Appendix A: Reader Reflections - The Millionaire Fastlane

APPENDIX A: Reader Reflections

MJ, I'm a high school teacher … how do I go Fastlane?

Well, first understand that it isn't going to happen on your current road. While I don't suggest quitting your job (yet), I can suggest that you open up another parallel road that you can travel. Is there anything in your line of work that defines a problem that you can address? What if you invented a product that every school in the country needed for their curriculum? What if you wrote a book that was targeted to teachers? Could you start your own private school?

If you can't identify a need parallel to your existing road, are there other problems that you can identify, on a different road? Perhaps a student can enlighten a need that needs to be solved. Do you hear their complaints? Their issues, trials, and toils? Needs are everywhere, and they don't have to be viewed from your current road.

Roads are opened only when you knock on their doors. Additionally, as a teacher you have unprecedented access to time that most others don't. Do you know how many people would love to have three months off in the summer? Leverage this time into a new road that can dawn a Fastlane.

MJ, my neighbor has owned a business for 19 years. He's never home, he never has time for anything, and he certainly isn't rich. Owning a business doesn't guarantee wealth!

I agree. Your neighbor's problem is he's on a road that doesn't route to wealth because it most likely fails the Commandment of Time. If your business cannot divorce from your time through a money-tree seedling, your business may really be a dead-end job.

MJ, I currently have $12,000 in debt and am barely making ends meet. Where do I start?

Start by understanding the source of that debt. Why does it exist? How did it get there and accumulate $12,000? Your debt accumulation wasn't an event, but a process that happened over many years. You don't just wake up one morning and have $12K in debt! Your choices led to your debt-the many choices to buy on credit over paying cash. You chose to buy those hideous clothes in the closet. You chose the fancy car. You chose to run with the Joneses. Or perhaps you live in a house that's just too expensive and you have paid for everyday staples like groceries using your credit card. Escaping credit card debt requires a commitment to process over event, except in the reverse. Repent from the Sidewalk and make new choices that are designed to keep your debt from growing, or better, to get it declining. Pay cash for everything. If you can't pay cash, you can't afford it.

Second, focus on your income. Face it. You need to make more money. If you owned a business that profited $15,000 every single month, would that debt suddenly seem like such a burden? No, it wouldn't. You'd have it paid off in weeks, not decades. Income is the answer, with a temporary mandate at expense reduction to curb debt growth.

Commit to starting a need-based business that you can use to expand income and expose yourself to the Fastlane wealth equation. Yes, you might need to get your hands dirty doing something that most others would find repulsive. You will need to do what most others won't. You either want it badly enough, or not at all.

MJ, my wife and I are traveling two different roads. She is a lifelong Slowlaner consumed with saving every dime and living a life of frugality, and I am a serial entrepreneur who wants a little more from life. My problem is my “serialness” hasn't produced any success other than turmoil in my relationship.

Has your wife read this book? If so, and she doesn't agree with Fastlane philosophy nor want to participate, you might have tough decisions to make in your future. Your spouse is your lifelong partner, and if your roads don't run parallel, it could be rough riding ahead. Like our choices and their horsepower, relationships also have trajectory. Today's road that diverges one degree from your partner's road will be divergent 90 degrees years from now.

I'm not interested in relationships that are “good enough” but relationships that empower both individuals to be the best they can be. I can't speculate on the strength of your relationship; only you can do that. Can you and your spouse compromise on some common tenets that can bridge your divide of philosophy? Like the value of time and the importance of financial literacy? Like the ruinous effects of parasitic debt? Perhaps these common grounds are strong enough to keep your roads bound together for a common goal.

And finally, your “serialness” might be a problem. Are you a polygamist opportunist balancing 10 different opportunities? Your business is a spouse. Quit cheating and give one business all of your attention. You will get out what you put in, and rationing your time among mistresses is a slow prescription to lackluster incomes and asset values.

MJ, what about real estate? You don't mention it a lot … is it Fastlane?

I consider real estate “Wealth 1.0,” and for it to be Fastlane requires effort and manipulation of the Five Commandments. Namely, are you a real estate investor because of need or because it's just something you know? A successful real estate investor flips a house because it needs rehab. A successful real estate investor develops an apartment complex because the neighborhood needs it.

