so long, otherwise it will break you.
And your odds of attaining true wealth are ZERO if you don't take any risks, because INSERT REASON (like you're not old enough to succeed).

And I don't see why you'd be miserable because you "pissed away" your youth to attain wealth, and didn't get it by 30. Come on, what would you rather do? Piss away your youth sitting in a cubicle, glued to your monitor screen, having the boss spit nuts on your head? Or piss away your youth HANGING and CHILLING with your loser buddies drinking beer, smoking weed, and playing pool at the pub?!

Or would you rather spend your time doing something that can make a difference in the world and for others? Being productive, pushing the envelope, moving society forward?

I just fear that by the time I do finally have my successful exit, I'll be older than I'd like to be. It would just make me feel unhappy and miserable with myself. I don't fear the failure rate but what I do fear is how many times it may have to take for me to get there. So let's say starting at the age I am now, 19, that I begin the fastlane but fail like 5 times, and let's just say I succeed at 35. While this would make me happy in the short term, it would make me feel miserable in the long term b/c with retrospective thinking, I would be like " Man... I wish I would've gotten this much sooner, so that I could've enjoyed my youth more and for a lot longer, but with abundance. I kind of regret sacrificing so much and so hard for this, putting everything on the line often." I.e I would feel very disappointed in the timing of its arrival. I would rather get rich young and ripe in my twenties or get rich never. Given that the odds of that actually happening are stacked against me I will no longer aspire to achieve that. But what I will aspire to achieve instead is financial freedom. The latter is far more feasible to attain than the former because you don't have to have the huge lump sum to have it in the beginning, all you need is just proper delegation of a business that is decently profitable,and then later down the road you make your exit so that you don't have to manage it at all. Except in my case even if I do manage to attain a fortune I'll just probably give it away because it's not going to make me happy, it'll make me miserable unless I happen to be young and ripe in my twenties. If not then I would only keep just enough so that I don't have to worry about bills and that's it. I wouldn't be entirely happy with the outcome of only having financial freedom and not wealth but at least it wouldn't make me as miserable as having wealth in the wrong timing for myself. I get it that the fastlane is about freedom and not money except I know I want to have wealth, but only if I'm young enough to enjoy it to its maximum potential. Otherwise I'd prefer it never comes to my door.Age and High-Growth Entrepreneurship - American Economic Association
Most of the big hitters I know simply do not care about these questions. Like they're not even on their radar. Do you think I'm worrying or even thinking about when I'll have 10 million? Only losers think like that. Cowards. I'm thinking about what my next step should be, and the direction I'm headed in. That's all. I literarily can care less about all these "problems".

Now, why do YOU care about them? Because you're weak. You're afraid. You're afraid that you'll be too old to enjoy your fortune... I don't care if I'll have $1 billion by the time I'm 80. It's never really been about the money, it's about making an impact. I don't need the money to enjoy anything... I mean sure, I need the bare minimum to feed myself and stuff, but most of the other joy comes from building meaningful relationships with others, sharing experiences and making an impact. You want to have the experience of driving a lambo with your girlfriend, or whatever, rent it out! Rent the lambo out for a night, and head into town. See what happens.

And how come you're not young in your 30s or even 40s? o_O At least as a guy, I'd say those are your peak years, when you have both strength and some wisdom. In fact, a lot of men I've spoken with describe those years as the best years of their lives...

As MJ said, you're better off dealing with the mindset issues first. You don't NEED money to be happy, if you're not happy now, you won't be happy when you'll have your millions either. In my experience, success doesn't bring about happiness, but happiness often does bring about success. You just have a different energy when you're happy and joyful, and that energy makes success easier, not harder. And I can bet that YOU think that the money comes first, and it will give you that happiness and joy, but, as woo woo as this sounds, in my experience it's often been the other way around: the joy and happiness comes first, and the money tends to follow.

