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Vent about the fastlane formula

peddletothemetal

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OP used the word "sacrifice" a lot, but I wonder what he's so worried about sacrificing, like what his alternatives are. Ok probably you'll have to sacrifice playing computer games all evening for years or whatever, but are you really going to pretend that's a meaningful sacrifice?

Maybe it's the other way. Sacrificing a dull and meaningless life for an exciting one that might have mattered in the end.
 
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DeletedUser84644

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OP used the word "sacrifice" a lot, but I wonder what he's so worried about sacrificing, like what his alternatives are. Ok probably you'll have to sacrifice playing computer games all evening for years or whatever, but are you really going to pretend that's a meaningful sacrifice?

Maybe it's the other way. Sacrificing a dull and meaningless life for an exciting one that might have mattered in the end.
By "sacrifice" I mean delayed gratification . In MJ's wealth exposed story the mid twenties millionaire was explaining to Coney (Probably wrong name) that in order for him to have had the things he has now he had to delay gratification, drop out of college, etc. He had to live breathe sleep and shit his business for a while until he was able to delegate it to the point where he no longer needed to run the business as much. It was thanks to his proper delegation that kept his business alive because he at one time had to spent a few months in the hospital. It was thanks to his general manager that his business did not collapse. And so when it came time to sell his business he gave his general manager one or two million dollars I think to thank him for his integrity. Essentially he was explaining to his old college friend that it took WORK for him to get to where he is and that it wasn't just a luck event that happened. But now that I think back about that story I realize I'm essentially acting like that old college friend in a similar fashion who wasn't sold on how the millionaire was trying to explain how he got rich in the first place. It's not that I'm not sold on it, I just do not have the right frame of mind for it. I lack patience for something I anticipate to likely drag out longer than I'd like it to. I prefer to work towards things where it doesn't take light years to see the fruits of my labor realized (Making an app, getting an A on a test, etc). If it's something like mount everest for example, I have to have the passion for it in order for me to have the patience with the process. If I do something I utterly hate, then I am not going to have patience and will not go deep enough into it. When you do things you hate all you think about is when it will be over, that's where you give a F*ck about the amount of time it's sucking out of your soul. But if I were to do something I'm passionate about then I would surely not care about the time because it's something I would do willfully in perpetuity. The only way I can see myself do the fastlane is if I find what the market wants but doesn't know how to get that I can give to them at scale under my passions. I know the passion part will go against what MJ says about it but it's the only way I can see myself doing it. I'd only pursue entrepreneurship if it's a way I can do more of what I already like / love doing. So that way even if I don't end up rich in the timing I would like it to be I would have least enjoyed the years I spent in it (And if I still happen to feel that the money just isn't as enjoyable when you're middle-aged as opposed to young then I would give it away.) So the only way I can feel that I would've not pissed away my youth is if I did something I'm really passionate about.
 

biophase

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By "sacrifice" I mean delayed gratification . In MJ's wealth exposed story the mid twenties millionaire was explaining to Coney (Probably wrong name) that in order for him to have had the things he has now he had to delay gratification, drop out of college, etc. He had to live breathe sleep and shit his business for a while until he was able to delegate it to the point where he no longer needed to run the business as much. It was thanks to his proper delegation that kept his business alive because he at one time had to spent a few months in the hospital. It was thanks to his general manager that his business did not collapse. And so when it came time to sell his business he gave his general manager one or two million dollars I think to thank him for his integrity. Essentially he was explaining to his old college friend that it took WORK for him to get to where he is and that it wasn't just a luck event that happened. But now that I think back about that story I realize I'm essentially acting like that old college friend in a similar fashion who wasn't sold on how the millionaire was trying to explain how he got rich in the first place. It's not that I'm not sold on it, I just do not have the right frame of mind for it. I lack patience for something I anticipate to likely drag out longer than I'd like it to. I prefer to work towards things where it doesn't take light years to see the fruits of my labor realized (Making an app, getting an A on a test, etc). If it's something like mount everest for example, I have to have the passion for it in order for me to have the patience with the process. If I do something I utterly hate, then I am not going to have patience and will not go deep enough into it. When you do things you hate all you think about is when it will be over, that's where you give a f*ck about the amount of time it's sucking out of your soul. But if I were to do something I'm passionate about then I would surely not care about the time because it's something I would do willfully in perpetuity. The only way I can see myself do the fastlane is if I find what the market wants but doesn't know how to get that I can give to them at scale under my passions. I know the passion part will go against what MJ says about it but it's the only way I can see myself doing it. I'd only pursue entrepreneurship if it's a way I can do more of what I already like / love doing. So that way even if I don't end up rich in the timing I would like it to be I would have least enjoyed the years I spent in it (And if I still happen to feel that the money just isn't as enjoyable when you're middle-aged as opposed to young then I would give it away.) So the only way I can feel that I would've not pissed away my youth is if I did something I'm really passionate about.

Ok, but the alternative to all this is that you go get a job and make a salary. How does that fit in with everything you wrote. How would that path make you happy. You would get tiny tiny amounts of gratification on every pay check day, but that would diminish to zero within 6 months. Now you have no chance at anything.

BTW, may I suggest that you use paragraphs in your future writing, it would make your posts much easier to read?
 

MJ DeMarco

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I know the passion part will go against what MJ says about it but it's the only way I can see myself doing it.

Bingo.

You don't want to sacrifice. You want to have fun. You don't want to get uncomfortable.

You want to be Rey on Star Wars and pick up a lightsaber and be an expert without any hardship.
You want to be a superstar, but not train for it.
You want six-pack abs, but you don't want to sweat and eat right.
You don't want to earn talent, you want to discover it.

Your mindset exemplifies why the 99% remains mediocre and the rat-race will have an unlimited supply of rats.
 
