MJ DeMarco Quotes

“Accept reality: There are no shortcuts. Real change requires a real process.”

“Anything worthwhile in life will require a worthwhile effort.”

“Create yourself a mathematical equation that scales, then work that equation to death while acting, assessing, and adjusting along the way.”

“Creators produce products, services, books, information, inventions, it doesn’t matter so as long as:

A) Your creation can eventually become separate from your time.
B) You can scale your creation to a level that can change your life.”

“Entrepreneurship is about improving, more so than inventing the next hot thing.”

“Equations that scale make their owners rich.
Equations that do not, make their owners slaves to the system of trading time for money.”

“Failure is natural to success. Expect it and learn from it.”

“He who thinks the idea owns nothing. He who executes the idea owns everything.”

“I’d rather live in regret of failure than in regret of never trying.”

“If you accept conventional wisdom from conventional people living conventional lives, can you expect to be anything but conventional?”

“In many ways, your first customer as an entrepreneur is like your first kiss or your first love.”

“It is easier to live in regret of failure than in regret of never trying.”

“Many people want to change their life, but they are not willing to change their choices, and ultimately this changes nothing.”

“Money is proof you helped your fellow man.”

“Starting a business is a big decision. Treat it with cursory interest, and your business resembles a hobby. And businesses that are run like hobbies pay like hobbies.”

“The sweat of success is failure… if you’re not willing to get wet, you’re not willing to succeed!”

“The ultimate definition of insanity is to prostitute your Monday through Friday for the paycheck of Saturday and Sunday.”

“Thou shalt not invest in a needless business. Thou shalt not trade time for money. Thou shalt not operate on a limited scale. Thou shalt not relinquish control. Thou shalt not let a business startup be an event over process.”

“Toxic relationships drain energy and detract from your goals to be extraordinary.”

“You cannot ask Wall Street to give you a 4000% return in one year.”

“Your choices are made in a moment, and yet their consequences transcend a lifetime.”

“A lottery-degree is a skill or profession that has excess supply with little to no demand which makes a job in the field like a casino bet.”

“A mediocre idea with great execution could be worth tens of millions.”

“A person who lives in moderate comfort will rarely find the motivation to fight the status quo.”

“A six-day workweek makes our slavery (and its discomfort) too obvious, so we’re gifted an extra day of comfort and consumption to engorge our complacency.”

“A strong goal acts like a GPS or a lighthouse for behavior.”

“Action-faking gives you a faux sense of accomplishment, often stimulating a dopamine release with ineffective action.”

“An old education rarely fits a new opportunity.”

“Attach a powerful story to your company or its products, and you will sell more.”

“Before you can impact millions, you have to learn how to impact one.”