Chapter 24: Wipe Your Windshield Clean - The Millionaire Fastlane

CHAPTER 24: WIPE YOUR WINDSHIELD CLEAN

Until we see what we are, we cannot take steps to become what we should be.
~Charlotte P. Gilman

Wipe Your Windshield Clean

While pumping gas into my Lamborghini, a teenager once asked me if he could snap some pictures.

“Sure, go ahead!” I replied.

After a few various rants and raves about the car, he exclaimed, “I gotta get as many pictures as possible cuz I'll never be able to afford one of these.”

Do you see a problem in that conclusion? This young man made a choice to believe he would never own a Lamborghini.

He couldn't see beyond his own windshield. Is this a small choice? A treasonous choice? A choice of significant horsepower?

This seemingly innocent choice of perception has the excruciating horsepower of treason. It is a crippler of dreams. The teen's choice of perception was poor, and because of it, it would forever lead him to mediocre results. His jury had already deliberated, and the verdict was in: An extravagant car would be always “out of his league,” and therefore, his choices would reflect that mindset. Unfortunately, he didn't understand the debilitating effect of being clouded to our own self constructed windshield into the world.

The Choice of Perception

In the last chapter, we discussed choices and their impact on your life. Thus far it's been all about choices of action-physical actions that produce consequences. However, if you look deeper, what causes those actions? What motivates you to act and choose? We have two types of choices:

1. Choices of perception (thought patterns)
2. Choices of action (choosing to read)

Choices of perception serve as the impetus to choices of action. If you believe and perceive a certain idea, you are likely to act in accordance with that belief. The difference between the teen at the gas station and me was this: When I witnessed my first Lamborghini as a kid, I thought, “Some day, I'm gonna own one of those!” My choice of perception was strong and further manifested into choices of action that reflected that perception.

You see, you choose to interpret events in your particular frame of reference. Your mind labels and categorizes events that surround you. For example, when someone says “dog,” you might see a black Labrador, while other people see a poodle. When you see a mansion on the beach, do you think “lucky?” or “I'll never own something like that?”

The first step in making better choices starts with your choice of perception, because your actions evolve from those perceptions. If you lose your job, you can frame it as a negative or a positive. When you're caught speeding, you can be angry or thankful. The choice of perception and its choices start right between your ears and drive themselves into choices of action.

Your Perception Is Not the Reality

A few years ago, my girlfriend and I were at friend's home for a party. We sat at a small table and noticed an overly exuberant gentleman moving from table to table talking to people. He looked like he was canvassing the room as if he was selling something.

He was.

He eventually got to our table and unleashed the uncouth, “Hey, how would you like to earn $10,000 per month?” The question was inappropriate for the party so I decided to respond with equal inappropriateness.

I asked, “$10,000 a month? Really?”

Thinking I was hooked, he tried to sell me a network marketing opportunity for some herbal supplement. I interrupted him and laughed “Listen, I make $10,000 every two days, so for me your opportunity would be a 90% pay cut. Do you think I'm interested?” His eyes popped out of their sockets, and after he picked them off the table, he scampered away like a rat without his cheese.

In this brief exchange, this man made an assumption: $10,000 a month is a lot of money! It isn't. Money is infinite. Fastlane opportunists can drive opportunities that yield six and seven figures monthly. The difference is perception.

I remember the day when I thought $10,000 was a lot of money. It was perception and not reality. Earning $1 million in one month is possible if you make the right choices and drive the right Fastlane roads. This perception leads to better choices of action. That guy at the party? He chose a crowded road. Instead of creating a multilevel marketing company, he joined one. Instead of serving the masses through Effection, he joined the masses.

Wiping the Windshield Clean Starts with Language

You can expose your mindset by examining the words in your language and your thoughts. Take for example this comment made on the Fastlane Forum:

“I got engaged last Friday! I had been struggling with this for some time but decided to give marriage one more try. She's a great girl and deserves the best, and I think I can give it to her.”