I work a lot less hard today, then I did 5 years ago. And I make way waaaaay more money, way more easily, and with a lot greater joy. What changed was my mindset. The wallet followed it, like a shadow.

And the other problem you seem to have, is that you're too worried what all of us here think of you. And the thing is, the big hitters here... they're hard. All of them that I've spoken with, even if they're nice people, are hard. Tough. They don't care what you think about them. Tehy don't give a F*ck. Literarily. They don't care what anyone thinks about them. And you're the opposite of that... you're afraid of making a mistake, you're always thinking what all of us will think of you (hence your long disclaimer), and so on. To be successful, start by getting your mind right. Read some good books. Join the meditation thread. Figure out how to be happy. Let go of your fears. And ramp it up on the Fastlane... deliver value, get your joy from the value, and the money will follow. Trust the process.

While I don’t have a course that’s strictly about mindset, if you want to start looking into a different way of thinking and experiencing things, you can check my thread here on the forum: NOTABLE! - Are You Acting In Accordance With Your Values Or Your Fears?
 
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socaldude

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A key element of human nature is passivity. There is no such thing as “passively” perceiving truth. All of these perceptions are the result of your own failure to rise above them and replace them with beliefs that are more consistent with logic or mathematics.
 
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MJ DeMarco

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if you're not happy now, you won't be happy when you'll have your millions either. In my experience, success doesn't bring about happiness, but happiness often does bring about success.

So many things in culture are backward ... but this is one of the most poignant.

I unlocked this thread (after originally closing it) because I knew you all would come through with some legendary takes. Not necessarily a counter argument about "the fastlane formula" but a break down of everything wrong with this gentleman's mindset.

I don't see this as a Fastlane, money, wealth, or retirement topic, but one of a broken mindset.

The inside game causes the outside game -- and it makes zero sense to talk outside game when the inside game is messed up.

Kinda like talking about fitness and health, but you devoutly believe sugar plays no impact on these topics, and you can eat as much sugar as you want. And it would be fruitless to train anyone who believes this. Sorry, but you won't achieve "fitness and health" with that belief - your inside beliefs will wreck the outside results.
 

Kevin88660

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Warning: this is a criticism of the fastlane that will sound like I'm being a slowlaner retard and challenging some of what is being preached about it. If you are disgusted by things like that then please do not read this post or make non constructive counter arguments against what I'm saying. My only intention is to get feedback from people who are open to criticisms against what they believe in so that they can educate me on any misunderstandings I may have of it. I am in no way shape or form saying that not of what it says isn't true, but what I am critiquing is how the message is being made.

With that out of the way; The fastlane is not as fastlane as it's being preached to be and here's why: You have a very good chance of failing (90%), especially for people who have never ran or built a business that's worth millions, billions, or in some cases, trillions of dollars. Even more so for the vast majority of people who have been taught to think and be employees all their lifes. Those who succeed on their first try in entrepreneurship are the exception, regardless of what skills or resources they've had at the time. And that success comes with a lot of painful sacrifice, hardship, and time (A lot of time for the ones who had to fail multiple times). Which works exactly as how it should because not everyone can be rich, and the immense difficulty that comes with trying to achieve such goal is why there are so few people that are rich. But here's the problem, there's one precious asset that you have to be prepared to sacrifice a lot of that's the most painful one to sacrifice, and that is time. The fastlane is sold as you being able to get out of the rat race in not so many years if you pursue entrepreneurship, in 10 years or less, except that's not really how it works in reality because it assumes succeeding on the first try, it also assumes that the business venture you choose can be scaled to a meaningful exit in less than that time as well. And the ones that do succeed tend to be in their forties or older according to this Age and High-Growth Entrepreneurship - American Economic Association

