Business Mindset Expert - FREE Business Mindset Tips and Secrets!

Book Review: The Millionaire Fastlane – MJ DeMarco

January 21, 2012 at 9:40 am Jason 1 comment

After having The Millionaire Fastlane by MJ DeMarco recommended to me a while ago I was sceptical.

The reason being the name of the book. It sounds like a “Get Rich Quick” book which usually makes me run a mile.

However, I continued to hear good things about it and after listening to an interview with MJ DeMarco himself I decided to purchase it.

I should make clear now that The Millionaire Fastlane does describe a fast path to wealth, but not an easy path.

For that reason and the fact that there’s some real interesting and new info in the book it didn’t make me run a mile and I’m really glad I read it.

I’ve been meaning to write a review of the book for ages, but finally here it is.

About MJ DeMarco The Millionaire Fastlane Author

MJ DeMarco describes himself as a “Get Rich Slow” anti-guru and after reading The Millionaire Fastlane it’ll become clear as to why. Most of us choose the slow path to wealth and look forward to retirement, the slowlane as he calls it.

He advocates a much faster path so you can enjoy your wealth at a younger age, which he calls the fastlane.

I’m pleased to say that MJ DeMarco practices exactly what he preaches. He made his millions at a young age, retired young and now lives the dream.

Things haven’t always been easy for him though, he’s had the crappy 9-5 jobs, but he had the dream of ditching the 9-5 grind and living a better life. More importantly he took action and actually did it.

There were mistakes and failures along the way but when he founded Limos.com, things changed and his hard work paid off. He managed to create a system which generated massive Passive Income and from that point on he was free to spend his time doing whatever he enjoyed.

The Millionaire Fastlane is his way of sharing with the world, or at least those who are willing to listen, exactly how he did it.

As a bonus, he’s actually a good writer so expresses his ideas well and makes the book absorbing and hard to put down.

This is unlike some more recent books I’ve read (which I won’t mention as not to upset Lord Sugar) where the information was good but the author couldn’t write for toffee.

My Thoughts on The Millionaire Fastlane

Just incase you’re short of time and won’t reading this entire review, let my summarise by saying that for many (myself and colleagues included) this is one of those life changing books.

It’s on par with the Rich Dad Poor Dad series which is something you won’t hear me say often, although he does subtly criticise Robert Kiyosaki in his book, which I think is a little unfair.

In The Millionaire Fastlane MJ describes three paths in life. The first one is the sidewalk, which isn’t a path to wealth at all. The second is the slowlane, which is what most of us choose. Work all our lives, save 10% of our income, invest in mutual funds, penny pinch and then hopefully live long enough to retire rich.

It’s the third path that his book is really about, the fastlane.

Without spoiling the book for you I’ll just highlight some of the key points he makes about the fastlane and why it’s by far the best path to take.

In The Millionaire Fastlane MJ talks about how many people see wealth as an event, a lottery win or an inheritance for example. But he points out that wealth is a process not an event. The decisions you make and actions you take (your process) determines whether you achieve wealth. If you simply wait for an event, it’ll never happen.

A business mindset shift he talks about which really made me think is about how most people are consumers, Spending More Than They Earn on consumer items. MJ points out that to be wealthy we need to become producers. We need to consume less and produce more, create businesses and systems which produce and sell goods and services.

I agree entirely with this and only when we become successful producers can we truly afford to become consumers again.

After My Recent Stay in Hospital I couldn’t agree more with his three F’s philosophy either. Fitness (health), Family and Freedom being what really matters in life. I’ve always advocated this myself, but even more so now after recent events.

I Don’t Agree with Everything Though

There is one part of The Millionaire Fastlane I disagree a little with. It’s where he says that passion isn’t important and that we shouldn’t follow our passion when creating a business.

However, I have a few things to say about this. I think he’s often misunderstood when he says this. All he’s really saying is that passion is worthless if no-one wants or needs what you have to offer. This is very true.

What he doesn’t make clear though is that if you have a passion for what you do then the whole process of creating and growing a business is infinitely easier. I couldn’t have continued this blog for two years if I’d been writing about knitting.

It doesn’t matter if the subject of knitting was highly commecial and profitable, I just couldn’t have done it without passion, it’s as simple as that. For me and many others, passion for what we do is a vital ingredient.

His point about there having to be a need for what we do is very important though else we’ll never achieve anything more than a hobby, rather than producing a profitable business.

To his credit here though he does say we need a passion for something to keep us going, be it wealth, freedom, happiness or whatever.

Maybe it’s a coincidence, but he also mentions in The Millionaire Fastlane that creating a little controversy is great for publicity. I do feel this passion thing is his way of causing a little controversy and stirring things up a little, knowing that lots of people will disagree with him, but I could be wrong.