Additionally, real estate possesses magnitude but lacks reach. That means for its success, you have to engage in multiple successes, or intended iteration. One tiny property isn't going to make you rich, but 200 accumulated over the years might. Accumulation doesn't happen in a few short years, but many. I never meta 22-year-old multimillionaire real estate investor simply because it is a slower Fastlane with asset values that cannot be manipulated as easily as your own self created business. Asset value is limited by magnitude, which is why the richest real estate investors are not only older, but they focus on high-dollar properties. You don't see Donald Trump building single-family homes, but high-rises. Magnitude. Real estate possesses an excellent time detachment component that survives time. Only you can determine if real estate is a Fastlane road that you want to travel.

MJ, are you saying I can't get wealthy working four hours a week?

Sure you can, because you define freedom within your wealth trinity. If wealth to you is traveling the world with $100 in your wallet and you have a knack for getting by on subterfuge, schemes, shitty once-a-day customer service, barter, and other nefarious practices, go for it. If you feel you can own your life and take care of your family's needs on $1,000 a month, go for it. Were there times when I worked four hours a week? Absolutely, and many times less! The difference was, I invested tons of work to get there, and I wasn't earning $1,000/month, but $100,000/month. I never met a multimillionaire who found success investing four hours a week from start to finish. It's a one-way street: Four-hour workweeks are fruit from money trees, but money trees cannot grow from four-hour workweeks!

MJ, what about affiliate marketing? Is that “Fastlane”? I know a few guys who are making good money as affiliate marketers.

Affiliate marketing (AM) violates the Commandments of Entry and Control, and if you can subvert those restrictions, it can be Fastlane. Unfortunately, by itself, AM is not Fastlane. Oh blasphemy! I've been castigated on some affiliate marketing forums for my stance regarding affiliate marketing. Funny how I get labeled the pinhead and those guys spend their days trolling the Internet looking to peddle some Fastlaner's product (like mine!).

Sure, I don't ignore that many affiliate marketers make decent money; likewise, I don't ignore that many lottery winners do too. And yes, there are some career network marketers who are millionaires. My viewpoint is not absolute but about probabilities. Whenever you violate control, you relinquish control. When an affiliate marketer joins my company and hocks my wares, he gives me control and I leverage weak entry. Whenever you violate entry, you must be exceptional.

For every affiliate marketer earning $30,000 a month there are 300,000 earning less than $100. For every network marketer who earns $50,000 a month there are 500,000 making less than $100. For every lottery winner who wins $1 million, there are one million losers. Probabilities! If you think you can defy probability and be exceptional, go for it. And congratulations! I can think of several exceptional affiliate marketers worth millions. It's not impossible if you have solid process! Experience in non-Fastlane disciplines doesn't mean that the discipline is worthless or to be avoided. I am about mathematics and probabilities-that's why my bread isn't in someone else's basket. Affiliate marketing is a powerful mechanism to grow your business; that's why I advocate creating affiliate programs that the masses will want to join, not joining them.

MJ, do you suggest I skip college?

It depends on its cost, your maturity, your goals, and its marginal benefits. If you want to be a doctor, engineer, or a nurse, yes, you need school! If you want to invent a product that needs significant engineering, you're probably going to need college! Be careful of education servitude and know that a college education is not a prerequisite to wealth because formal education can sometimes work against you. The velocity of any education varies by its intended purpose and its cost. I went to college and I have no regrets. In other words, I'd go again.

MJ, my upline sponsor said you're a dream stealer and that your viewpoint on network marketing is flawed.

Great, then keep taking advice from him. Let me know how that goes in five years.

I have a wife and two children to support and I can't afford to quit my job. Where can I find time to go Fastlane?

Time isn't the issue-desire and passion are. You are deep in the trap because you have responsibilities. This is how the Slowlane wins and keeps you amenable to its plan. To break free, you need to commit and draw from an insatiable passion personal to you and your family. That passion will find you the time, whether it's early mornings, late evenings, or on the weekends. Without burning passion, your desire manifests itself as only interest, and not commitment. Committed Fastlaners build wealth, while interested Fastlaners build excuses.

