Three Things I Learned from MJ DeMarco’s Books

I’ve long been a fan of M J DeMarco and his books. I first read The Millionaire Fastlane a few years ago and James Holt (of Red Pill Reviews) reviewed it for the blog. About a year ago I read (or rather listened to) his latest book ‘Unscripted‘.

And since then I’ve had time to think and my thinking has definitely changed in relation to money. It’s only right that I share this with you – so here are the three things I learned from MJ DeMarco:

1. Save with Future Income in Mind

Right at the end of ‘Unscripted, DeMarco goes through a breakdown of how to save your cash for future and disposable income. This definitely changed my view about how I should treat my investments. I’ve started focusing more on income generating investments with the view that these will give me a good future income. An easy way to do this is to change your accumulation mutual funds to income generating ones and have the return paid into your account as cash.

I now track all my investment income and have my portfolio set up to maximise income while being resilient and low-ish risk. Want to know how to do this – then you need to read books and do your research. It might take time but it’s well invested.

2. Don’t Trade Time for Money

This was huge for me – as soon as you’re shackled to the clock, you’re leaving money on the table. This had a direct translation into my online and investment activities as well as my daytime business activities – the success of which relies heavily on leveraging time. Look for ways that you can disengage you from the transaction – is it cheaper to get someone else to do it (I ask myself this several times a day now).

Think outside the box – what could you outsource? What value do you put on your free time? Would hiring a gardener or housekeeper get you more time with your kids?

My most successful online venture is one that I hardly put any time into and it makes money for me nearly every day. Sure it took a bit of time to front load the effort in but now I make money while I’m asleep (the real dream). Figure out how to do that at scale and you’re golden.

3. Hit the Pinata

DeMarco talks about a business idea being like a Pinata – you have to get a big stick and hit it over and over again until all the sweets and treats have fallen out. You keep going until all the stuffing is gone and you’re left with the empty paper mache shell. I did this earlier this year – thrashed a business idea until it was dead in the water. I couldn’t have taken it further if I’d tried. It was satisfying to know that (despite it being a failure). If you hit the pinata and candy comes out, congratulations, you found something that works. So keep doing it – I’m learning this a little bit every day.

Neil

P.S. None of this is financial advice and is for entertainment purposes only yada yada. Also don’t run away from charging cattle or eat that fusty looking blueberry at the bottom of the tub – you’ll regret both outcomes. Something you won’t regret is buying my book.