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Brrr

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By "sacrifice" I mean delayed gratification . In MJ's wealth exposed story the mid twenties millionaire was explaining to Coney (Probably wrong name) that in order for him to have had the things he has now he had to delay gratification, drop out of college, etc. He had to live breathe sleep and shit his business for a while until he was able to delegate it to the point where he no longer needed to run the business as much. It was thanks to his proper delegation that kept his business alive because he at one time had to spent a few months in the hospital. It was thanks to his general manager that his business did not collapse. And so when it came time to sell his business he gave his general manager one or two million dollars I think to thank him for his integrity. Essentially he was explaining to his old college friend that it took WORK for him to get to where he is and that it wasn't just a luck event that happened. But now that I think back about that story I realize I'm essentially acting like that old college friend in a similar fashion who wasn't sold on how the millionaire was trying to explain how he got rich in the first place. It's not that I'm not sold on it, I just do not have the right frame of mind for it. I lack patience for something I anticipate to likely drag out longer than I'd like it to. I prefer to work towards things where it doesn't take light years to see the fruits of my labor realized (Making an app, getting an A on a test, etc). If it's something like mount everest for example, I have to have the passion for it in order for me to have the patience with the process. If I do something I utterly hate, then I am not going to have patience and will not go deep enough into it. When you do things you hate all you think about is when it will be over, that's where you give a f*ck about the amount of time it's sucking out of your soul. But if I were to do something I'm passionate about then I would surely not care about the time because it's something I would do willfully in perpetuity. The only way I can see myself do the fastlane is if I find what the market wants but doesn't know how to get that I can give to them at scale under my passions. I know the passion part will go against what MJ says about it but it's the only way I can see myself doing it. I'd only pursue entrepreneurship if it's a way I can do more of what I already like / love doing. So that way even if I don't end up rich in the timing I would like it to be I would have least enjoyed the years I spent in it (And if I still happen to feel that the money just isn't as enjoyable when you're middle-aged as opposed to young then I would give it away.) So the only way I can feel that I would've not pissed away my youth is if I did something I'm really passionate about.
Even if you find an industry you are passionate about you will quickly find that running a business eventually starts looking very similar regardless of what you are selling. If that weren't the case business books would be irrelevant to 99.9% of the public.

The feeling of success comes from doing something that gives you an appropriate level of "challenge" and "satisfaction".

The first metric, challenge, changes and grows as the business grows. That's where the financial reward eventually plays out and where you get the asymmetric benefits that MJ talks about. Challenges get bigger normally as an operation scales and so you have to solve bigger and bigger problems.

The second metric, satisfaction, comes from different arenas. Yes, there is personal satisfaction (i.e. do you enjoy the work), and that is where most of the "follow your passion" advice comes from and plays into but there is also the satisfaction of your customers. Satisfied customers make you satisfied and make you feel that you are doing something worthwhile, satisfied customers also keep the lights of your business on.

Your ability to also create an environment where these two metrics are high for your staff will attract great people, who will in turn take your business even further. It's a self-fulfilling positive feedback loop.

In thinking about business, I would make it less about yourself and more about the external. You have to want to build something and be committed to the process because you think the world will be a better place for it, not because you want to buy a lambo and make your friends jealous.
 

MoneyDoc

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By "sacrifice" I mean delayed gratification . In MJ's wealth exposed story the mid twenties millionaire was explaining to Coney (Probably wrong name) that in order for him to have had the things he has now he had to delay gratification, drop out of college, etc. He had to live breathe sleep and shit his business for a while until he was able to delegate it to the point where he no longer needed to run the business as much. It was thanks to his proper delegation that kept his business alive because he at one time had to spent a few months in the hospital. It was thanks to his general manager that his business did not collapse. And so when it came time to sell his business he gave his general manager one or two million dollars I think to thank him for his integrity. Essentially he was explaining to his old college friend that it took WORK for him to get to where he is and that it wasn't just a luck event that happened. But now that I think back about that story I realize I'm essentially acting like that old college friend in a similar fashion who wasn't sold on how the millionaire was trying to explain how he got rich in the first place. It's not that I'm not sold on it, I just do not have the right frame of mind for it. I lack patience for something I anticipate to likely drag out longer than I'd like it to. I prefer to work towards things where it doesn't take light years to see the fruits of my labor realized (Making an app, getting an A on a test, etc). If it's something like mount everest for example, I have to have the passion for it in order for me to have the patience with the process. If I do something I utterly hate, then I am not going to have patience and will not go deep enough into it. When you do things you hate all you think about is when it will be over, that's where you give a f*ck about the amount of time it's sucking out of your soul. But if I were to do something I'm passionate about then I would surely not care about the time because it's something I would do willfully in perpetuity. The only way I can see myself do the fastlane is if I find what the market wants but doesn't know how to get that I can give to them at scale under my passions. I know the passion part will go against what MJ says about it but it's the only way I can see myself doing it. I'd only pursue entrepreneurship if it's a way I can do more of what I already like / love doing. So that way even if I don't end up rich in the timing I would like it to be I would have least enjoyed the years I spent in it (And if I still happen to feel that the money just isn't as enjoyable when you're middle-aged as opposed to young then I would give it away.) So the only way I can feel that I would've not pissed away my youth is if I did something I'm really passionate about.
You talk about lacking patience.

There's two things wrong with this:

1) Patience is a virtue

2) Do you really know how long it takes to get a 7,8,9 figure exit?

Moiz Ali (early 30s), $100m exit, 18 months

Me (26), ~$2m exit, 15 months.

Ryan Moran (early 30s), $15m exit, 48 months

You've probably never heard of Moiz or Ryan, let alone myself, right? I'm probably like a pawn in the grand scheme of possibilities. The number is irrelevant. What matters is that these exits are far too common. They happen every single day. I had no connections. No money to start with. My family weren't entrepreneurs. I was burned out from being rejected from med school year after year. I was a lazy fat f*ck. I had a bad gambling habit in my early 20s. But you know what, it was all my fault. I was to blame. When you realize that everything that happens in your life is in your control (excluding genetic diseases and being hit by a car), you either do something about it, or you continue living in the sh*thole. There's nothing wrong with living in the sh*thole, but you just lose the right to complain or criticize others.