So it's objectively clear that your odds of actually attaining true wealth doesn't happen until you're a lot older, in terms of probability if you're starting at a very young age (Late teens or early twenties). The fastlane works best for people who are middle age, not young or old people. Now even if people didn't do the fastlane, odds are, they're likely to be in the top 10% in their middle age (From their job). So what does this all mean? It's not as fast as it's being preached for young people. Hell just look at MJ's case, he had to fail several times in order to get there, while he was still young when he finally did get there at the age of 33, that's not as young as being in your twenties with wealth like the guy in MJ's wealth exposed story. So really this makes a young person like me wonder what's the point of even trying to get rich if in the end you won't end up having it while young anyway? You may as well just not pursue it with too much seriousness. Yes financial freedom should be strived for, but not to the point where you're constantly going through a ton of misery and suffering to get there to only realize that you've pissed away most or all of your youth to have freedom. While that's great at first, but in retrospect it will make you miserable and unhappy, and utterly regretful of what you had to sacrifice to get there. You'll have wished you spent more time enjoying life and not so much of it in being in a constant miserable grind. Even if you're a passionate Elon Musk you'll still be miserable. In conclusion this completely disproves the sold notion that you can have wealth at a young age in not so much time when in reality the average rich person got rich a lot later in life, simply because most young people do not have what it takes to succeed in business due to lack of experience and knowledge, it's the exception, not the rule. Doing so makes you a unicorn. MJ does mean well with what he preaches, but he is factually wrong to suggest that you can just get rich on the whim like that. No matter what methodology you use to get rich, it takes a lot of time. The "fastlane" granted is a lot faster than the stock market, but it's not as fast as it's being incorrectly preached. So in the end the fastlane is worth a try but only for so much and so long, otherwise it will break you.
I think the fastlane is a set of self evident conclusion and truth, that do not guarantee that you will make it simply reading it.

The pandemic has more or less accelerated the death of the middle class. Working from home means someone in the world can always replace your job without the need of a visa.

You have to be involved in business and entrepreneurship to change the game.

If you want to have paying customer you have the deliver value, and sustainable value with decent margin can exist only when there is some sort of entry barrier.

And if you want to make money fast instead of having a business which is actually a job in disguise, there needs to be scalability. Time is just a variant of scalability.

I find that set of arguments hard to find fault with. It is almost like a first-principle check list.

Granted it isn’t tailored to your own circumstances, resources and unique opportunity at the time and space where you are in right at the moment. There is a whole set of industry specific skills you need to master for the business you choose. This is what you need to figure it out yourself.

If you are in the slowlane you have to win it every time, every year. Good luck getting fired at age 50 and still trying to pay for your kid’s college fee. In fastlane you just have to win it once.

I find it a little bit shocking that you think making it at 33 seems not fast enough.

And regarding your worry that you have to keep on trying and wasting time, my answer is you have to take the long way before you find the short cut. Most of time your projects will fail because these projects are destined to fail despite your best effort because there isn’t a sustainable value proposition that can satisfy both you and the market, and you will never know until you experiment and give your best shot. And eventually when you happen to embark on the right project that is destined to succeed given the right skills, mindset and judgement, these soft skills are mostly accumulated in the years when you are working on projects that are destined to go no where. Given by this logic, you are right that people rarely succeed on first attempt. Your failures were not a waste of time either. Things have to take forever until/before they go superfast.
 
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Harman

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I want to chime in.

Thanks for unlocking this @MJ DeMarco

I'm 34 and was locked into the slow lane mindset my entire life. I lived the slow lane life, I was thriving at it. I was comfortable. I wasn't living paycheck to paycheck, had a decent savings built up, contributed to the proper retirement accounts and worked my way into a 6-figure job.

It was bearable.

I'm married, with 4 daughters, yet both my wife and I graduated from college debt free and remained so this whole time.

We were comfortable.

You want to hear my dirty little secret? The one shattered my perceptions of money and wealth?

Reading the book 'Crazy Rich Asians' by Jon M. Chu.

Remember that movie? Well I like reading books so I picked it up and devoured it. The lifestyle and glamour of the Uber-wealthy was incredibly fascinating. How did someone obtain that kind of wealth?

