Chapter 16: Wealth's Shortcut: The Fastlane - The Millionaire Fastlane

CHAPTER 16: WEALTH'S SHORTCUT: THE FASTLANE

People would do better, if they knew better.
~ Jim Rohn

What About Door #3?

Sidewalk or Slowlane? Sacrifice today or tomorrow? You can walk the Sidewalk with no financial plan and convince yourself that the indulgences of today have no consequence for tomorrow, or drive the Slowlane and sacrifice your today for the risk and illusions of a secure tomorrow.

But wait! There is another choice … an alternative, a hybrid financial roadmap that can create wealth fast and slash 40 years from wealth accumulation. “Fast” however is relative; if you're 18 you can be filthy rich by 25. If you're 30, you can be retired by 36. Broke at 48 and you can retire by 54. But is it likely? Risky? If you could play one of three raffles, which would you play?

Raffle Sidewalk:
First prize: $10,000,000 awarded immediately. Your odds of winning: 1 in 6 million (.0000016%)

Raffle Slowlane:
First prize: $500,000 awarded in 40 years. Your odds of winning: 1 in 6 (16%)

Raffle Fastlane:
First prize: $10,000,000 awarded in 6 years. Your odds of winning: 1 in 7 (14%)

Which did you pick? Hopefully Raffle Fastlane because its rewards far exceed the incremental risk of Raffle Slowlane. Raffle Sidewalk is a wasted long shot. Your choice of financial roadmaps-Sidewalk, Slowlane, or Fastlane-is like this hypothetical raffle. Once you understand the roadmaps and their respective wealth equations, you can choose the one that will serve as your compass.

What Is the Fastlane?

The Fastlane is a business and lifestyle strategy characterized by Controllable Unlimited Leverage (CUL), hence creating an optimal environment for rapid wealth creation and extraordinary lifestyles. Definitively, pay attention to these four segments:

1) Controllable Unlimited Leverage (CUL)
Whereas the Slowlane is defined by uncontrollable variables with no leverage, the Fastlane exploits the opposite conditions: maximum control and leverage.

2) Business
Your own business, self-employment, and entrepreneurship are centrist to the Fastlane, much like a job is to the Slowlane.

3) Lifestyle
The Fastlane is a lifestyle choice: a commitment of blended beliefs, processes, and actions.

4) Rapid Wealth Creation
The Fastlane is about creating large sums of wealth rapidly and beyond the confines of “middle class.”

Here is a story that best describes the Fastlane, and yes, this story is inspired from a real story posted on the Internet.

After four long years, I sold my company [THE BUSINESS] for $32 million [RAPID WEALTH CREATION] and I wouldn't change a thing. I'm happy I sold because I wanted to make money fast and transform paper money into real money. This decision changed my life permanently.

Now, I do whatever I want and I'm not the least bit bored. The world is my playground; I travel, I learned two new languages and how to play piano. I play water sports, hike, and snowboard at least a month a year. I own three homes, I watch pro sports and my favorite teams whenever I choose, watch 3–4 movies a week, and read 1–2 books a week. Most of my time is spent with my family, and I literally watch my two daughters grow before my eyes. My family has lived on all four corners of the planet, including Australia and the Caribbean.

Looking back, it wasn't easy. I worked 12–16 hour days for four years, almost always six days a week, and always a few hours on Sunday. We created an awesome service and sold the crap out of it. [THE BUSINESS WITH CUL] I remember tough times, and I had to put every dime of my money into the company … we had less than 50 bucks in our account at least five times.

Except for my family during those startup years, I sacrificed plenty; I canceled cable TV and I temporarily stopped doing a lot of things I enjoyed because I was committed to a goal and a dream of something far greater than a lifetime job. [THE LIFESTYLE]

Now, I am an investor in multiple startup companies and am making an impact I could have never imagined. I have no apologies or regrets. My life rocks and I wouldn't change a thing. If I didn't make a choice to get into business and start a company, I don't know where I'd be.

This story epitomizes the Fastlane. A business was created; a lifestyle grew the business, which opened up the expressway, and the expressway led to extraordinary wealth, which led to freedom. And yes, it isn't for everyone.

Question is: Is it for you?