At this point in a review I’ll usually write a paragraph or two to summarise and draw my conclusions, but I think I’ve already made it quite clear what I think of this book.

My summary is therefore short. For me The Millionaire Fastlane is one of those classics and is a book you really need to read if you’re serious about achieving wealth while you’re still young enough to enjoy it. Maybe I should update my Top 20 Business Books Ever post and add this to the top five.

Thanks for reading my review of The Millionaire Fastlane and feel free to leave a comment.

Reviews behaviours, business books, inspiration, mindset, review, success

Top 8 Start Up Business Ideas for 2012

January 20, 2012 at 2:50 pm Jason 6 comments

My best new start up business ideas for 2012

At the time of writing this we’re reaching the end of the year and thinking ahead to 2012. Is this too early for thinking about what you’ll be doing in 2012?

I don’t think it is too early if you want to get ahead of your competition.

As the global economic climate changes, technology progresses and peoples needs and desires shift it’s the perfect time to be looking at what new business opportunities lie ahead in 2012.

I hope my list of the best start up business ideas inspires you and encourages you to create something amazing yourself…

Social Media Consultant – with the rise of social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter many companies are jumping on the bandwagon but without a clear strategy as to how to utilise social networking to really benefit their brand. There’s a gap to be filled here and becoming a social media consultant could be one of the great start up business ideas for 2012.
Websites for the Elderly – more and more elderly people are now using the internet to find information, products and services. However, there’s a whole new set of challenges in catering for the elderly which I believe are largely being ignored. These include, attitude and aptitude as well as decline in vision, hearing, motor skills and cognition. These all require radically different website designs, which we don’t seem to be seeing much of yet. This is one of those start up business ideas that not many people have thought of.
Green Energy Products and Services – there’s a lot of buzz surrounding energy efficiency and green energy right now and I don’t see it going away for a long time. With wind farms popping up everywhere and solar energy technology constantly improving there’s going to be a lot of business opportunities in this area, not just in 2012 but for many years to come.
Location Based Mobile Marketing – Smartphones are becoming increasingly popular and there’s soon to be a new wave of Smartphones being released which will make the old ones look archaic. One feature which will change the marketing world for ever is location based marketing. Marketing which is targeted to your exact location (using GPS for example). This will also be taken further to consider your individual demographics and psychographics making mobile marketing extremely targeted. This could be one of the most promising start up business ideas for 2012.
Online Franchise Business – when we think of internet based businesses it’s natural to want to take advantage of the international nature of the internet. However, we can easily forget that there’s a market for local websites too. What about setting up a website that is specific to one locality, then using the Wash, Rinse and Repeat principle to franchise it to different locations.
Second Hand Stores – if you prefer a more bricks and mortar based business then considering the economic climate a chain of second hand stores might be worth considering. People are less inclined to spent the money to buy new at the moment and for products like baby clothes which are soon outgrown and need to be swapped frequently it could be one of the top start up business ideas to start in 2012.
Mobile Application Development – as mentioned earlier mobile phones are no longer just phones, some are far more powerful than the computers we had five years ago. Powerful computers demand increasingly advanced software. With the success of app stores nowadays moving into application development might be a smart move. It’s easy to outsource development and can be monetised by ad revenue or by selling the apps. Many people are making a lot of money from mobile apps and it appears that the market is set to grow even further.
Selling eBooks and Audiobooks – this has always been my favourite business model but with the recent success of the Amazon Kindle and other text, audio and video download platforms the idea of paid downloadable content is becoming even more mainstream and accepted. If you need convincing as to why I think this business model is one of the best start up business ideas then you should take a look at my blog post entitled: Could This Be The Perfect Business Model?

Want More Start Up Business Ideas?

Find Your Lightbulb: How to make millions from apparently impossible ideas

More Great Business Ideas and How to Utilise Them!

In this diverse list of start up business ideas there should be something to suit you.

However, if you want to research your own start up business ideas for 2012 I highly recommend you take a look at Find Your Lightbulb by Mike Harris.

Click the cover image to the left for more information on business ideas and how to make the most of them.

Also, every week I send out business mindset tips to my popular mailing list, so if you’re not already a member join for FREE today and Let Me Send You a Bunch of FREE Stuff to get you started, thousands already have.

Finally, have a browse of this website if you want more motivational, inspirational and practical business tips. This website is jam packed with such information.

I hope you found this article on start up business ideas for 2012 useful, so let’s start now and Make 2012 Our Best Year Ever.

Ability to Succeed business, business models, ideas, startups, success

5 Ways to Make 2012 the Best Year Ever

January 14, 2012 at 9:36 am Jason 3 comments

It’s the beginning of a new year and it’s as good a time as any to review our business mindset, plans, goals, businesses and lives in general with a view to making 2012 our best year yet.