When you read this statement do you see assured success? Or pending failure? While I wish the man the best marriage, I see flaccid words that lack confidence:

“Try”
“I think”

This language spells trouble. What would have convinced me otherwise?

“I got engaged last Friday! I had been struggling with this for some time but I decided to get married for the last time. She's a great girl and deserves the best, and I will give it to her.”

Notice the difference. One is flimsy and the other is firm. Both might seem to say the same thing, but one implies possible failure while the other implies committed success. Your internal language carries weight. If a brain surgeon told you before surgery, “I'm think I can operate on you and I will try to succeed,” you should freak out and trade in your hospital gown for some eternal nighties.

Altering your words and thought perceptions are akin to wiping your windshield clean and seeing beyond your own sphere of sight. How do you manage your choice of perception? What language do you use in your mind?

“I never …
I can't …
If only …”

Or do you choose better words?

“It's possible…
I'll overcome…
I will … I can.”

If your world is canvassed with words like “never” and “can't,” guess what? It's true-you can't and you never will! Is it possible to earn $1 million in one month? Sure it is, just ask the guy who does it. What makes his windshield different from yours? Good choices of perception translate into good choices of action. To change your perception is to change your future actions.

The goal of this book is to change your perception about wealth and money. Believe that retirement at any age is possible. Believe that old age is not a prerequisite to wealth. Believe that a job is just as risky as a business. Believe that the stock market isn't a guaranteed path to riches. Believe that you can be retired just a few years from today.

So how do you upload new beliefs and overwrite the old ones? Find the information, resources, and the people that align with the new beliefs. For myself, I pursued the stories of those who acquired wealth fast and soon learned that “Get Rich Quick” wasn't a myth. I never found that 19-year-old who got rich piling money into mutual funds. However, I did find 24-year-old millionaire inventors, business founders, authors, and Web site owners.

If you want extraordinary results, you're going to need extraordinary thinking. Unfortunately, “extraordinary” is not found trapped in society's gravity of thinking and the beliefs that fuel them.

Steering Tips: Better Choices and a Better Life

As your journey progresses, respect yourself and ask, is this a good choice of perception? A good choice of action? Is this going to be treasonous to my dreams and cloud my windshield to a better life? Have I chosen to be a victim or a victor? Have I chosen to surrender or accept the challenge? Changing your life starts with changing choices. The Fastlane vehicle to wealth is driven on choice, not asphalt. You start making better choices using two strategies dependent on the decision's gravity.

1. Worse Case Consequence Analysis (WCCA)
2. Weighted Average Decision Matrix (WADM)

WCCA is designed to steer you away from perilous detours and treasonous choices. Conversely, WADM is designed to help you make better big decisions with multiple contingencies. This dual-pronged attack works on the choice extremes: a prevention of disastrous choices and a facilitator of good choices.

Worse Case Consequence Analysis (WCCA )

The first decision tool is Worst Case Consequence Analysis (WCCA), which requires you to become forward-thinking and an analyzer of potential consequences. WCCA asks you to answer three questions about every decision of consequence:

1. What is the worst-case consequence of this choice?
2. What is the probability of this outcome?
3. Is this an acceptable risk?

While these three questions might seem lengthy, your analysis process shouldn't take longer than a few seconds. You don't need a pen or paper, just your head and a conscious choice of perception. When choices are analyzed using WCCA, potential disasters are exposed and alternatives can be chosen. Unnecessary roads of treason can be bypassed.

I use WCCA extensively. For example, several years ago, after several drinks at a local bar, I went home with a woman who was making the moves and wanted to get busy. She pulled the old Harlequin whisper, “Make love to me.” Of course, having known her for all of two hours, I knew this wasn't love but something else. Behind my drunken passion, I ran through my WCCA analysis.

What is the worse case outcome of this choice?

1. I could get a sexually transmitted disease.
2. I could get her pregnant and be locked to this person for the rest of my life.
3. I could be falsely accused of rape.

What is the probability of these outcomes?