The Fastlane Mindposts

Like the other roadmaps, the Fastlane Roadmap contains the same mindposts or behavioral characteristics that drive the Fastlaner's actions along the journey. They are:

Debt Perception:
Debt is useful if it allows me to build and grow my system.

Time Perception:
Time is the most important asset I have, far exceeding money.

Education Perception:
The moment you stop learning is the moment you stop growing. Constant expansion of my knowledge and awareness is critical to my journey.

Money Perception:
Money is everywhere, and it's extremely abundant. Money is a reflection of how many lives I've touched. Money reflects the value I've created.

Primary Income Source:
I earn income via my business systems and investments.

Primary Wealth Accelerator:
I make something from nothing. I give birth to assets and make them valuable to the marketplace. Other times, I take existing assets and add value to them.

Wealth Perception:
Build business systems for cash flow and asset valuation.

Wealth Equation:
Wealth = Net Profit + Asset Value

Strategy:
The more I help, the richer I become in time, money, and personal fulfillment.

Destination:
Lifetime passive income, either through business or investments.

Responsibility % Control:
Life is what I make it. My financial plan is entirely my responsibility and I choose how I react to my circumstances.

Life Perception:
My dreams are worth pursuing no matter how outlandish, and I understand that it will take money to make some of those dreams real.

These mindposts are what formulate the Fastlaner's lifestyle. It drives action.

The Fastlane Roadmap: Predisposed to Wealth

The Fastlane Roadmap is predisposed to wealth because it operates under a wealth equation with controllable, unlimited variables, and the mathematical cage of time is removed.

ULL is replaced with CUL.

Correctly exploited, the roadmap reveals a rapid road to wealth via unlimited mathematics evolving via “profit” or “asset value” or both. This rapid wealth accumulation expunges years from the journey to wealth because time is removed or exploited during the process. The Fastlane produces wealth in short periods-millions, sometimes billions of dollars.

Yes, it's true: “Get Rich Quick” exists.

The Shadow Behind “Get Rich Quick”

Successful Fastlaners “Get Rich Quick.”

Don't let those three words scare you; I know when you hear them you're inundated with a flurry of negative associations starting with “scam:” things like “one tiny classified ad” and seminars that cost $5,000, memories of infomercial gurus, foreign lotteries, the Interior Finance Minister from Nigeria who needs help unloading $9 million dollars (USD), and the phony “Bill Gates,” who needs you to “forward this email beta test to everyone” and be rewarded $50,000 in quick cash because, gosh golly, the attorney listed on the letter says so.

“Get Rich Quick” is such an abused phrase that it has no credibility. Beaten and battered, we're numbed to believe it doesn't exist. Like Santa or a unicorn, we're advised, “Get rich quick is a scam!”

I don't blame you, but is it true? Can't you make millions like they say on infomercials?

The distinction is that “get rich schemes” aren't endemic of “Get Rich Quick” but its evil twin, “Get Rich Easy.” “Get Rich Easy” shadows its innocent sibling, leaving a trail of victims to be blamed by its brother. “Get Rich Easy” parades in the limelight and on late night television. It lies, deceives, and casts a mirage of vanity that all desire. Just watch this quick-start video or buy this stock software program, and wham, you will be rich in 10 days! No! That's not “Get Rich Quick” but “Get Rich Easy”-and that only leads to a lighter wallet.

Fastlane success stories embody “Get Rich Quick.” For people to proclaim “It doesn't exist” is another untruth advanced by ignorance. Don't allow Slowlane losers to corrupt truth. Don't concede. Don't make “That only happens to other people” your truth.

Many people have lived “Get Rich Quick” because it was preceded by process.

Tales from the Fastlane

Unless you live in a vacuum, you're already familiar with the Fastlane. When anyone experiences a get-rich-quick event via business, you're witnessing the Fastlane. Here are some Fastlane stories pulled from the headlines:

• The inventor who creates a gadget and sells millions of them to 15 wholesale distributors.
• The guy who builds a cell phone application and sells it 50,000 times.
• The guy who formulates an energy bar to help him stave off hunger and later is offered $192 million for his company.
• The guy who builds a blog and three years later sells it for $4 million to a big pharmaceutical company.
• The woman who invents a mop and sells 500,000 of them on QVC.
• The teenager who builds a Web site that profits $70,000 month and later sells it for millions.
• The guy who patents a product process and then licenses it to a Fortune 500 company and goes on to make $14 million.
• The guy who creates a Web site to help him listen to his favorite basketball team and later sells the company for $5.5 billion.
• The guy who builds a software company and later becomes the richest man on the planet.
• The doctor who researches anti-aging treatments and sells them to a drug company for $700 million.
• The author who writes a book about a teenage wizard and goes on to become a billionaire.
• The gal who manufacturers and sells 20 million undergarments that help women fight body gravity.
• The Internet marketer who earns $150,000/month selling ads.
• The infomercial marketer who remakes an existing product and sells 4 million of the “new, improved” version.
• The guy who creates an energy drink to help him stay hydrated and then sells the company for $530 million.

Hidden “Get Rich Quick” Fastlanes are everywhere if you just look for them.

The Fastlane: Wealth's Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution was a historic period when humans learned how to leverage the speed and efficiency of machine-based manufacturing. Manual labor was replaced in favor of systems, an organized union of distinct parts that coalesced into a specific production outcome. Long and arduous tasks manually handled by humans transformed into mechanization, expelling most human labor out of the production equation. For that era, it was their version of “Get Rich Quick.” Products that formerly took months to manufacture now took days.

Likewise, financial freedom via the Fastlane Roadmap is like an industrial revolution for wealth. The default road to wealth is manual labor, a fight against time and intrinsic value. The rapid road to wealth is to industrialize the wealth process, to systematize it like our ancestors systematized production. The differences between the default road (the Slowlane) and the shortcut (the Fastlane) are best demonstrated in an Egyptian parable.

The Parable of Fastlane Wealth

A great Egyptian pharaoh summons his two young nephews, Chuma and Azur, and he commissions them to a majestic task: Build two monumental pyramids as a tribute to Egypt. Upon completion of each nephew's pyramid, Pharaoh promises each an immediate reward of kingship, retirement amidst riches, and lavish luxury for the rest of their natural lives. Additionally, each nephew must construct his pyramid alone.

Chuma and Azur, both 18, know their daunting task will take years to complete. Nonetheless, each is primed for the challenge and honored by the Pharaoh's directive. They exit Pharaoh's chambers ready to begin the long pyramid-building process.

Azur begins work immediately. He slowly drags large heavy stones into a square formation. After a few months, the base of Azur's pyramid takes shape. Townsfolk gather around Azur's constructive efforts and praise his handiwork. The stones are heavy and difficult to move, and after one year of heavy labor, Azur's perfect square foundation to the pyramid is nearly finished.

But Azur is perplexed. The plot of land that should bear Chuma's pyramid is empty. Not one stone has been laid. No foundation. No dirt engravings. Nothing. It's as barren as it was a year ago when Pharaoh commissioned the job. Confused, Azur visits Chuma's home and finds him in his barn diligently working on a twisted apparatus that resembles some kind of human torture device.

Azur interrupts, “Chuma! What the hell are you doing!? You're supposed to be building Pharaoh a pyramid and you spend your days locked in this barn fiddling with that crazy machine?”

Chuma cracks a smile and says, “I am building a pyramid, leave me alone.”

Azur scoffs, “Yeah, sure you are. You haven't laid one stone in over a year!”

Chuma, engrossed and unfazed by his brother's accusation retorts, “Azur, you're short-sightedness and thirst for wealth have clouded your vision. You build your pyramid and I will build mine.”

As Azur walks away, he chides, “You fool! Pharaoh will hang you in the gallows when he discovers your treason.”

Another year passes and Azur solidifies the base of his pyramid and begins the second level. Except a problem arises. Azur struggles in his progress. The stones are heavy and he cannot raise them to the pyramid's second level. Challenged by his physical limitations, Azur recognizes his weakness: he needs more strength to move heavier stones, and to do so, seeks the counsel of Bennu, Egypt's strongest man. For a fee, Bennu trains Azur to build bigger and stronger muscles. With great strength, Azur anticipates the heavier stones will be easier to lift onto the higher levels.

Meanwhile, Chuma's pyramid plot of land is still barren. Azur assumes his brother has a death wish since, by all appearances, Chuma is violating Pharaoh's mandate. Azur forgets about his brother and his nonexistent pyramid.