It ain't working a 9-to-5.

It's embarrassing to say but reading that book started me out on this journey to figure out how people gained ludicrous amounts of money and that journey eventually led me to MJ's books, this forum, and where I am today.

I have literally spent the last year reshaping myself, my own identity to remove the slow lane paradigm from my life.

I've started 4 businesses in the last year and 3 have already failed (the 4th is promising!). I will gladly fail 1,000+ more times to get this right because being on this journey ties in so damn poignantly with my man Jordan Peterson (seriously, if you haven't heard of him, stop and check him out). The pursuit of happiness is meaningless, 'happiness is like cotton candy. It's just not going to do the job'. He really pushes the idea that life's great purpose is to pursue MEANING rather than happiness.

There is this over-arching theme throughout MJ's books and, indeed, the heavy hitters on this forum. You see it crop up every time some wantrepreneur posts asking for business ideas, or asking how they can become millionaires. It appears as sage-level advice for those asking how to start. What do they do.

Find a way to help someone.

Everyone here wants to build killer businesses and make a lot of money. But not a single one of them does so without first helping someone.

We are entrepreneurs, and we help people, we solve problems, and the bi-product just happens to be green.

Throwing myself into this world, into this mindset took a lot of time. I'm still learning, every freaking day. I'm reading books on leadership and networking, I'm listening to the right podcasts, I'm talking to more people, and all the while I am actively LOOKING for problems that need solutions; not because I want to make money, but because I WANT to be a problem solver.

I'm 34, I've got a wife and 4 daughters. I have responsibilities to care for them. The 9-to-5 tract won't do that. If I want to be the best provider I can be for them, as well as the best husband/father, I need to make the world a better place in any way I can.
 

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So really this makes a young person like me wonder what's the point of even trying to get rich if in the end you won't end up having it while young anyway? You may as well just not pursue it with too much seriousness. Yes financial freedom should be strived for, but not to the point where you're constantly going through a ton of misery and suffering to get there to only realize that you've pissed away most or all of your youth to have freedom.

You have a lack of perspective which comes with your immaturity. Don't take it personally, I was the same way. It's normal. Remember when you were a little kid and your world revolved around Pokemon cards or some kind of toy or whatever the hell you were into at the moment?

Those things seem ridiculous to you now.

And in 35 years most of the things that seem important and interesting to you now will be just as insignificant. You seem to not understand that you are an evolving person and that you will change as you age. I assure you that when you are 60 you can have activities and goals which will be just motivating as those which you have now.

One thing that will remain constant though, is that having a reasonable excess of money and free time will be of great value. Entrepreneurship is one way to get there.
 
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WJK

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Warning: this is a criticism of the fastlane that will sound like I'm being a slowlaner retard and challenging some of what is being preached about it. If you are disgusted by things like that then please do not read this post or make non constructive counter arguments against what I'm saying. My only intention is to get feedback from people who are open to criticisms against what they believe in so that they can educate me on any misunderstandings I may have of it. I am in no way shape or form saying that not of what it says isn't true, but what I am critiquing is how the message is being made.

With that out of the way; The fastlane is not as fastlane as it's being preached to be and here's why: You have a very good chance of failing (90%), especially for people who have never ran or built a business that's worth millions, billions, or in some cases, trillions of dollars. Even more so for the vast majority of people who have been taught to think and be employees all their lifes. Those who succeed on their first try in entrepreneurship are the exception, regardless of what skills or resources they've had at the time. And that success comes with a lot of painful sacrifice, hardship, and time (A lot of time for the ones who had to fail multiple times). Which works exactly as how it should because not everyone can be rich, and the immense difficulty that comes with trying to achieve such goal is why there are so few people that are rich. But here's the problem, there's one precious asset that you have to be prepared to sacrifice a lot of that's the most painful one to sacrifice, and that is time. The fastlane is sold as you being able to get out of the rat race in not so many years if you pursue entrepreneurship, in 10 years or less, except that's not really how it works in reality because it assumes succeeding on the first try, it also assumes that the business venture you choose can be scaled to a meaningful exit in less than that time as well. And the ones that do succeed tend to be in their forties or older according to this Age and High-Growth Entrepreneurship - American Economic Association