With all that said, entrepreneurs, in my opinion, have an innate nature to get things done. You either have this, or you don't. When you talk to people that have made it, there's something distinctly different in the way speak, what they speak about, how they utilize their time, etc. Then when you speak with your cousin in the 9-5 world, it's a 180 degree turn. All they talk about is Tik Tok, vaccines, travelling, posting pictures on Instagram, etc. Again, you choose your own destiny. Don't talk about how you don't have patience. You think I have patience? Who really has patience? It's just a matter if you want it bad enough. If you don't, yes, you'll find every excuse possible.
 
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Fox

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You are looking at this all wrong.

You are comparing the hard journey of running your own business with some magical alternative where you get to enjoy your youth endlessly and party for the next 10 years in an endless summer of fun.

Look either way you are working. It is either going to be to build your own dream or to build someone else's.

That doesn't mean it can't be fun though. Running and growing your own business is super additive. Once you get a taste over that full freedom of your time, focus, and success rewards there is no going back.

When I was your age I partied it up for another 5/6 years. I had a lot of fun.

By 25 I had a high paying oil job but I had zero control over my time and life.
I decided to leave that behind and have a shot at starting my own biz.

I failed a bunch - a Tinder Bot app that went nowhere, a Conor McGregor cereal box brand, a website for booking Spanish lessons, an IG page for book reviews, all kinds of stupid stuff.

It took me a year to get into web design which was my first source of real income. So like 26/27 at this stage.

I am now 33 and still not millionaire status (maybe next year) but by just being on the Fastlane journey I have gotten to live in Colombia, Mexico, Malta, Georgia, Ukraine and Poland. Like at least 3 month in each and for most over a year. Along with these places I have a million memories of fun adventures and amazing times.

I still work my a$$ off but that is also enjoyable too. Enjoying your life and growing a business are both possible.

Bottom line is @MJ DeMarco has given you a real plan to have a life that you control and reap the full rewards of your effort. When you actually get a million it's not like you are going to blow it anyway. What you are really after is control - and if you don't control your own income/wealth then you don't control your life.

It is possible to both enjoy being young and grow a real business (look at @Johnny boy above and many others on here) but you do need to be on the right path and actually get some real work done too.

You are in the right place but you are looking at things in the wrong way.
Stick around and give it time for things to soak in.
 
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DeletedUser84644

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Ok, but the alternative to all this is that you go get a job and make a salary. How does that fit in with everything you wrote. How would that path make you happy. You would get tiny tiny amounts of gratification on every pay check day, but that would diminish to zero within 6 months. Now you have no chance at anything.

BTW, may I suggest that you use paragraphs in your future writing, it would make your posts much easier to read?

My bad writing is the result of not taking English class seriously when I was in school (A very horrible mistake that comes to haunt me now). That's one thing I definitely need to work on.

I wasn't saying that I would prefer to take the path of the slowlane over the fastlane. All I'm saying is that I will concentrate my focus on attaining financial freedom (Making money independently of time) instead of becoming rich (having F*ck loads of money) because you don't have to be rich to have financial freedom, but you do need to have a decently sized enough lump sum so that you can sustainably be retired.

The nice thing about it is that you don't have to wait until you make your exit to achieve it. If you delegate your business properly you can enjoy a near complete liberation of your time, and then when you're finally ready to make your exit you end up freeing up your time 100% by putting that money into income producing assets.

Now you're probably going to say that I can have wealth before I make an exit. While that is true, the problem is, is that I risk not having money for if my business goes belly up. I mean obviously capital appreciation is the best way to get rich, but, I also need to save like 90% of the income I make out of the business to be sure that I will have the large enough lump sum I need so that I can generate money independently of my time. I.e the exit will just be the icing on the cake. But since most real fortunes are realized through capital appreciation and not from business profits it makes me feel like that it will take a while for me to be rich.

Anyway I will forget about getting rich and instead focus on financial freedom using the fastlane because I've been thinking too much about the money and not the freedom when it really should be the other way around.

Again let me stress that financially freedom is something that I DO WANT regardless of how long it will take for me to get there, because if it's going to take my time for me to have more time than I would rather have more time than more money (not as in I prefer being broke). I'm very likely going to have financially freedom first before I even have wealth, which is fine. I have patience for financial freedom more than wealth because we all have to get there eventually. However I won't let myself be complacent and wait until I'm 65 to have it either. I'll do everything I can to have both as soon as possible, but wealth is something I'm only willing to accept if I'm young enough for it (Unless if I happen to change my mind later on.)

My goal here is to eventually get to a point where I make $40,000 a month after taxes without having to work for it. I wouldn't care how long it would take. Although I wouldn't consider that rich. Rich for me would be making 1 million a month.
 
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Ravens_Shadow

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I found the forum when I was 18. I didn't start my winning business until I turned 23 (started it on my birthday). I'm 27 now. It took me 5 years to pull my head out of my a$$ and nearly 10 years to finally get to the point where I'm financially free. I do not regret my sacrifices.
 
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Ing

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I had some businesses in my 20s.
Would have been nice to have a forum like this than. in 1985!
 

peddletothemetal

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if I did something I'm really passionate about
There's plenty of businesses that meet your parameters, you just need to do the research required to dial in on it. Not all businesses are a 3 year valley of death style business, many can be making money in less than a month, and plenty of businesses have sprung out of a passion.

In the end there's nothing physical blocking what you want, just psychological, and hopefully some of the responses in this thread will give you enough to hop to the next step (research).
 

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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.

Sounds like this guy is a corporate headhunter who is loosing clients.
 