Another year passes and Azur's pyramid construction slows to a disheartening crawl. It often takes one month just to place one stone. Moving stones to the upper levels require great strength and Azur spends much of his time working with Bennu to build greater strength.

Additionally, Azur is spending most of his money on counseling fees and the exotic diet required for the training. Azur estimates at his current construction pace, his pyramid will be completed in another 30 years. Unfazed, Azur lauds, “After three years, I've far surpassed my brother. He hasn't placed one stone yet! That fool!”

Then, suddenly, one day while hauling a heavy stone up his pyramid, Azur hears a loud commotion erupting from the town square. The townsfolk, regular observers to his work, abruptly abandon his plot to examine the celebratory fuss. Curious himself, Azur takes a break and leaves to investigate.

Surrounded by a cheering crowd, Chuma trolls up the town square commandeering a 25-foot contraption, a towering machine built from a twisted maze of gantries, wheels, levers, and ropes. As Chuma slowly moves up the village street amidst the buoyant crowd, Azur fears the explanation. After a short trawl to Chuma's barren pyramid plot, Azur's suspicions are confirmed.

Within minutes, Chuma's strange machine starts moving heavy stones and begins to lay the foundation to his pyramid. One after another, the machine effortlessly lifts the stones and softly places them side-by-side into place. Miraculously, the machine requires little effort for Chuma's operation. Crank a wheel attached to a rope and cantilever entwined by a gear system, and bingo! Heavy stones are moved quickly and magically.

While Azur's pyramid foundation took over a year to build, Chuma lines up the foundation to his pyramid within one week. The second level that Azur so arduously struggled with is even more shocking: Chuma's machine does the work 30 times quicker. What took Azur two months takes Chuma's machine two days. After 40 days, Chuma and his machine accomplish as much as Azur's three years of toilsome work.

Azur was destroyed. He spent years doing the heavy lifting while Chuma built a machine to do it for him.

Instead of honoring the machine, Azur vows, “I must get stronger! I must lift heavier stones!” Azur continues the hard labor of pyramid building while Chuma continues to work the crank of his machine.

After eight years, Chuma finishes his pyramid at age 26: three years to build the system and five years to reap the benefits of the system. The great pharaoh is pleased and does as promised. He rewards Chuma with kingship and endows him with great riches. Chuma never has to work another day in his life.

Meanwhile, Azur continues to dredge away at the same old routine. Lift rocks, waste time and money to get stronger, lift rocks, and get stronger. Sadly, Azur refuses to acknowledge his flawed strategy and endures the same old process: Carry heavy stones until you can lift no more … then get stronger so you can lift heavier stones.

This mindless prescription leads Azur to a lifetime of toil. He never finishes his pyramid promised to Pharaoh simply because he decides to do the heavy lifting himself when he should have focused on a system to do it for him. Azur has a heart attack and dies while on the 12th level of his pyramid, just two levels from finishing. He never experiences the great riches promised by Pharaoh.

Meanwhile, Chuma retires 40 years early in a crown of luxury. Sloshing in free time, Chuma goes on to become Egypt's greatest scholar and an accomplished inventor. He is entombed alongside Pharaoh in the same pyramid he built.

The Fastlane Is a Business System: The Slowlane Is a Job

The Slowlane is a job: your hard work traded for your employer's cash. Azur's struggles resemble that of a Slowlaner; to get rich, you're told to get stronger (spend money, return to school, and earn more in the job market) so you can lift heavier stones. The Fastlane is about building a better system, a better contraption, a better product, or a better “something” that will leverage your work. In the Slowlane, you are the source of heavy lifting, while in the Fastlane, you construct a system that does it for you.

On your wealth road trip, the Slowlane roadmap asks that you endure a long, tiresome walk to wealth. The toil of wealth is the process itself. In the Fastlane, wealth is driven in a business system you create-the toil is the creation and management of the system itself.

Chapter Summary: Fastlane Distinctions

• The risk profile of a Fastlane strategy isn't much different from the Slowlane, but the rewards are far greater.
• The Fastlane Roadmap is an alternative financial strategy predicated on Controllable Unlimited Leverage.
• The Fastlane roadmap is predisposed to wealth.
• The Fastlane Roadmap is capable of generating “Get Rich Quick” results, not to be confused with “Get Rich Easy.”