1. STD: 10% (based on her outward promiscuity!).
2. Pregnancy: 1%.
3. Falsely accused: 0.5%.

Is this an acceptable risk? I immediately reasoned HELL NO. The 10% or the 1%-I reasoned the risk was too great and that risk had outcomes that could change my life FOREVER. I denied the woman's advances and hid my lust in favor of a better choice.

What if I hadn't?

Sure, I would have enjoyed a quick romp of fun, but what about afterward? Would I be put in a position of an unplanned pregnancy with a woman I didn't know? Would I be condemned with a disease that would jeopardize my health and limit my search for a future partner? The potential consequences of this action had profound treasonous trajectories that I avoided.

WCCA comes into play when I drive. Viper, Lamborghini, doesn't matter-other idiot drivers looking for a street race constantly berate me. Sure, I might hit the accelerator hard for three seconds, but in those three seconds, WCCA takes over.

What's the worst that could happen?

I could kill myself and someone else. Odds? 1%? 3%? Knowing my racing competency, the risks are dangerously high. I release the accelerator and don't engage. The other driver? He speeds away with something to prove and in disregard to the potential outcomes. That's OK, maybe there's a reason he's driving a ten-year-old fart-can Honda and I'm in the Lamborghini. Win the street race-I'll win life.

The Weighted Average Decision Matrix (WADM)

Ever wrestle with a tough decision? One day you favor option A and the next day you flounder back to option B. Wouldn't it be great if making a tough decision were a simple as picking the higher number?

The second decision tool I use compares and quantifies big decisions. You know them: Should you move or stay? Quit or continue? Go back to college or not? For WADM, you need paper and a pencil. Or alternatively, you can visit HelpMyDecision.com and let the web work the calculation for you. Keep in mind, WADM is for big decisions, so you might use this a few times a year whereas WCCA can be used daily.

With WADM, decision-making is easy as it isolates and prioritizes factors relevant to your decisions and then quantifies each decision with a value. The higher value reflects the better decision. For example, if you had a choice between moving to Detroit or Phoenix, WADM would yield a simple numerical valuation like Detroit 88 and Phoenix 93. Based on the number, Phoenix is the better choice. While WADM is subjective and requires your unfettered objectivity, it is a great tool for identifying which choice is more favorable to your preferences.

To use WADM, a minimum of two choices is needed, but it could be used for more. Let's say you do indeed live in Detroit and are considering moving to Phoenix. You struggle with the decision and can't get clarity. One day you want to move, the next you want to stay. Usually, this waffling occurs when there are too many decision factors within each choice.

Get a pencil and paper. Make three columns on your paper, one headed “Factors” and the other two for each choice, “Detroit” and “Phoenix.” Second, what decision factors are important in your decision? Weather? Schools? Cost of living? Being near family? Write down all factors relevant to the decision, no matter how small. Write these factors in the “Factor” column. Your WADM would now look like this:

Thirdly, next to each decision factor, weigh its importance to the decision from 1 through 10, with 10 being the most important. For example, you are seasonally depressed, so weather is assigned a 10 in your matrix. Subsequently, your children are almost 18 so you decide that a good school system isn't a top priority and it receives a 3. Do this for all factors. Now your WADM looks like this:

After each criterion is ranked 1 through 10, grade each choice 1 through 10 for each decision factor. The school system in Detroit? You give it a 4. In Phoenix, you give the school system a 5, as you determine it is slightly better. You assign entertainment in Detroit an 8 as they are home to your mighty Red Wings, while Phoenix gets a 6. Continue for each decision factor within each choice. Your WADM should now look something like this:

Next, for each row, multiply the weight times the grade and put that number next to the grade in parentheses. For example, in the entertainment row, Detroit receives a 40 (8 weight X 5 grade), while Phoenix receives a 16 (8 weight X 2 grade). Do this for all rows. Your WADM should now look like this:

The final step is simply to add up the graded weight columns to get a final number for each choice. The highest number will be the choice you favor. Your final WADM would look like this:

In this hypothetical example, you should stay in Detroit because it received the highest score, 232 over 228.