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bibbysoka

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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.

I’m sorry but F*ck this mindset.
 

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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.
You're 19 years old. Your logic is rather circular. What are you going to do when you wake up and notice that it's your 40th birthday? It will feel like it happened overnight. You're running down the untested road assuming how you feel in the future. As an older adult, I can tell you that you'll be a different person by the time you are in your mid-20s. And then you will evolve even more as you grow older. Keep this post and reread it in 5 or 6 years -- and then again 10, 20, and 30 years out. Right now you're wet behind your ears. You must get out there and try a bunch of different things. Then, after you prove yourself, you will have the credibility to legitimately comment and being successful. It looks totally different when looking from the inside out.
 

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Anyway I will forget about getting rich and instead focus on financial freedom using the fastlane because I've been thinking too much about the money and not the freedom when it really should be the other way around.
Looks like this thread's purpose came to fruition. I'm 17 myself and I don't expect myself to be a millionaire at 21. No, I never think of being rich in my early 20s because those are unrealistic expectations. I know nothing about how life works. Instead, I'm focusing on learning, providing value, and building connections right now.

And yeah, failure is inevitable. Minor or major, I've faced minor failures already on this 4-month Fastlane journey. Does that mean I give up? NO.

I think you can become financially free in 9 years or less with the Fastlane, provided you use CENTS and verify a productocracy. Finding a business like that will take time and wisdom, but once you verify both, it's just a matter of time before you scale the sh*t outta it.
 
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ZF Lee

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This thread should be marked GOLD @MJ DeMarco, there's a lot of questions and misconceptions answered by seniors.
A similar thread:
 

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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're a scripted dude .
At the end of the day, it's just a game of self-awareness. What you really want in life?
Some people like 9-5 , they think building a business is a miserable, suffering process & ton of sacrifices like you.
Some with entrepreneurial tendency , they feel suffocated , it's like they can't breathe if they have a job.

Good luck!
 
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WJK

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Looks like this thread's purpose came to fruition. I'm 17 myself and I don't expect myself to be a millionaire at 21. No, I never think of being rich in my early 20s because those are unrealistic expectations. I know nothing about how life works. Instead, I'm focusing on learning, providing value, and building connections right now.

And yeah, failure is inevitable. Minor or major, I've faced minor failures already on this 4-month Fastlane journey. Does that mean I give up? NO.

I think you can become financially free in 9 years or less with the Fastlane, provided you use CENTS and verify a productocracy. Finding a business like that will take time and wisdom, but once you verify both, it's just a matter of time before you scale the sh*t outta it.
Keep going. The wise say it's a journey, not an end game.
 
G

Guest-5ty5s4

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If you succeed, you will gain confidence, money, connections and resources to do more with your life.

If you fail, you will gain experience and become a stronger, more intelligent, better person.

That’s a win-win.

Nothing but pure upside to that bet.

I’ll take it every time.

Keep iterating. Keep growing.
 

Metz

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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.
So before I respond, I just want to recognize the absolute size one's balls have to be to start a thread like this calling out the creator of this community on the belief system he won the majority of us over with. Granted, a lot of your own mindset seems to be rife with circular logic and excuse-making though I'll also grant that if you meant what you said and you're actually trying to understand and are stuck getting to the answer most of us have found (i.e. the fastlane is about freedom), good on you. It's a mark of intelligence to hold a stance but then look for arguments that erode at it to either prove or disprove it rather than look for arguments that strengthen it, normally seeking opinion from an audience biased in your favor.

That being said, I took a bit of an issue with the above statement for a few reasons and I'll break it down piece by piece to help explain my rationale.

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.
The fastlane is less about speed (though that is a factor) and more about control. Remember how the definition of someone walking on the sidewalk is essentially someone with no internal locus of control. These are the types that believe everything that happens to them is beyond their control: their money, success, friendships, possessions, skills, everything. They're the ones that believe that if they become wealthy, it's because it's all random -- winning the lottery, being discovered by a talent scout (if you're trying to be a musician or something), getting rich by getting in on a few meme stocks before they explode, or your start-up taking off over night. These are people who only care about the result and neglect the process.

Especially with that last one, no one seems to give a shit about the years in obscurity a successful freelancer or entrepreneur had to go through until they pop off and start really building momentum. But that's also the difference between the slow- and fastlanes; the speed in the fastlane when you start growing once you get through those initial barriers (sometimes it can take months but usually it takes years) is exceptionally quicker compared to the slowlane or sidewalk. But again, that's also the lane with the most control. While MJ uses the sidewalk, slowlane, and fastlane as devices to explain his points, speed is used as an illustration but the point is finding freedom. At least that was my interpretation of it.
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.
So you're the oldest you've ever been at 19 so anyone five years older than you can seem much older or ought to have their lives together in a certain way or whatever. I'll grant that because of that, this has probably skewed your perception and that's okay, I was the same way. But being in your late 20s/early 30s is still really young in the grand scheme of things. And regardless if you're a fastlaner or not, most of one's 20s is just bumbling around like an overgrown toddler as we try to figure out who we are, what we want out of life, and how we'll go about getting it. Sometimes people who are successful early on crash and burn before they hit 30. Think of all the actors and musicians who got discovered in their teens, became multimillionaires before 20, and are now penniless with drug issues. Perhaps if they had a bit more wisdom, they would've handled that wealth better but who's to say (not to mention there are plenty of people who got a later start and still crashed and burned.. but I digress).