MJ, when you bought your first Lamborghini, did that make you happy? I'm thinking about buying a Porsche.

Cars and other expensive toys will not make you happy. I was already happy when I bought my first Lambo, and it reflected my reward (fastlanesuperchargerR). Happiness evolved from the process of the achievement, while the purchase was the reward and the event. Achievement is a process and it's the cake of your experience. Your process of repeated and impassioned achievement toward your specified goals will make you happy, not a car! And when that happens, you might find yourself shocked into the reality that that dream car is no longer desired.

I'm a single mom and a dental hygienist. How do I go Fastlane?

Regardless of your profession, going “Fastlane” lies in the commandments NECST (Need, Entry, Control, Scale, and Time). Can you create a business that solves a need on a massive scale? On your existing road (dental), is there a need in the dental industry that would help thousands? If you can't expose a need or a solution respective to your industry, you have to expand your mindset to the world and the other roads that serve them. Remember, you aren't just a dental hygienist; you're a mother, a woman, and a daughter. There are hundreds of roads in those subsets. What are you passionate about? Politics? Natural living? Gardening? Are there unmet needs therein? If you can't figure out a new road, let a problem that needs a solution uncover your road.

Starting a business is risky. Is there any way to minimize that risk?

Yes. Get in business for the right reason, and the right reason is to fill a void in the marketplace or to do something better than anyone else. Business becomes risky when entrepreneurs start companies based on flawed, selfish motives. Remember, strangers don't care about your dreams. We are inherently selfish, seeking to satisfy our needs and wants. Risk is escalated when you get into business without a defined need, brand, or purpose. Risk is escalated when you get into business doing what you love versus doing what needs to be done. Risk is escalated when you bequeath control over major business functions to someone else. Yes, business is a risk because entrepreneurs lose perspective on the fundamental purpose of business, and that is to solve problems and help your fellow man. Profit follows-it doesn't lead.

MJ, it's clear that you are a control freak. Since the Fastlane is predicated on passive income from interest, how do you deal with interest rates since you cannot control them? If interest rates are zero, doesn't that invalidate the Fastlane?

Yes, when it comes to my financial plan I'm a control freak, and you should be too. If you aren't in control, then you might become dependent on someone else for your comfort and security. Not for me. Second, I agree that I cannot control interest rates. However, your number (chapter 37) should be large enough to accommodate variances in interest rates. Even in this low-interest-rate environment, I still can find safe, predictable 5% returns because I think globally, not locally. If your nest-egg number is predicated on a 10% yearly return, you are fooling yourself and will become susceptible to interest rate pains. Set the bar low enough to expect variance.

MJ, can't a good mentor be a form of a wealth chauffeur?

Mentors are excellent resources if they're sought for guidance and not as personal escorts. I've had the opportunity to mentor some individuals, and a few weren't genuinely interested in hard work or sacrifice; they wanted someone to absorb risk and hand hold through the process. Mentorship is not about outsourcing process, but about providing guidance as you forge your own journey. Good mentors are accelerative tailwinds!

MJ, aren't you being hypocritical by scourging “material extravagance” and yet describing the Fastlane by material items like Lamborghinis and big houses?

No, because the Fastlane isn't about buying stuff but about freedom, and the freedom to afford whatever you want. There's a difference between being imprisoned by your stuff and buying stuff you can afford. If you can drop $300,000 for a car and not be a shackled to the purchase, go for it.

MJ, I'm in a rut and can't seem to break free. I stock shelves during the day and wash dishes at night. I can't seem to make headway.

Change starts with your beliefs, because they dictate your future choices. If you want to make headway, you have to believe you can make headway. You have to choose to start your process and that starts with a simple choice. Start making better choices, and your first choice should be an analysis of your past choices. Why are you where you are? What has been treasonous to your life that has put you at a stainless steel sink washing dishes?

Second, you need to personally reflect on how you can help others within your talents. If you lack talent, you need to acquire it. You can become an expert at anything with enough study and application. This is fact. Unfortunately, such dedication comes with a price and it often involves turning off the TV and making a sacrifice of immediate pleasures in lieu of a more favorable future.

I don't care if you're scrubbing toilets; if you solve the needs of many, you will solve the needs of one. And that one person? That one person is you.