So it's objectively clear that your odds of actually attaining true wealth doesn't happen until you're a lot older, in terms of probability if you're starting at a very young age (Late teens or early twenties). The fastlane works best for people who are middle age, not young or old people. Now even if people didn't do the fastlane, odds are, they're likely to be in the top 10% in their middle age (From their job). So what does this all mean? It's not as fast as it's being preached for young people. Hell just look at MJ's case, he had to fail several times in order to get there, while he was still young when he finally did get there at the age of 33, that's not as young as being in your twenties with wealth like the guy in MJ's wealth exposed story. So really this makes a young person like me wonder what's the point of even trying to get rich if in the end you won't end up having it while young anyway? You may as well just not pursue it with too much seriousness. Yes financial freedom should be strived for, but not to the point where you're constantly going through a ton of misery and suffering to get there to only realize that you've pissed away most or all of your youth to have freedom. While that's great at first, but in retrospect it will make you miserable and unhappy, and utterly regretful of what you had to sacrifice to get there. You'll have wished you spent more time enjoying life and not so much of it in being in a constant miserable grind. Even if you're a passionate Elon Musk you'll still be miserable. In conclusion this completely disproves the sold notion that you can have wealth at a young age in not so much time when in reality the average rich person got rich a lot later in life, simply because most young people do not have what it takes to succeed in business due to lack of experience and knowledge, it's the exception, not the rule. Doing so makes you a unicorn. MJ does mean well with what he preaches, but he is factually wrong to suggest that you can just get rich on the whim like that. No matter what methodology you use to get rich, it takes a lot of time. The "fastlane" granted is a lot faster than the stock market, but it's not as fast as it's being incorrectly preached. So in the end the fastlane is worth a try but only for so much and so long, otherwise it will break you.
You are assuming that you'll build up regrets for spending your youth on building a future? Am I understanding you right?

I confront that situation when I went to a private fashion college in downtown Los Angeles at the grand old age of 19. I was a poor girl, from a rural community. I sat on the front row of every class and I did a lot more work than the teachers asked me to do. I was there to learn. I carried 18 units and I worked 32 hours per week. I also did piecework sewing on the side for my teachers as a side gig. I went to school and I worked. Period. It was my whole life and I got a fabulous education from that experience.

The girls with whom I went to school made fun of me all the time. They picked on me continuously. They told me that I should get a life. I never had any fun. Their daddies paid for their apartments. They had Daddy's credit card and money to spend. They couldn't understand that I didn't have a good daddy to back me up. I was making it on my own. I had to support myself and pay for my education.

Most of them married well after school and got their "Mrs." degrees rather than a good education. I ended up creating a real estate career.

Around the time I was 40, I met up with a couple of these "girls "who had given me such a hard time. Yes, they had married the right man and settled down to raise families. I also had raised my boys, as well as creating a successful real estate career. When I saw these women again, they were amazed at my success. They thought it had just fallen on me. They talked about how lucky I was to have a good career. They had totally forgotten how hard I had worked to put myself in that position. Both were teetering on the edge of getting a divorce. One had experienced her husband running off with the office bimbo. The other was desperately unhappy. Neither could support themselves and their kids. I wished them well and walked away smiling. I had the last laugh in the situation.

I guess I'm telling you that the view from 19 years old's perspective is completely different from the one when you are 40. I can also tell you that all those struggles and all that pain were worth it!
 