That’s why I’ve composed my top five list of things which we can all do to ensure 2012 is a good year.

Some of these you can do right away but others will take a little time and are an ongoing effort.

Nothing is achieved without hard work though so be prepared to put in the effort this year if you really want to see good things happen.

Here’s my top five and for the record I’ll be doing them all myself.

Create or Update Your Definite Major Purpose

If you already have a Definite Major Purpose then that’s great. However it’s not set in stone and should be tweaked regularly. Think what you’ve learned recently and how your priorities or even your goals may have changed. Update your DMP accordingly.

Should you not have your own DMP yet then you really need to create one. I found mine quite easy to write but I know some people find it more difficult.

Without one you’re likely to be travelling through life with an unclear destination and unable to find true happiness. This post I wrote a while ago will help you create your own Definite Major Purpose and give you a sneak preview of mine.

Create and Track New Achievable Goals

Did you achieve your goals for last year? Whether you did or you didn’t, now’s the time to adjust them or create some new ones. If you didn’t achieve them all then maybe they weren’t realistic or maybe you didn’t focus enough on them.

If you did achieve them then you should probably set your sights a little higher this year. Just make sure you have some realistic goals, add some timescales and make sure you track your progress.

Sometimes if you think you’re not achieving much, looking back at your goal progress shows you that you are actually making good progress, even if it’s not as quickly as you might like. This can really help with motivation.

Automate Your Business More

With Internet Based Businesses automation is easy. In fact it’s almost difficult to avoid. Whatever your business, make sure you’re automating as much as possible. There’s some great tools out there for automating your work, whatever it may be.

Automation doesn’t mean you’re being lazy, it just means you can concentrate on the areas of your life and business which matter more and have the most positive impact.

If you’re struggling to automate your work, consider outsourcing some of your work. You can effectively automate anything if you have the right people to help you. You might also want to read what I wrote about Office Automation.

Create or Purchase More Assets

The more assets you own, the more Passive Income you’ll achieve and the more freedom you’ll enjoy, it’s as simple as that. Assets can be purchased or created, depending on how much money or time you have to spare.

I wrote about Assets and Liabilities a long time ago but more recently I wrote about the importance of Acquiring Assets so you can check out those posts for more info.

Assets are the key to your freedom. Whether they’re in the form of rental property, shares, businesses or otherwise it doesn’t matter. If it earns you money with minimal effort then it’s an asset and is extremely valuable.

Focus on the Most Important Tasks

Focusing on the most important tasks overlaps slightly with goal setting and automation too. Prioritising your goals and automating the mundane tasks allows you to concentrate your efforts on whatever has the most positive impact on your life.

Those three words I heard about a year ago from Steve Weber, an internet business guru I know stuck in my mind ever since: Relentless, focused action.

Those three simple words say it all, focus on one task at a time, take positive action, be relentless and Never Give Up. You can achieve a lot if you follow those simple principles and engrain them in your business mindset.

With those three important words still on your mind I think that’s a good place to conclude this article.

We really can make 2012 the best year ever and I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure that happens, for us all.

Please leave a comment if you have your own ideas on how to make 2012 a great year which you’d like to share.

Ability to Succeed assets, definite major purpose, DMP, inspiration, mindset, motivation, success

What I Learned During 10 Days in Hospital

January 11, 2012 at 9:39 am Jason 12 comments

Yesterday I came home after being in hospital for ten days, eight of them being fed though a drip with no food.

Why I was there isn’t important, but it was very painful and could have been fatal. I’m ok now though am doing fine.

I now just need to put the 15.8 Ibs in weight back on which I lost and to get myself fit again.

For the first few days in there I seemed to be getting worse and even the maximum morphine, paracetamol and tramadol they’d allow me didn’t seem enough.

After about four days though I finally started to feel a little better and things improved from there.

A True Learning Experience

As a Learning Experience though it was valuable. On entering I knew nothing about hospitals having not been a patient since I was 4 years old.

Spending 240 hours though right next to the desk where the doctors an nurses hang out, as you can imagine I learned a lot. Hospital politics are interesting but I also learned a lot of technical stuff.

Most importantly I learned the true value of friends and family who despite their busy lives visited me, phoned me, texted me and bought me gifts and cards.

It’s the time when I started to improve and the pain started to fade where I lay awake each day and night with nothing to do except look at the patterns in the ceiling tiles and think.

The Simple Things in Life

It’s at times like that when you really appreciate the simple things in life. I can only normally sleep on my side but the pain wouldn’t allow so I stayed awake.

Having not eaten for days I was really jealous when the nurses went for coffee, because I was only allowed water and coffee was off limits for me.

I craved some food, any food, even nasty hospital food, anything. My first small meal after eight days on a drip made me tremble and quite emotional.

Just to be without pain for a few minutes so I could relax would have been amazing, but it didn’t happen until the last couple of days.

