Matt Karamazov • March 18, 2022 • 3 min read

MJ DeMarco – Escaping Financial Slavery, Finding High-Velocity Business Ideas and the Problem With Following Your Passion (#57)

“Whenever you say ‘I can’t find ideas,’ what you’re really saying is, ‘the world is perfect and it needs nothing.’”

MJ Demarco, HEx Podcast #57

There’s a lot of terrible advice out there. Maybe you’ve noticed this the last time you were outside. People will say things like, “Just follow your passion!” or, “Money doesn’t matter!” or, perhaps even worse, “Only 40 more years until retirement, and then you’ll be a millionaire!”

Some of the people that proffer this advice actually do want the best for you, and they’re honestly trying to help. The problem is that they’ve never learned how money actually works, how wealth is actually created, and how entrepreneurs can solve the problems that are pervasive in society and reap a financial windfall by doing so.

Our guest on the podcast today, author MJ DeMarco, has taken aim at all the bad advice out there and has consistently proven the truth of his principles in the process of building out his own businesses and helping tens of thousands of entrepreneurs achieve their financial goals – including me.

He reveals the fallacy behind the idea that following your passion will pay your bills; he shows how, in some contexts, money can buy happiness, and how it can also remove some of the sources of unhappiness; and this whole thing about retirement? What people don’t tell you is that in 40 years, you’ll be 40 years older, and unable to enjoy your money to the degree that you would have been able to while you’re young. As he says, wheelchairs, don’t fit inside the trunks of Lamborghinis.

But his wisdom goes deeper than that. Much deeper. Business can be an incredible source of personal fulfillment, and if you’re willing to put your heart and soul (and brain and hands) into something for 10 years, you can win the financial game. You can have it when you’re relatively young, and you’ll never have to wonder, “What would have happened if I really went for it?”

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What We Cover:

How the level of access to knowledge is unprecedented right now, and how tapping into it can change the trajectory of your life
MJ’s “C-E-N-T-S” framework for coming up with high-velocity business ideas (featuring the Commandments of Control, Entry, Need, Time, and Scale)
How to increase the magnitude of your contribution and accelerate your profits
The timelessness of great books and podcasts
Nassim Taleb’s concept of “antifragility” and how it can help prepare you for any external event that could threaten your safety and security
The Great Rat Race Escape, MJ’s newest book, a business book/novel hybrid that follows one couple’s personal journey from financial slavery to financial freedom
”Value skews” and how you can develop them in order to walk over your competition
”Superior Unexpected Customer Service” (SUCS) and why it’s so much easier today for your business to stand out
”Expected Value” and why you should always aim for “Excellent” instead of just “Good”
The latest redefinition of “financial freedom” and why it’s just financial slavery in a different form
Why investing in your health will improve your life in every other area
When you should begin your child’s financial education and how to avoid the mediocrity narrative

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