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garyfritz

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I just fear that by the time I do finally have my successful exit, I'll be older than I'd like to be. It would just make me feel unhappy and miserable with myself.
I would rather get rich young and ripe in my twenties or get rich never.
Except in my case even if I do manage to attain a fortune I'll just probably give it away because it's not going to make me happy, it'll make me miserable unless I happen to be young and ripe in my twenties.
I get it that the fastlane is about freedom and not money except I know I want to have wealth, but only if I'm young enough to enjoy it to its maximum potential. Otherwise I'd prefer it never comes to my door.
You seem to believe that life ends at 30, and if you haven't made it by then, there's no point. I mean you'll be DEAD by then, amirite?

Let me give you some perspective from the ripe old age of 65. Life at ANY age has just as much juice as you want to pull out of it. In my 60's I'm still wine-tasting in Tuscany (2018), biking in France (2019), hiking the Rockies, carving canyons on my motorcycle, enjoying every one of the 23 microbreweries in my town, loving good food and good booze and good company, just enjoying life. I'd be doing more than that if it wasn't for COVID and some health issues. As soon as this pandemic is over I'm getting a new Tesla to enjoy some road trips. When it's safe to fly again I have several international trips in mind. I ain't dead yet.

If you head into life thinking "it's all over by 30," then you're setting yourself up for a miserable existence. You're throwing away half (or more) of your life -- for no good reason. Quit telling yourself you've only got a few years to live. Get out there and MAKE an exciting life, and don't attach an expiration date to it.
 
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Warning: this is a criticism of the fastlane that will sound like I'm being a slowlaner retard and challenging some of what is being preached about it. If you are disgusted by things like that then please do not read this post or make non constructive counter arguments against what I'm saying. My only intention is to get feedback from people who are open to criticisms against what they believe in so that they can educate me on any misunderstandings I may have of it. I am in no way shape or form saying that not of what it says isn't true, but what I am critiquing is how the message is being made.

With that out of the way; The fastlane is not as fastlane as it's being preached to be and here's why: You have a very good chance of failing (90%), especially for people who have never ran or built a business that's worth millions, billions, or in some cases, trillions of dollars. Even more so for the vast majority of people who have been taught to think and be employees all their lifes. Those who succeed on their first try in entrepreneurship are the exception, regardless of what skills or resources they've had at the time. And that success comes with a lot of painful sacrifice, hardship, and time (A lot of time for the ones who had to fail multiple times). Which works exactly as how it should because not everyone can be rich, and the immense difficulty that comes with trying to achieve such goal is why there are so few people that are rich. But here's the problem, there's one precious asset that you have to be prepared to sacrifice a lot of that's the most painful one to sacrifice, and that is time. The fastlane is sold as you being able to get out of the rat race in not so many years if you pursue entrepreneurship, in 10 years or less, except that's not really how it works in reality because it assumes succeeding on the first try, it also assumes that the business venture you choose can be scaled to a meaningful exit in less than that time as well. And the ones that do succeed tend to be in their forties or older according to this Age and High-Growth Entrepreneurship - American Economic Association

So it's objectively clear that your odds of actually attaining true wealth doesn't happen until you're a lot older, in terms of probability if you're starting at a very young age (Late teens or early twenties). The fastlane works best for people who are middle age, not young or old people. Now even if people didn't do the fastlane, odds are, they're likely to be in the top 10% in their middle age (From their job). So what does this all mean? It's not as fast as it's being preached for young people. Hell just look at MJ's case, he had to fail several times in order to get there, while he was still young when he finally did get there at the age of 33, that's not as young as being in your twenties with wealth like the guy in MJ's wealth exposed story. So really this makes a young person like me wonder what's the point of even trying to get rich if in the end you won't end up having it while young anyway? You may as well just not pursue it with too much seriousness. Yes financial freedom should be strived for, but not to the point where you're constantly going through a ton of misery and suffering to get there to only realize that you've pissed away most or all of your youth to have freedom. While that's great at first, but in retrospect it will make you miserable and unhappy, and utterly regretful of what you had to sacrifice to get there. You'll have wished you spent more time enjoying life and not so much of it in being in a constant miserable grind. Even if you're a passionate Elon Musk you'll still be miserable. In conclusion this completely disproves the sold notion that you can have wealth at a young age in not so much time when in reality the average rich person got rich a lot later in life, simply because most young people do not have what it takes to succeed in business due to lack of experience and knowledge, it's the exception, not the rule. Doing so makes you a unicorn. MJ does mean well with what he preaches, but he is factually wrong to suggest that you can just get rich on the whim like that. No matter what methodology you use to get rich, it takes a lot of time. The "fastlane" granted is a lot faster than the stock market, but it's not as fast as it's being incorrectly preached. So in the end the fastlane is worth a try but only for so much and so long, otherwise it will break you.
I agree with alot of posters on here, so I won't waste space repeating what they said. I just wanted to comment on one thing that others didn't entirely flesh out....

