Read The Millionaire Fastlane Online
Authors: M.J. DeMarco
Tags: #Business & Economics, #Entrepreneurship, #Motivational, #New Business Enterprises, #Personal Finance, #General
You see, if your dream is dead, so is your passion. “No passion” numbs you to the greatest violinist in the world while he plays in the train depot. “No passion” leads to mediocrity and the land of everybody. “No passion” leads to unhappiness. “No passion” equals no wealth.
If you're struggling for motivation, re-energize your dream and align it with a road capable of burning a trail to its reality. Dead dreams can't burn trails of passion. Passion fires your will to do what is necessary beyond what others can't. Fastlaners work unlike everyone else so they can live unlike anyone else. Take four years of hard work in exchange for 40 years of freedom. Unfortunately, most people take 40 years of hard work for four weeks of freedom, or however long their paid vacation time lasts.
Find Your “Snow in the Toilet”
How do you find your passion? Passion comes from either excitement or discontent. Take this story posted on the Fastlane Forum (
TheFastlaneForum.com
): I grew up in a poor family and lived in a very old run-down barn that had half of it converted into a home. One of the worst times of the year was the winter, because our water pipes would freeze and, with it, our running water. The only way to flush the toilet was to bring snow into the barn, pack it into the water tank behind the toilet, and wait for it to melt. I saw that my mom had to put snow in the tank of the toilet bowl just for us to flush. The worst part was that it had to be refilled every time someone used the toilet. I thought to myself, “I never want to live like this again!”
What is your passion-your perennial “snow in the toilet?”
Leslie Walburn is passionate about animals. Disillusioned by county owned shelters that euthanize dogs, her dream is to own a no-kill dog rescue shelter. While she can “do what she loves” and get a job at a shelter, it doesn't bring her closer to her dreams, nor will the job help her amass the wealth needed to pursue the dream. Yes, dog shelters are expensive. Instead, Leslie allows her passion to fuel her motivation-she starts a Fastlane business(unrelated to animals) that eventually funds her dream. Her passion leads to a dream without the crucible of money.
Reflect on a time when your life was turned upside down with excitement and/or discontent.
That is your passion. For me, excited passion was when I saw my first Lamborghini as a teenager and I decided “One day, I will own a Lamborghini.” For me, discontented passion was watching my mother struggle in dead-end jobs, trying to raise three kids without a husband. Both fueled my passion; I wanted a Lamborghini and I wanted to help ease the burden for my mother. Excitement (wants and desires) serves as passionate fuel, as does discontent (undesirable situations). Both allowed me to do what others wouldn't. If you find yours, you will too.
Chapter Summary: Fastlane Distinctions
CHAPTER 31: THE COMMANDMENT OF ENTRY
Our plans miscarry because they have no aim. When a man does not know what harbor he is making for, no wind is the right wind.
~ Seneca
You Can Be the Sheep or the SheepHerder
It was 1994 and I was stuffed in a hot auditorium, tucked away in a chaotic mass of people-an ant submersed in an anthill. Months earlier, I had become involved in a network marketing company, and this was their monthly motivational meeting. The crowd was excited, anxious, and revved up.
I wasn't. I looked around and saw a problem. I saw an army of drones clutching onto whatever was said, critical reasoning cast aside, and myself about to be indoctrinated. I didn't go so easy. I asked questions. I was persistent, nosy, and curious about the road I was about to take.
“How much money are you making?” I asked early and often. Like politicians, the answer was sideswiped and deflected to a default person in the organization, but I wasn't fooled. OK, you've already told me that Bill Hanson makes $30,000 a month, but how much do you make? And you? And you? And the other 3,000 people in this room? The fact is, few of them made any money at all. Why? They were stuck driving a congested road full of traffic that failed the Commandment of Entry.
Crowded, jammed roads move slowly, if at all.
The Commandment of Entry
I failed networking marketing four times because subconsciously I possessed the truth: The road was a violation to the Commandment of Entry.
N – (Entry) – C – S – T
The Commandment of Entry states that
as entry barriers to any business road fall, or lessen, the effectiveness of that road declines while competition in that field subsequently strengthens
. Higher entry barriers equate to stronger, more powerful roads with less competition and less need for exceptionality. Low-barrier-entry businesses are weak roads because easy entry creates high competition and high traffic, all of which share the same pie. And where there is traffic, there is no movement.
In other words, if “getting into business” is as simple as paying $200 for a distributor kit, there are no entry barriers, and the opportunity should be passed. If any Joe Blow napping behind Chan's Chinese restaurant in the alley next to a dumpster can start your business in minutes, it isn't a business you want to be doing! The world is littered with so-called businesses that have no entry barriers. And that is why they suck and the people who follow them aren't rich.
A decade ago the big buzz was “Make millions on eBay!” It didn't last long because this opportunity eventually violated the Commandment of Entry. If you could create an eBay business in 10 minutes, guess what? So could millions of other people. And who made the millions? The early adopters, eBay, and eBay's founders. They drove the Fastlane and picked up millions of hitchhikers along the way. Few did well, while millions did not.