I think it's a bit unfair to compare MJ's story with the 20-something's story he mentions because everyone's journey -- whether in life or the fastlane -- is different. Some people find what clicks for them faster than others. Some people (like myself) built up momentum and were doing well, then life (and poor adaptations to it) happens and you're trying to restart again. But both of them managed to "make it" well before the usual retirement age of 65+ OR the ultimate "never" most people succumb to. Sometimes when you're younger, you have all the ingredients but poor execution.. or you've got great execution but not enough ingredients. The market's always changing, the world's always shifting, some of us adapt better than others, some of us know how to ride those waves better than others. But just like I said before, once it clicks, it clicks. And if you want it to click faster, you gotta hustle it out a lot more and be observant as F*ck, analyzing what's working and what's not. And if you're not going as fast as you'd like, find the roadblocks and clear them. But no matter what vehicle or system you choose to generate wealth, you will never get into the fastlane if you don't try and strive to improve on it. That last part is the rub; people expect to try once and then if it doesn't work out, "f*ck it, this isn't for me."

Again, it's about control and accepting that while there's plenty of bullshit life throws at you, it's your reaction that matters. Are you going to let those factors beat you down or stand up and keep pressing towards your goal? That's what separates the fastlaners from the rest: they understand the only true failure is giving up.
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.
This is a very bold claim from someone who has yet to start their entrepreneurial journey. I don't know how you can make such a confident assertion "in retrospect" when you do not have that experience to look back on. But let's talk about misery and suffering for a second and the idea that the trial-and-error of entrepreneurship is "pissing away all your youth to have freedom."

So I'm not nearly as wealthy as I'd like to be so I'm not claiming to have "made it." I got a ways to go but I can feel it in my bones that I'm closer now more than ever (and that's been after years of fiddle f*cking around with the systems I've been building and finally everything's really starting to click). I was in a fraternity in college, a full-time student, AND I worked full-time AND was dabbling in different little side gigs (I got my first contracts as a freelance writer when I was 20). A lot of my friends worked part-time if at all, partied, and took on loans to go to school.. they'd want me to hang out all the time, go to the bars, get stoned, play video games. And sometimes, being young and wanting to enjoy time with my friends, I'd indulge them. But 95% of the time I was either working on my degree, learning new skills, or trying to make my freelance career work.

A few months before my 23rd birthday, I was finally making enough money to be self-employed. A lot of people tried to dissuade me from my path ("you work too much," "lol it's kinda cute you think you'll be successful as a writer," even my own mother would tell me I'd be more successful working at Walmart) but I didn't listen. Between there and when I turned 26, I either doubled or more than doubled my income year-over-year (26-28 was a bunch of stumbling what with depression and poor adaptations but like I said, that's also a part of the game.. success is almost never a straight trajectory). My critics started shutting up after realizing that even on a very modest salary when I began, I got to work from home and with the people/companies I wanted to, I structured my day as I wanted to, I didn't have to worry about commuting or exchanging five days of my life for two drunken, miserable ones to cope with the other five, and that I didn't have to prostrate myself to a middle manager to get a 1% raise. And even though, revenue-wise, I'm not doing as well as what I was a few years ago, I still have all that freedom that my 9-to-5 friends complain to me about how badly they want.

To me (and perhaps a lot of others on this forum), it's not the building of an entrepreneurial system that's miserable but the wageslavery of modern life. It's depressing to think of trading your life's time for fixed amount of pay (like an hourly wage) and being reliant on that sole source of income. A lot of people woke up to how even their salaried jobs can be ripped out from under them what with COVID. All of a sudden what was "safe" and "made sense" and "the right decision" became none of those things. And guess who all my friends and family who struggled came crawling to? The very person they judged, made fun of, and looked down upon because he didn't "spend his youth" the way they wanted me to. And I'm not even 30 yet lol I still got plenty of time.

But again, this is a core premise of the book (and if you look at other really high-quality books on entrepreneurship and building wealth, they say the same thing). It's not about the money, it's about the process. You cannot have wealth without a process to produce value (MJ's argument on production vs. consumption deficits), ideally for as many people as possible (MJ's explanation of scale and magnitude). You cannot get without giving. Yeah, sometimes the process sucks.. a lot of it is spent in frustration trying to solve the problems that crop up. BUT IF YOU DO NOT LOVE THE PROCESS OF CREATING VALUE, NO MATTER ITS UPS AND DOWNS, YOU WILL NEVER BECOME WEALTHY BY YOUR OWN CONTROL.

You gotta take ownership of your life, bud. What terrifies you more: being trapped in the mold society builds for you and encourages you to live a mediocre life only being given the minimum to keep you from revolting.. or trying to forge your own path and that, despite its hardships, you will ultimately find more pleasure, freedom, and fulfillment on the other side? If the choice isn't obvious yet, I encourage you to really do some soul searching, not just for why you're in this community (unless to just troll and judge us -- which I can guarantee you, we've all dealt with it from people much closer to us) but what you want out of life.

But like other people have said, regardless of money, if you're miserable now, you're gonna be miserable regardless of how many commas are in your bank statement. And you gotta dive deep and get really uncomfortable to shift that paradigm. But I suppose that's whether or not you actually want to do the work or just have it handed to you. I hope you're the kind of guy that prefers the former.
 
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MJ DeMarco

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So before I respond, I just want to recognize the absolute size one's balls have to be to start a thread like this calling out the creator of this community on the belief system he won the majority of us over with. Granted, a lot of your own mindset seems to be rife with circular logic and excuse-making though I'll also grant that if you meant what you said and you're actually trying to understand and are stuck getting to the answer most of us have found (i.e. the fastlane is about freedom), good on you. It's a mark of intelligence to hold a stance but then look for arguments that erode at it to either prove or disprove it rather than look for arguments that strengthen it, normally seeking opinion from an audience biased in your favor.

That being said, I took a bit of an issue with the above statement for a few reasons and I'll break it down piece by piece to help explain my rationale.


The fastlane is less about speed (though that is a factor) and more about control. Remember how the definition of someone walking on the sidewalk is essentially someone with no internal locus of control. These are the types that believe everything that happens to them is beyond their control: their money, success, friendships, possessions, skills, everything. They're the ones that believe that if they become wealthy, it's because it's all random -- winning the lottery, being discovered by a talent scout (if you're trying to be a musician or something), getting rich by getting in on a few meme stocks before they explode, or your start-up taking off over night. These are people who only care about the result and neglect the process.

