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I feel a personal transformation coming on.

I think there is some Buddhist quote that says that wisdom can come from the most unlikely places.  And while this transformational wisdom is coming from a book (which isn’t all that unusual), it’s the title of the book that isn’t exactly what I’d call transformational.  The Millionaire Fastlane: Crack the Code to Wealth and Live Rich for a Lifetime by MJ DeMarco (@MJDeMarco)  has a title that says “get rich quick” all over it–and I don’t go for that.  It’s got a picture of a Lamborghini (which actually plays a pivotal role in the book)–and I don’t go for that, either.

So how in the world was I going to get transformed by a book that I probably wouldn’t have picked up if it weren’t recommended to me by a friend and then showed up for review a few days later?

Will the Regular, “Everyman” Business Success Please Stop Showing Me What’s Possible?

As I write this, Millionaire Fastlane has clocked in as the third book I’ve picked up in three days that talks about a “regular guy” who could have been a loser  but had an epiphany about how to make millions, did it and is now writing a book about it as he reflects on his success and decides to share his secrets with the rest of us poor chumps who just haven’t gotten it yet.

Granted, the transformation hasn’t quite happened for me – I’m only on the first couple of chapters that go through MJ’s history as a wanna-be millionaire with wishes and dreams that just weren’t happening.  Of course, just like watching those “I Shouldn’t Be Alive” documentaries, I know that he succeeds in the end, so now I’m just trudging through the story, waiting to see how his story will be different from so many others. I assure you transforming my thinking is the last thing on my mind.

Millionaire Fastlane – 0 to 322 Pages in 60 Seconds

The book is written in eight parts.  Parts one through four introduce us to the author, his story, his obsession with how a young dude got his hands on a Lamborghini before cashing his first Social Security check and grabbing a trophy wife, and why the “get rich slow plan” is a vast conspiracy designed to keep most of society down.

But wait! (Can you feel the transformation coming yet?)  I’ve often joked (without really joking) that I was on the get rich slow plan.  Most of us already know that the phrase “get rich quick” is synonymous with scams, pipe dreams and fools.  So if you don’t sign up for that pitch, isn’t the opposite “get rich slow”?  How can getting rich slow be bad?

In parts five through eight, DeMarco’s aim is to open your eyes to the fact to the fact that hard work, commitment and just seeing the world through the eyes of “production” instead of “consumption” will reveal opportunities that will make your hard work, commitment and patience pay off in exponential spades.

He gives you those in-your-face nuggets of wisdom, delivered using a turbo-toned surfer style.  But don’t underestimate DeMarco’s point.  He’s a man who’s seen the light and he’ll open your eyes to it, using nothing other than mathematical proof, logic and removing the filter of fear that confines so many of us into thinking so much smaller than we are capable of.

Speedy Samples of Thoughts, Quotes and Ideas That Will Transform How You Run Your Business and Your Life

I’ve decided to pull more than a few quotes from the book that will help you see yourself in at least one of the “slow lane” thought patterns.

• Get rich quick on a whim or event is a joke.  Get rich quick on a process is reality.  If you’re servicing clients one by one without a brand or a process, you’ve got a job, not a business.  A business is a process that creates value and has value.
• “Income-poor and income rich share the same result, just different scenery.  More money is not a solution to poor financial management.”  Are you making investments or just spending?  There’s a difference. 
• Society has bastardized the meaning of wealth to incorporate luxury items.  Yet you’ll find that the true wealth experience comes from strong family and relationships with people, fitness, vitality and the joy of physically moving through space and the freedom to do what you like, when you like and with whom you like.  Of course, having lots of money helps grease these skids but it shouldn’t define them.
• Instant gratification is the bait; servitude is the hook. 
• Self-made millions come from self-made luck. “Process creates events that others see as luck.”  If you’re running a business, you are out in the world, not on the couch.  People who are interacting in the world are meeting with opportunity
• To consume richly, produce effectively.  “As a producer, your job is to entice consumers to buy.  Producers get rich. Consumers get poor.”

I can go on and on with these  – the book is loaded with them.  And believe me, they are thought- and life-changing ways of looking at the world.

Read This Even if You’re Not a Lamborghini Lover

Maybe it’s just me, but I could have done without the constant Lamborghini references.  And at the same time, this book so desperately needed a theme to hold the myriad big insights that it contained.  I’m afraid that without the fast car, fast lane, slow lane, sidewalk framework, the message would have been completely lost.

Millionaire Fastlane is a book for the serious business owner who is building a money-making machine.  It’s for the business owner who is committed to living a balanced life and enjoying the fruits of his or her labor.

My thinking about my business, my purpose and my mission has been transformed by this book. The big question now is, where will I make the trade-offs?  And after reading this book, I will see them as trade-offs because now I know the mindset behind real wealth  When you read this book, you’ll know too.

Visit The Millionaire Fastlane to get the first three free chapters of the book as a free download.  (I will tell you that I thought the best chapters of the book start from page 100.)   Millionaire Fastlane also has a Fastlane Forum.  You register for free and dive into lively conversations or just read the blog for updated articles.

From Small Business Trends

Millionaire Fastlane Will Change How You Run Your Business and Live Your Life

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