The big buzz just months ago was Internet blogging. Bloggers are making thousands! True, but nowadays, the multimillionaire blogger is now the exception rather than the rule. Why? The opportunity has been beaten down by ease of entry, causing traffic, competition, and saturation. Saturation causes noise. Noise causes declining sales volumes. Declining sales volumes cause profit erosion. If anyone can start a business in one day or less doing what you do, you probably are violating the Commandment of Entry and tough odds are ahead.
Network marketing, or multi-level marketing (MLM), always fails the Commandment of Entry-
unless you own and create the MLM company yourself
. If you're in a room with 2,000 other people who do exactly what you do, you're fighting stiff probabilities. Who is the innovator, the leader, and the one standing on a cliff parting the Red Sea? The guy on stage who founded the MLM company is the Fastlaner. And you? Sorry, but you're just another soldier in his Fastlane army,
a cog in his marketing strategy
. The MLM founder doesn't need to climb the pyramid, because he built the pyramid! You can be a pyramid builder or a pyramid climber. You can be the sheep or the sheepherder.
“Exceptionalism” Is Required to Overcome Weak Entry
If you violate the Commandment of Entry,
be prepared to be exceptional
. Exceptionality breaks the odds of entry. Unfortunately, exceptionality is a long shot, much like an above-average high school athlete going pro.
For example, when I sat in that auditorium with thousands of other network marketers, I realized that to exceed among thousands doing the same thing, I had to be exceptional. I had to be the best. Honest with myself, I knew I couldn't be exceptional in that construct. Could I be the exceptional one among 50,000 like minded “distributors?” I was doubtful. Conversely, when I started my Internet business I had roughly 12 competitors. Could I be exceptional among 12? Absolutely.
Another example of exceptionality is playing professional poker and financial trading, like stocks, futures, and currency trading. Both disciplines violate entry and have little to no restrictions to access. I can go to Vegas with $10,000 and enter a poker tournament any time I like. I can deposit $10,000 in a trading account and start trading currency.
Lack of entry itself creates the marketplace
, and to succeed in that marketplace, you have to be exceptional. The best (and the richest) poker players in the world are exceptional and take advantage of the weakest lured by weak entry. The pros call these folks “dead money.”
The same playing field exists in the currency markets. Newbies come and go, trading currencies, expecting to make a fortune, while the only folks making the millions are the exceptional participants and the purveyors of the field, like the currency platforms, brokerage houses, and poker Web sites.
There's an old saying, “In a gold rush, don't dig for gold, sell shovels!” When it comes to entry, your industry and your business should not be available to everyone, because if it is, you must be prepared to be exceptional.
And if you are exceptional, easy entry becomes not a liability, but an asset.
Entry Is a Process, Not an Event
Want to know if your business violates entry? The answer is another simple question: Is getting into business an event or a process? Real business startups are processes, not events. If you're suddenly in business because you bought a distributor kit, or you completed an online form, you're violating entry. If you're suddenly in business because you took one or two actions, you violate entry. Conversely, if I wanted to start a bed-and-breakfast in Napa Valley, I'd have to find a property, fix it, finance it, insure it, get licensing and permits, hire a staff, and perform about 10 other steps. Entry is a detailed process.
Starting a business, like wealth, is a concerted series of choices that form process. Founders of network marketing companies do spectacularly well because they know that people love events, and what better event is there than “Complete this application and you're in business!”
They leverage entry ease as an advantage
. As entrepreneurs, we want to start companies that others can join as an event. Don't fool yourself. Mailing a check to some address listed in the back of an entrepreneur magazine isn't a business embryo. Any business that takes 10 minutes to do/join/participate violates entry. Violate entry and you stamp your ticket into the world of everyone and become apart of someone else's Fastlane plan.
Everyone Is Doing It!
Ever get stuck in traffic on the expressway and go no where for hours? Welcome to “everyone is doing it.” A road full of traffic is a road full of everyone. If everyone is doing it, I won't be doing it. I'll exit the road, and you should too. Why?
Because everyone isn't wealthy
. If everyone were wealthy, “everybody is doing it” would work.
When it comes to money, the best warning flag is “everyone.” Everyone is a red flag that the Commandment of Entry has been violated. If everyone is engaged in the same activity, it surely will fail.
While “everyone” was buying houses like crazy during the housing boom, I did the opposite. I sat on the sidelines and sold. When the frenzy is buying, you should be selling. When the frenzy is selling, you should be buying or staying pat. History is littered with “everyone is doing it” booms and busts. In the last decade alone, including the tech stock boom of the late 1990s, the great oil price explosion, and, more recently, the housing bust that led to the worldwide financial meltdown, there are perfect examples of “everyone is doing it.” Everyone is doing it is a heavily trafficked road that moves slowly toward impending doom, like a herd of cattle heading for slaughter.
The Warning Signs of “Everyone”
In the late 1990s when tech stocks were skyrocketing, I lost money because I followed everyone. I learned. During the latest housing boom, I didn't buy a house. No, this time I sold three properties before the decline. While the housing market collapsed and stocks soon followed, I was long gone and sitting in cash. How did I know?
I spotted the signs of “everyone is doing it,” because if everyone were rich, “everybody is doing it” would work. While this logic might seem spurious, it has never failed me. How do I know when “everyone is doing it?” Simple. When there is irrational exuberance about any investment that pervades to Team Consumer-the general populous-that's when I know it is time to GET OUT AND STAY OUT.