Especially with that last one, no one seems to give a shit about the years in obscurity a successful freelancer or entrepreneur had to go through until they pop off and start really building momentum. But that's also the difference between the slow- and fastlanes; the speed in the fastlane when you start growing once you get through those initial barriers (sometimes it can take months but usually it takes years) is exceptionally quicker compared to the slowlane or sidewalk. But again, that's also the lane with the most control. While MJ uses the sidewalk, slowlane, and fastlane as devices to explain his points, speed is used as an illustration but the point is finding freedom. At least that was my interpretation of it.

So you're the oldest you've ever been at 19 so anyone five years older than you can seem much older or ought to have their lives together in a certain way or whatever. I'll grant that because of that, this has probably skewed your perception and that's okay, I was the same way. But being in your late 20s/early 30s is still really young in the grand scheme of things. And regardless if you're a fastlaner or not, most of one's 20s is just bumbling around like an overgrown toddler as we try to figure out who we are, what we want out of life, and how we'll go about getting it. Sometimes people who are successful early on crash and burn before they hit 30. Think of all the actors and musicians who got discovered in their teens, became multimillionaires before 20, and are now penniless with drug issues. Perhaps if they had a bit more wisdom, they would've handled that wealth better but who's to say (not to mention there are plenty of people who got a later start and still crashed and burned.. but I digress).

I think it's a bit unfair to compare MJ's story with the 20-something's story he mentions because everyone's journey -- whether in life or the fastlane -- is different. Some people find what clicks for them faster than others. Some people (like myself) built up momentum and were doing well, then life (and poor adaptations to it) happens and you're trying to restart again. But both of them managed to "make it" well before the usual retirement age of 65+ OR the ultimate "never" most people succumb to. Sometimes when you're younger, you have all the ingredients but poor execution.. or you've got great execution but not enough ingredients. The market's always changing, the world's always shifting, some of us adapt better than others, some of us know how to ride those waves better than others. But just like I said before, once it clicks, it clicks. And if you want it to click faster, you gotta hustle it out a lot more and be observant as f*ck, analyzing what's working and what's not. And if you're not going as fast as you'd like, find the roadblocks and clear them. But no matter what vehicle or system you choose to generate wealth, you will never get into the fastlane if you don't try and strive to improve on it. That last part is the rub; people expect to try once and then if it doesn't work out, "f*ck it, this isn't for me."

Again, it's about control and accepting that while there's plenty of bullshit life throws at you, it's your reaction that matters. Are you going to let those factors beat you down or stand up and keep pressing towards your goal? That's what separates the fastlaners from the rest: they understand the only true failure is giving up.

This is a very bold claim from someone who has yet to start their entrepreneurial journey. I don't know how you can make such a confident assertion "in retrospect" when you do not have that experience to look back on. But let's talk about misery and suffering for a second and the idea that the trial-and-error of entrepreneurship is "pissing away all your youth to have freedom."

So I'm not nearly as wealthy as I'd like to be so I'm not claiming to have "made it." I got a ways to go but I can feel it in my bones that I'm closer now more than ever (and that's been after years of fiddle f*cking around with the systems I've been building and finally everything's really starting to click). I was in a fraternity in college, a full-time student, AND I worked full-time AND was dabbling in different little side gigs (I got my first contracts as a freelance writer when I was 20). A lot of my friends worked part-time if at all, partied, and took on loans to go to school.. they'd want me to hang out all the time, go to the bars, get stoned, play video games. And sometimes, being young and wanting to enjoy time with my friends, I'd indulge them. But 95% of the time I was either working on my degree, learning new skills, or trying to make my freelance career work.

A few months before my 23rd birthday, I was finally making enough money to be self-employed. A lot of people tried to dissuade me from my path ("you work too much," "lol it's kinda cute you think you'll be successful as a writer," even my own mother would tell me I'd be more successful working at Walmart) but I didn't listen. Between there and when I turned 26, I either doubled or more than doubled my income year-over-year (26-28 was a bunch of stumbling what with depression and poor adaptations but like I said, that's also a part of the game.. success is almost never a straight trajectory). My critics started shutting up after realizing that even on a very modest salary when I began, I got to work from home and with the people/companies I wanted to, I structured my day as I wanted to, I didn't have to worry about commuting or exchanging five days of my life for two drunken, miserable ones to cope with the other five, and that I didn't have to prostrate myself to a middle manager to get a 1% raise. And even though, revenue-wise, I'm not doing as well as what I was a few years ago, I still have all that freedom that my 9-to-5 friends complain to me about how badly they want.

To me (and perhaps a lot of others on this forum), it's not the building of an entrepreneurial system that's miserable but the wageslavery of modern life. It's depressing to think of trading your life's time for fixed amount of pay (like an hourly wage) and being reliant on that sole source of income. A lot of people woke up to how even their salaried jobs can be ripped out from under them what with COVID. All of a sudden what was "safe" and "made sense" and "the right decision" became none of those things. And guess who all my friends and family who struggled came crawling to? The very person they judged, made fun of, and looked down upon because he didn't "spend his youth" the way they wanted me to. And I'm not even 30 yet lol I still got plenty of time.

But again, this is a core premise of the book (and if you look at other really high-quality books on entrepreneurship and building wealth, they say the same thing). It's not about the money, it's about the process. You cannot have wealth without a process to produce value (MJ's argument on production vs. consumption deficits), ideally for as many people as possible (MJ's explanation of scale and magnitude). You cannot get without giving. Yeah, sometimes the process sucks.. a lot of it is spent in frustration trying to solve the problems that crop up. BUT IF YOU DO NOT LOVE THE PROCESS OF CREATING VALUE, NO MATTER ITS UPS AND DOWNS, YOU WILL NEVER BECOME WEALTHY BY YOUR OWN CONTROL.

