The Millionaire Fastlane by MJ DeMarco

Wouldn’t it be nice to be a millionaire? Well I thought so and as a result, I decided to start reading some of the most recommended money making books, which included The Millionaire Fastlane: Crack the Code to Wealth and Live Rich for a Lifetime! by M.J. DeMarco.

DeMarco claims that “The Millionaire Fastlane is a complete psychological and mathematical formula that cracks the code to wealth and unlocks the gateway to the shortcut”.

So often people perceive wealth as an event. People pay attention to when a company floats on the stock market or it is bought out by a competitor for millions. Although it may seem like these people achieved wealth overnight, DeMarco emphasises that “Wealth is a process, not an event”. We are just seeing a moment in a longer journey. So how do you create considerable wealth?

The Millionaire Fastlane formula is based on four aspects: the roadmap, the vehicle, the roads and the speed. And then there are three roads: The Sidewalk, The Slowlane and The Fastlane.

The first road, The Sidewalk, “is the road most travelled because it’s the path of least resistance”, but it does not lead to freedom or wealth.

The second road is The Slowlane, which is described as “a sacrifice of today in the hopes of a brighter and freer tomorrow”.  The Slowlane is based around the ideas of work hard, spend less than you earn, continually save, invest in your pension and you will retire rich. DeMarco believes that this lifestyle isn’t acceptable and feels that “five days of servitude for two days of freedom is not a good trade”.

The third, and final road, is The Fastlane. In order to live in the Fastlane you have to say goodbye to the job and this is because in order “To attract large sums of money, you need two things: 1) Control and 2) Leverage”. When it comes to creating wealth people are commonly told that you need to pay yourself first. However, DeMarco states that “To pay yourself first, you must own yourself”. You can’t be paying yourself if you are an employee, because the government gets paid first. This isn’t a new concept. Lots of people will tell you that starting a business is the way to make more money, but not all businesses are created equal.

DeMarco details the five Fastlane business systems and explores how suitable they are for creating money in the Fastlane. The Fastlane has specific objectives – “It’s engineered to create a passive income stream to the excess of your expenses and lifestyle desires, and to make financial freedom a reality, exclusive of age”.

One of key ways to assess whether a business will take you down the Fastlane is to a look at the scale because “Scale creates millionaires. Magnitude creates millionaires. Scale and magnitude creates billionaires”. In fact, DeMarco believes that “The amount of money you have (or don’t have) is a direct reflection on the amount of value you have provided (or not provided)”.

Another concept DeMarco emphasis is the use of your time. He states that “Time is the greatest asset you own, not money”. Rich people know that time is their most precious asset and ensure they treat it preciously.

According to the book, there are Five Fastlane Commandments: Need, Entry, Control, Scale and Time. This provides another framework for you to be able to judge whether a business is really going to help you achieve Fastlane wealth.

At the end the idea of action is discussed “Success is never about the idea, but about the execution”. The book has clearly given you the tools to be able to understand how to create Fastlane wealth, but if you don’t take action and execute your ideas you will be poor forever.

So often people say that someone got lucky. Maybe that’s true, but I absolutely agree with DeMarco’s view on luck – “Luck is created by increased probabilities that are improved with the process of action“.

Overall, I really enjoyed The Millionaire Fastlane. This is a book about how to become rich, whilst you are still young to enjoy it. DeMarco doesn’t just say start a business, but actually, gives you a framework to be able to choose a business that will generate wealth. I would definitely recommend it anyone wanting to make more money and wanting to find a difference viewpoint, with clear frameworks for making decisions.

Like what you read? Leave a comment below and why not buy a copy of The Millionaire Fastlane for yourself?