You can also be happy on the slowlane despite what MJ DeMarco thinks

I just read MJ DeMarco’s bestseller and the Fastlane approach to get rich fast is not for everybody

Photo by Austin Distel on Unsplash

I finished reading MJ DeMarco’s “The Millionaire Fastlane” and please don’t misunderstand me, it is a great book full of wisdom and the idea behind the Fastlane is great and I wish I could accomplish it myself.

The main argument from the author is that he doesn’t want to be saving his whole life to become wealthy when he is too old to enjoy it. He wants to be rich now when he is young and can enjoy the goodness of money today.

“Get Rich Slow” takes a lifetime to travel and its success is nefariously dependent on too many factors you cannot control. Invest 50 years into a job and miserly living, then, one day, you can retire rich alongside your wheelchair and prescription pillbox. How uninspiring. (MJ DeMarco — “The Millionaire Fastlane”)

But I can assure you that the Fastlane is not for everybody. Although it is supposed to be a “get rich quick” roadmap, don’t you dare to think it is a “get rich easy” way.

The Fastlane is a very hard work way to get rich building your own company. But your new shiny business cannot be like the 99% of the businesses most entrepreneurs have. It has to comply with some important requisites that aren’t easy to fulfill.

1. The barrier of entry. You have to bet for a market that is difficult to get into. This will make other companies trying to copy your success have a hard time entering the market.
2. Detach from time. Your income cannot rely on your time. You have to be able to produce something and then sell it multiple times.
3. Impact millions to make millions. You cannot think local. You need to serve your products or services everywhere.
4. Sellable business. The final goal should be selling your idea and cash it in so you can start your free life.

The main premise of this great book is that you can build a company in a few years that can scale and report profits and when it is ready you have to be able to sell it to cash in.

This means you will have to work several years very hard and take risks, but once the company is running smoothly you can start looking for a way to sell it.

This is something you can do when you are young because it is then when you have the strength and risk mind needed for such an endeavor.

And never mistake the “get rich quick” with the “get rich easy” leitmotivs. Getting rich easy is a scam. There is no way to do it unless you are extremely lucky and win the lottery. The author proposes something very difficult to achieve. You need to have an over the average mindset in the business world.

The flaw to this plan

The plan sounds great, Build an extremely profitable company that makes a product that you can sell worldwide through the Internet, or create a service that people are eager to buy multiple times and that will change their lives to change yours.

The problem is that normal people will have a hard time to come with the idea and being able to achieve its execution in a manner that is impactful enough to change other people’s lives.

Also, to execute the plan you need tirelessly to work 20 hours a day for a few years taking a personal and financial risk on a difficult-to-reach goal that will have a 99% fail ratio.

What about the slow lane?

On the other hand, the slow lane suggests that you work for a salary on a 9 to 5 job to save 10% of your income from your 20s to retirement to be wealthy when you are “old” and can enjoy life while retired. MJ DeMarco thinks that when you are 65 you won’t be able to enjoy this money and that you would have wasted your best years in the “rat race”.

But why is this so bad? Why so many gurus are trying to tell us that this is hell?

First of all, not everybody is suffering every day in their jobs nor are having an awful life outside of it.

I’m not saying either that everybody enjoys what they do for a living or there aren’t a lot of unhappy people around. But I think it is easier to improve your everyday life than coming up with and developing a business that will make you rich in 3 years when you are still in your twenties.

Conclusion

Working for a company or your own in a regular “don’t make you rich quick” business will also let you develop yourself and save money for the future. It will also buy you free time for your evenings, weekends or holidays as most people do.

Also, it is perfectly normal to stop working when you are around 65 years old. Due to today’s improved quality of life, you will have a long life to be able to do the things you couldn’t do because of your previous work.

Don’t be ashamed to be like “normal” people and try to get the most of whatever you do.