You gotta take ownership of your life, bud. What terrifies you more: being trapped in the mold society builds for you and encourages you to live a mediocre life only being given the minimum to keep you from revolting.. or trying to forge your own path and that, despite its hardships, you will ultimately find more pleasure, freedom, and fulfillment on the other side? If the choice isn't obvious yet, I encourage you to really do some soul searching, not just for why you're in this community (unless to just troll and judge us -- which I can guarantee you, we've all dealt with it from people much closer to us) but what you want out of life.

But like other people have said, regardless of money, if you're miserable now, you're gonna be miserable regardless of how many commas are in your bank statement. And you gotta dive deep and get really uncomfortable to shift that paradigm. But I suppose that's whether or not you actually want to do the work or just have it handed to you. I hope you're the kind of guy that prefers the former.

Awesome take, took this thread over the threshold into GOLD.
 

Metz

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Awesome take, took this thread over the threshold into GOLD.
Just doing my part.

AND WITH THAT.. back to work.

tenor.gif
 

Saad Khan

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Keep going. The wise say it's a journey, not an end game.
Agreed, my beliefs aren't matured yet, they are very flexible at the moment. Not to flatter, but we young folks need people like you.
 
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Last edited:

Saad Khan

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If you succeed, you will gain confidence, money, connections and resources to do more with your life.

If you fail, you will gain experience and become a stronger, more intelligent, better person.

That’s a win-win.

Nothing but pure upside to that bet.

I’ll take it every time.

Keep iterating. Keep growing.
"Mistakes are meant to be made"
-Some random thought, 2021
 

JUAREZ

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Omg this thread is amazing. Thank you all for your responses. This thread is full with gold nuggets.
 

Kid

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So a quick tip:
"Why retire??"

Longer explanation:
Make a business that you would want to work at for as long
as your brain can do coherent things.
At this stage its not about money anymore,
it's about what freaking cool thing i/we can do next.
 
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Ing

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4 weeks ago I met a man at an offroad riding event.
He s about my age (55) and describes himself as an entrepreneur.
I had some hours of speaking and enjoyed it.
He has about 5 multiple million dollar businesses.
He makes about 4 days holiday a week and works a shitload. Drives 1000s miles a week to swing from work to joy.

I m sure, he had to work not one more minut, when he wanted.

“Its not ever about money“ his words.

I think he s the first real fastliner I met in real life.
 
D

DeletedUser84644

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So before I respond, I just want to recognize the absolute size one's balls have to be to start a thread like this calling out the creator of this community on the belief system he won the majority of us over with. Granted, a lot of your own mindset seems to be rife with circular logic and excuse-making though I'll also grant that if you meant what you said and you're actually trying to understand and are stuck getting to the answer most of us have found (i.e. the fastlane is about freedom), good on you. It's a mark of intelligence to hold a stance but then look for arguments that erode at it to either prove or disprove it rather than look for arguments that strengthen it, normally seeking opinion from an audience biased in your favor.

That being said, I took a bit of an issue with the above statement for a few reasons and I'll break it down piece by piece to help explain my rationale.


The fastlane is less about speed (though that is a factor) and more about control. Remember how the definition of someone walking on the sidewalk is essentially someone with no internal locus of control. These are the types that believe everything that happens to them is beyond their control: their money, success, friendships, possessions, skills, everything. They're the ones that believe that if they become wealthy, it's because it's all random -- winning the lottery, being discovered by a talent scout (if you're trying to be a musician or something), getting rich by getting in on a few meme stocks before they explode, or your start-up taking off over night. These are people who only care about the result and neglect the process.

Especially with that last one, no one seems to give a shit about the years in obscurity a successful freelancer or entrepreneur had to go through until they pop off and start really building momentum. But that's also the difference between the slow- and fastlanes; the speed in the fastlane when you start growing once you get through those initial barriers (sometimes it can take months but usually it takes years) is exceptionally quicker compared to the slowlane or sidewalk. But again, that's also the lane with the most control. While MJ uses the sidewalk, slowlane, and fastlane as devices to explain his points, speed is used as an illustration but the point is finding freedom. At least that was my interpretation of it.

So you're the oldest you've ever been at 19 so anyone five years older than you can seem much older or ought to have their lives together in a certain way or whatever. I'll grant that because of that, this has probably skewed your perception and that's okay, I was the same way. But being in your late 20s/early 30s is still really young in the grand scheme of things. And regardless if you're a fastlaner or not, most of one's 20s is just bumbling around like an overgrown toddler as we try to figure out who we are, what we want out of life, and how we'll go about getting it. Sometimes people who are successful early on crash and burn before they hit 30. Think of all the actors and musicians who got discovered in their teens, became multimillionaires before 20, and are now penniless with drug issues. Perhaps if they had a bit more wisdom, they would've handled that wealth better but who's to say (not to mention there are plenty of people who got a later start and still crashed and burned.. but I digress).

I think it's a bit unfair to compare MJ's story with the 20-something's story he mentions because everyone's journey -- whether in life or the fastlane -- is different. Some people find what clicks for them faster than others. Some people (like myself) built up momentum and were doing well, then life (and poor adaptations to it) happens and you're trying to restart again. But both of them managed to "make it" well before the usual retirement age of 65+ OR the ultimate "never" most people succumb to. Sometimes when you're younger, you have all the ingredients but poor execution.. or you've got great execution but not enough ingredients. The market's always changing, the world's always shifting, some of us adapt better than others, some of us know how to ride those waves better than others. But just like I said before, once it clicks, it clicks. And if you want it to click faster, you gotta hustle it out a lot more and be observant as f*ck, analyzing what's working and what's not. And if you're not going as fast as you'd like, find the roadblocks and clear them. But no matter what vehicle or system you choose to generate wealth, you will never get into the fastlane if you don't try and strive to improve on it. That last part is the rub; people expect to try once and then if it doesn't work out, "f*ck it, this isn't for me."