If you are already upset before you even embarked on this journey, you will be sorely disappointed when you "make it" and realize it didn't give you what you thought it would.

The only solution to your issue is if you were born into some kind of generation wealth (.01% family). But then you would have other issues like trying to find meaning in life when everything was handed to you and similar.

"The work" is part of the reward, even if it doesn't feel like it. Decide what it is that you really want to do and fix your inner game. There is no optimal mindset for all goals, but there are optimal mindsets for specific goals. I just recently sold an 8 figure company and I am in my mid 30s. I do not regret spending 12 hour days "working" in my early 20s as it was exciting "figuring things out". In fact, I would say I am JEALOUS that I don't have the same motivation today to spend 12 hours a day on "figuring things out".

Your values may not be aligned with the requirements needed to build a successful business and maybe your temperament isn't conducive to it either. That's perfectly OK, but then you have to be real with yourself and just realize that you will also likely never become wealthy. Not working towards becoming wealthy and doing things you love to do instead (ex:spending all your time with friends/family) is also a perfectly good way to live. You are not a failure just because you didn't become wealthy. You just decided X is more valuable to you than Y.

The only thing to keep in mind is to not let the concept of "easy" dictate your decision. Life is hard for everyone. So if you decide you want something; it being "hard" shouldn't be what makes you decide to try and take the "easy" route of not doing it. You made the right decision when the difficulties of not being independently wealthy (forever working, not affording things, etc) are all very palatable to you because your life is filled with all the wonderful things you chose to do instead of building wealth.
 

redshift

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Nicko

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@FauxPas

As someone in their early 50's who's done both (a degree followed by working a series of 'jobs') and then owning and operating my own business for the past 20 years, I can tell you . . . they both involve a lot of hard work. There really is no way of escaping the hard work or the sacrifice no matter which path you choose.

But there's a much greater chance of achieving significantly more wealth, and having the time to enjoy it if you follow the entrepreneurial path. The alternative (working a job for the next 50 years) may bring you some measure of wealth over many, many years but you probably won't have the time to enjoy it until your best years are well behind you.

My old man (Dad to you non-Aussies) worked his @ss off in various jobs, invested in the markets etc and finally retired in his late 60's with a reasonable amount of accumulated wealth. Sadly, he got two or three good years into retirement and then passed away from cancer. And that's a path that way too many of us are on right now.

Just my two cents
 

BrunoRastablasta

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Being in the 1% of all the richest people in the world means being in the group of 70 million people. That's more than the population of the United Kingdom.

So joining "the 1%" isn't impossible and it never was. It's, with the mindset presented at the start, highly improbable.

And for you to have financial success and true wealth, you don't even need to be in the top 1%. You need to be in like top 10-15%. And that's where effort, dedication, and the right process play a part (CENTS and Fastlane in general). This is coming from someone living in an Eastern European country where things are f*cked up so decide where you want to be in life. Someone has to be in those 1, 5, 10 or 15%-- better to be you than someone else
 

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