I didn’t really feel depressed until I ate with many of the other patients, some who were very I’ll. I couldn’t help thinking what a depressing place hospital was and how I’d do my best never to return there, whatever it took.

I guess this brings us back to Achieving the Right Balance and the need to stay healthy while still enjoying the good things that life has to offer.

Those Who Helped Me Recover

Now, I couldn’t possibly end an article like this without thanking the doctors and nurses for the amazing job they do.

One thing I learned about nurses is that it takes a special kind of person to be one. It’s a thankless task, you have to be a natural and it’s a job you really have to want to do and have a passion for.

All the training in the world wouldn’t make me into a good nurse, I just don’t have what it takes. But they do it so well and make the best of the very limited resources they are given.

I have the utmost admiration and without them I literally wouldn’t be here now writing this.

There are many things we can take away from an experience like this, far too many to summarise. But the important one is that it’s the simple things in life that really matter. Health, family and friends. The rest is secondary, just a bonus.

Being able to write this now, with no pain, slowly eating again and finally able to sleep feels like the greatest day of my life.

Thanks for reading and I hope you learned something useful. Feel free to comment…

Real Examples inspiration, motivation, thinking positive

Achieving the Right Balance

December 26, 2011 at 12:33 pm Jason No comments

Being this Christmas holidays at the moment, it’s probably a good time to talk about balance.

I don’t mean trying to stay on our feet with all the excess alcohol, but balancing things like work and play or exercise and rest.

Maybe it’s the general excess of food, drink, rest and play at this time of year that has mad me think about this more than ever.

I seem to have the personality type that needs to accumulate points every day from work, exercise or healthy food before I feel I deserve a rest and can relax.

Although not everyone is like this, many people are and it seems to me that those with entrepreneurial characteristics often share this trait.

I recently started to think more about this balance issue. I’ve always known it was there but until a few days ago have never really nailed down exactly what it was all about. But now I believe I have.

Let me explain the three areas of balance most important to me. If yours are different feel free to leave a comment and share them.

Work and Play

I call it play, because rest falls into a different category for me as you’ll see later. By play I just mean fun stuff which isn’t work related.

The balance between work and play is important for many of us because we don’t feel like we deserve to be having fun until we have earned it though work.

This is great for driving us forward and helps us achieve more in life. Without this need to put work before play it’s can be very difficult to motivate ourselves to do anything productive.

Without it, the lure of TV, games consoles and other forms of entertainment can take over and prevent us from achieving anything other than a new high score.

Good Food and Bad Food

This balance is very important for many of us too. It’s unfortunate that many of the tastiest foods contain salt, bad fats and sugar which are not usually very good for us.

One option is to cut out all bad foods from out lives, but this isn’t realistic, it isn’t pleasant and in my case at least it isn’t going to happen.

So, before we feel we deserve some of that tasty but evil food then we need a little salad and veg first. It kind of takes away the guilt a little when we’re munching on those biscuits.

Exercise and Rest

I find it amazing, the amount of people who don’t undertake any exercise. Apart from walking to and from their cars once a day they’ve never been running, never been walking, never owned a bicycle and never seen the inside of a gym.

For me that’s not an option. Exercise is one of my primary means of accumulating those points so I feel I’ve earned a rest. I only do intense exercise around three times a week, but that’s enough to keep the guilt away, every time I indulge in a little sofa time.

Even being sat down writing this I look outside and feel the urge to go out there, running or walking. I’ve only been lazing around for an hour and it is boxing day (the day after Christmas), but that doesn’t justify it for me. I still need that balance.

Balance and Business Mindset

So you’re probably wondering how this kind of work/play, good/bad food and exercise/rest balance is relevant to your Business Mindset and ability to achieve your goals.

For me at least it’s central and of the utmost importance. Although I didn’t fully realise it until recently it’s my need to achieve these balances that drives everything I do

It gives me the need, desire and ultimately the ability to take on challenges I’d never consider otherwise. working until the early hours for days on end and walking 200 miles across England would never have happened without this need for balance.

Without this kind of personality I might find myself more at peace just sat on the sofa playing console games, but I don’t want that. High scores are not important to me. Achieving something more life changing certainly is.

The gyms will be full of new members in January. It happens every year and it’s no coincidence that it’s just after the Christmas holiday period.

These people are all trying to achieve balance. Maybe we all are, whether we realise it or not.

Anyway, have a great Holiday and a great New Year! Have a good rest, play plenty and eat what you like.

We can always redress the balance in January…

Desire to Succeed, Real Examples balance, mindset, productivity

Page 1 of 15
1
2
3
...
15
Next

Read My Story

Join My Mailing List

What’s on Offer

Recent Posts

Book Review: The Millionaire Fastlane – MJ DeMarco