The WADM is a great tool for making big decisions as long as you are perfectly honest with the factor weighting. I've used WADM many times in my life to bring clarity to tough decisions. It proved I needed to move to Phoenix, it offered insight into why it was time to sell my business, and it even steered me clear of some bad business investments.

In 2005, I had an opportunity to invest in a Las Vegas restaurant. After I conducted my diligence on the opportunity and the founders, it was time to make a decision. I couldn't decide. I solved my decision paralysis with a WADM analysis that indicated I should turn the investment down. I did. A little over a year later, I discovered this investment turned south and that the investors lost most of their money. The WADM gave clarity to decision ambiguity and saved me from losing $125,000.

If you examine a map of the country, you'll find millions of roadways: freeways, streets, avenues, boulevards, all leading somewhere different. Your choices unearth those roads, and they are either impressive shortcuts or perilous detours. These two decision tools are navigational tools for your wealth journey.

Get Your Eyes off the Rearview Mirror

Today is the starting line for the rest of your life. Yes, today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday. The problem with the past is that we remember memories we shouldn't, and we don't forget what we should. If your eyes are stuck in the rearview mirror, you're stuck in the past. If you're stuck in the past, you're not looking ahead. If you're not looking ahead, you can't hit the mark of your future.

The universe doesn't care about your past. It is blind to it. The universe doesn't care that I wore pink pants in high school. (Hey, remember Miami Vice?) The universe doesn't care that I got in a fight with Francis Franken and lost. The universe doesn't care about your MBA from UCLA, your drug-dealing father, or that you wet your bed in junior high. The universe simply doesn't care. One person and one person only weaponizes past transgressions: you.

If the universe doesn't remember, why should you? Being the youngest of three siblings, you can bet I was the subject of some vile comments. Fat, stupid, you name it. However, just because my brother called me an idiot for 12 years doesn't make it my reality. Your past never equals your future unless you allow it.

Think about a coin flip. No matter how many times it's flipped, the next flip is always random. Probability cannot be attached to a future flip based on the past. Your past is the same. Just because you failed at five relationships doesn't mean your next will fail, especially if you learn from them! Just because you flipped burgers three hours ago doesn't mean you can't be a millionaire next year. The universe forgets, just like the universe forgot I mopped floors and delivered pizza not long ago.

Is Your Memory Treasonous?

Your memories have the same makeup as your choices. They're treasonous, muted, or accelerative. Unlike choice's consequences, you have a choice how your past is classified. The records of the past can be sealed.

For example, if you lost your life savings in a restaurant franchise that went bankrupt soon after you invested, your memory could be either accelerative or treasonous. Your memory and its perception could be:

“Business ownership is a big risk. I'll never do that again”

or

“Next time, I'm going to be selling franchises, not buying them.”

The former is treasonous, while the latter is accelerative. You have a choice in framing failure and framing the past. It serves or hinders.

When I reflect on my own failures, I let them serve me to effect future change. It's a part of the responsibility/accountability process. What did I learn? What can I change in the future? What should I forget?

After I crashed my Viper and nearly killed myself, I remember the haze of almost losing everything. I didn't want to repeat those feelings, and their memories served my future to effect change: Street racing is for morons.

Alternatively, I could allow ego to reign, keep street racing, and boast, “I'll never lose another race again!” While the consequences of our choices can't be manipulated, you can manipulate your memories to serve you. My life is not defined by being picked last in high school gym class. If your past defines your existence, it will be impossible for you to become the person you need to become in the future.

Chapter Summary: Fastlane Distinctions

• Your choices of action manifest from your choices of perception.
• What you choose to perceive, or not perceive, will manifest itself to a choice of action, or inaction.
• You can change your choice of perception by aligning yourself with those who experience the perception as reality.
• Worst Case Consequence Analysis helps avoid treasonous choices.
• The Weighted Average Decision Matrix can help you make better big decisions by clarifying alternatives and their internal factors.
• The universe has no memory, only you do.
• Your past can be accelerative or treasonous. You choose the classification.
• If your eyes are transfixed to the past, you can't become the person you need to become in the future.