Again, it's about control and accepting that while there's plenty of bullshit life throws at you, it's your reaction that matters. Are you going to let those factors beat you down or stand up and keep pressing towards your goal? That's what separates the fastlaners from the rest: they understand the only true failure is giving up.

This is a very bold claim from someone who has yet to start their entrepreneurial journey. I don't know how you can make such a confident assertion "in retrospect" when you do not have that experience to look back on. But let's talk about misery and suffering for a second and the idea that the trial-and-error of entrepreneurship is "pissing away all your youth to have freedom."

So I'm not nearly as wealthy as I'd like to be so I'm not claiming to have "made it." I got a ways to go but I can feel it in my bones that I'm closer now more than ever (and that's been after years of fiddle f*cking around with the systems I've been building and finally everything's really starting to click). I was in a fraternity in college, a full-time student, AND I worked full-time AND was dabbling in different little side gigs (I got my first contracts as a freelance writer when I was 20). A lot of my friends worked part-time if at all, partied, and took on loans to go to school.. they'd want me to hang out all the time, go to the bars, get stoned, play video games. And sometimes, being young and wanting to enjoy time with my friends, I'd indulge them. But 95% of the time I was either working on my degree, learning new skills, or trying to make my freelance career work.

A few months before my 23rd birthday, I was finally making enough money to be self-employed. A lot of people tried to dissuade me from my path ("you work too much," "lol it's kinda cute you think you'll be successful as a writer," even my own mother would tell me I'd be more successful working at Walmart) but I didn't listen. Between there and when I turned 26, I either doubled or more than doubled my income year-over-year (26-28 was a bunch of stumbling what with depression and poor adaptations but like I said, that's also a part of the game.. success is almost never a straight trajectory). My critics started shutting up after realizing that even on a very modest salary when I began, I got to work from home and with the people/companies I wanted to, I structured my day as I wanted to, I didn't have to worry about commuting or exchanging five days of my life for two drunken, miserable ones to cope with the other five, and that I didn't have to prostrate myself to a middle manager to get a 1% raise. And even though, revenue-wise, I'm not doing as well as what I was a few years ago, I still have all that freedom that my 9-to-5 friends complain to me about how badly they want.

To me (and perhaps a lot of others on this forum), it's not the building of an entrepreneurial system that's miserable but the wageslavery of modern life. It's depressing to think of trading your life's time for fixed amount of pay (like an hourly wage) and being reliant on that sole source of income. A lot of people woke up to how even their salaried jobs can be ripped out from under them what with COVID. All of a sudden what was "safe" and "made sense" and "the right decision" became none of those things. And guess who all my friends and family who struggled came crawling to? The very person they judged, made fun of, and looked down upon because he didn't "spend his youth" the way they wanted me to. And I'm not even 30 yet lol I still got plenty of time.

But again, this is a core premise of the book (and if you look at other really high-quality books on entrepreneurship and building wealth, they say the same thing). It's not about the money, it's about the process. You cannot have wealth without a process to produce value (MJ's argument on production vs. consumption deficits), ideally for as many people as possible (MJ's explanation of scale and magnitude). You cannot get without giving. Yeah, sometimes the process sucks.. a lot of it is spent in frustration trying to solve the problems that crop up. BUT IF YOU DO NOT LOVE THE PROCESS OF CREATING VALUE, NO MATTER ITS UPS AND DOWNS, YOU WILL NEVER BECOME WEALTHY BY YOUR OWN CONTROL.

You gotta take ownership of your life, bud. What terrifies you more: being trapped in the mold society builds for you and encourages you to live a mediocre life only being given the minimum to keep you from revolting.. or trying to forge your own path and that, despite its hardships, you will ultimately find more pleasure, freedom, and fulfillment on the other side? If the choice isn't obvious yet, I encourage you to really do some soul searching, not just for why you're in this community (unless to just troll and judge us -- which I can guarantee you, we've all dealt with it from people much closer to us) but what you want out of life.

But like other people have said, regardless of money, if you're miserable now, you're gonna be miserable regardless of how many commas are in your bank statement. And you gotta dive deep and get really uncomfortable to shift that paradigm. But I suppose that's whether or not you actually want to do the work or just have it handed to you. I hope you're the kind of guy that prefers the former.
The problem I have is that I'm basing my happiness on conditions. I feel like I won't be happy to my maximum potential without wealth. And I say that because there's a lot of things I want in life that require F*ck loads of money to afford. I essentially want to get to a point where I feel like I have an endless amount of money, where I can spend on and on and on again and never run out of money. The problem with that is that's not really realistic. Because that's just not rich, that's filthy stinking Rich. As rich as how these guys live:
View: https://youtu.be/qXBB9NQzAxE


If it's already hard enough to get rich, to get super filthy stinking rich must be even more on STEROIDS.

Basically this is what I want in my life: nice house, nice car, private jets, yachts, near endless amount of money and time to spend. That's my fantasy. But am I prepared to do the work to be filthy stinking rich? No, because that would take twice as long as it'd typically take for someone to become rich, but not filthy stinking Rich. And why do I have these desires? Because I know that it's possible to get rich. Before I was exposed to all of the Fastlane shit I wasn't thinking about living lavishly, I was thinking but how to have a decent living because I was subconsciously convinced that being rich was unattainable for me... Until I was exposed to the fastlane. The fastlane created this insatiable lust I have to reach that level of wealth. However because I cannot completely control the outcome of that, I will have to settle with whatever outcome I get with the fastlane. If I get a 100 million exit despite wanting a 10 billion dollar exit, then I'll have to settle for less and just accept that. Otherwise I'll spend my whole life attaining such an outlandish goal.
 

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