UNSCRIPTED: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Entrepreneurship

by M.J. DeMarco

Successful entrepreneurs were among the few who lived extraordinarily, both in material and spiritual abundance.

I believe that opportunity looks a lot like hard work… When I was thirteen, I had my first job with my dad carrying shingles up to the roof. And then I got a job washing dishes at a restaurant. And then I got a job in grocery store deli. And then I got a job in factory sweeping Cheerio dust off the ground. And I’ve never had a job in my life that I was better than. I was always just lucky to have a job. And every job that I had was a stepping stone to my next job, and I never quit my job until I had my next job. And so opportunities look a lot like work.28

Real, permanent change does NOT come from event idealism or from shortcuts. It comes from a daily, regimented process woven into the fabric of your life, automatic and nearly instinctual.

Success is simpler than you think: ax the shortcut, honor the process-principle, and do the necessary work.

If you don’t identify where you want to go, the road to get there stays hidden.

Success is more about what you need to STOP doing versus START doing.

The hardest part of the process-principle is repetition; greatness is a lot of small things done daily.

You see, you might not be the sharpest pencil in the box, but don't fret—you're surrounded by pencil sharpeners. The world is already yours, but only if you’re willing to go get it.

aim for mastery over performance: be the best at something YOU can be.

Comparison is the path to perpetual misery. There’s always someone richer, faster, hotter, fitter, or whatever.

Never praise talent or ability, either for yourself or for a child. Instead, praise the process-principle. Praise improvements, habits, growth, and efforts. Praise how far you’ve come, and one day, you’ll praise your results.

Debt, spending more than you earn, is consumption exceeding production. It isn’t money owed; it’s a production deficit.

Whenever our selfish blockheadedness is cast aside (even temporarily) and we focus on the selfishness of others, we become fiduciaries,

Great value precedes great wealth. If you want to make millions, impact millions.

Want to be lucky? Add variation, do something different, crank the spoke of the wheel!

If you don’t have a sizable income, it doesn’t matter how cheap you are! You can’t squeeze a dime from a nickel!

An extraordinary life is won on offense; it is then preserved through defense.

The compound-interest scam is this serendipitous orthodoxy that the stock market will someday make you, the common man, uncommonly rich.

You can activate compound interest’s praised power only if you can earn and save millions fast, not when you use it to turn nickels into dimes as the compound-interest scam implores.

Wall Street is not a place for growing wealth but a place for asset speculation, earning income, and deploying capital. Yes, save early and often. However, don’t think you can sail to the promised land on a compound-interest wave—it’s ineffective for creating wealth unless millions are amassed FIRST;

Every one of us needs to stop hero-worshiping mortal beings and be our own heroes.

first entrepreneurial failure to stew for ten years, you’re going to run out of life.

Real change comes from identity and self—not from interim motivations jump-started by books or YouTube binging. Basically, you have to BE what you want to become FIRST so the actions can follow. Don’t TALK about it; BE about it. BE. ACT on being. Then HAVE.

Entrepreneurship is a tough but rewarding sport. But it must be lived, not tried.

Don’t “do what you love,” because even if you are lucky to make a living doing it, you won’t love it for very long. You should love the value you create. The process is hard, but it’s justified by your love of the value that is created through it.

Passion is self-replicating and greases the entire system. Your positive impact generates passion. Don’t be passionate about what needs to be done; be passionate about what you

WILL BECOME.

Be passionate about your vision as it compels doing whatever it takes. Passion focused on specific activities does not. In the end, passion isn’t something you follow; ...

Your power rests in choosing, not just action, but in thought. It enlivens meaning-and-purpose, invigorates autonomy, and gives you the tools to change your world. And YOU are what comes first. Everyone wants change, but no one wants to change themselves. Before championing an honorable cause, champion for yourself. This is your life to lead. Lead yours, and you can lead others.

Entrepreneurship is about problem-solving, creating convenience, satisfying desires, and becoming valuable.

the process-principle also holds that if you’re not going to sacrifice to get into the game, you’re going to need to sacrifice to win the game.

When business is isolated by one value attribute, price, it becomes commodified.

entrepreneurial rule book that you have to be an avid user of your product in its industry. Yes, you must believe in your product and its superiority. You must be a fan of its value to the world, but you yourself? The use myth holds that only other people need to find it valuable; you do not.

Anything inconvenient is an opportunity.

Anything complicated which needs simplification is an opportunity.

The best opportunities rarely come from joining the crowd, but serving it.

One entrepreneur who sees the problem and overcomes its challenges will have a great little business with an incredible value proposition: reclaim, recycle, and repurpose.

The truth is, the world is full of shitty marketers, bad salesmen, and poor communicators. You can create the greatest product on the planet and no one will know about it with poor marketing. If you can’t persuade or motivate someone to buy and try, you’ll fail. And that’s when a marketing arbitrageur spots opportunity, swooping in and washing that dirty dog into a Westminster show winner.

Improvement is the muscle behind the Commandment

of Need like iron to a workout. Improve something, effectively communicate it, and you will be needed.

Opportunities to remove features, ingredients, and hassles are opportunities to gain competitive advantages.

If you’re not getting out of the house and encountering life, you won’t encounter life’s problems.

The more lives you impact in either scale or magnitude, the more money you will make. In other words, impact millions to make millions. If there ever was a “secret” to wealth, both monetarily and spiritually, “impact millions” are the only two words needed. The more you legitimately help in the value exchange, directly or indirectly, the more fulfilled your soul and bank account become.

Before impacting millions, you must impact hundreds.

as an UNSCRIPTED, Fastlane entrepreneur, your first execution task isn’t speculating on how the market might respond; it’s to engage it (as cheaply as possible) and find out.

If your product or service can inspirit meaning or purpose with your customer, you will do well.

Each dollar saved is another freedom fighter added to your slave army.

Good choices float like feathers while the poor ones sink like anchors.

The rent rule states that anytime you cede control over your paycheck-pot money, demand rent, not unconditional promises and coin-flip pipe dreams.

The snap rule requires that paycheck-pot investments must remain highly liquid, or recallable back to cash at the snap of a finger.