UNSCRIPTED: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Entrepreneurship Paperback – February 1, 2023

If you had the choice between purchasing one of the popular financial “guru’s” books or this book Unscripted which would you choose? Not having read the authors previous book you might assume the popular “guru” book is a no brainer right? As wise ole Yoda said “Judge me by my size, do you?” For me and those who have read the author’s previous book the answer is clear – buy, read and most importantly apply the framework provided in Unscripted! This book is not only huge in size (416 pages) but more importantly it is huge in value it can provide to you and your future of breaking free of the “scripted” life. This isn’t a feel good book or “here is the 30 steps you need to do to become a millionaire and work from the beach when you want to” book. This is a book that helps you see how our life has often become one big “scripted” voluntary slavery where we work all week for two days off with a mountain of debt over our heads. Realizing our current reality is worth the price of the book alone but it goes on to showing you the framework to break free and lead an “unscripted” life. There is so many high value wisdom nuggets provided in this book but some of my favorites are:• The Careless Whispers from you Soul• Action faking vs action taking• Sunday evening is the ultimate test if you are leading a scripted life – how do you feel about going back to work Monday morning?• Don’t be a “Time Prostitute” – time is scarce money is not!• Don’t be part of the “herd” headed to slaughter!• Hyperreality and observational bias (Jedi Mind Tricks)• Being a producer vs consumer – “you can’t be owned by what you own”• The “pain of discipline or the pain of regret”• Micro-processes + macro-processes = success – no silver bullets just small habits focused• There are no shortcuts!• The “event” is the result of the “process”• Have a growth mindset• The Kaizen Principle• Getting rich isn’t done by desiring wealth it is in providing “perceived value” to others• “Perceived Value vs Actual Value”• “Luck vs Probability” and the “Gumball Machine” Brilliant analogy!• Investing and all the popular falsies/scams• Cancer Corollary – “do I have something I want and what will it cost me”• Autonomy (control) as the number one reason for our happiness! This is again worth the price of the book 10x over!• “How to create a business that changes your life” this is the framework!• The “CENTS” commandments again worth the price of admission!• “Expected Value” – holy cow batman this is good stuff!• From Process to Productocracy!• Best (13) Execution practices!• Lifetime Passive Income!• “The last business ever – if you want”Unscripted is a book that I read slowly because it is so jammed packed with valuable wisdom that you need to process. It is a book that I will re-read many times over taking more notes and putting actionable habits that move my life from the Scripted to the Unscripted! This is the one book I will give to all my kids and close friends!

MJ's previous book was an instant classic and exposed a lot of truths about entrepreneurship and the unhappy state of modern society in general. This book tackles many of the the same ideas from a different more in-depth angle, and takes it to another level for several reasons. For starters, it is side-splittingly, roll-on-the-floor, unrelentingly hilarious and entertaining (at least to my mind). To me, almost every single page is full of funny anecdotes and analogies. Listening to the Audible version of this is better than listening to a good HBO stage comedian, and far more useful. Second, the book makes a concerted effort to address the psychological barriers that I've come to believe are the biggest obstacles to entrepreneurship. As the Romans (apparently) understood, a proper slave doesn't need chains to remain in bondage...once conditioned, a person's attitudes and beliefs are far more effective tools of servitude. This applies not only to the poor, but to many of us who have successfully navigated years of 'success' milestones, and yet found themselves with a career environment that has not held up its end of the bargain. That's the reason for the title "Unscripted", to re-engineer years of ingrained and indoctrinated beliefs that won't really serve your dreams of success and freedom. Finally, this book is impressively in-depth and detailed. It doesn't (and can't) give you a specific formula for a successful business for your situation. But it works from a number of angles, over and over, chipping away at the roadblocks that will snare most of us who decide to go for something more. In that sense its a useful reference with some meaningful ideas and approaches to tackle challenges, many of which are not in The Millionaire Fastlane.If you're a cozy, happily employed person who is deeply satisfied with your weekend lifestyle, then this book is absolutely not for you. In fact, run away! Its only going to cause you trouble. But if you find yourself among the discontented 70%, stuck in traffic and depressed, profoundly disillusioned with your own past choices; pay close attention. Whining about the traps of our modern society will get you nowhere, and the true cause of your ills is not really the common scapegoats: politics, racial or class issues (although they have their moments). It's your mental framework and a lack of understanding of and experience with entrepreneurship. The truth is that America can be a truly great country for anyone, but its rewards mercilessly and relentlessly go to those entrepreneurs who deliver relative value. Provide real value to others and whatever limits you presume exist in your life (sex, age, race, upbringing, education) will rapidly vanish. In that sense, its a real hopeful step forward and a useful tool for many of us.Absolutely highly recommended, he's now among my favorite authors.UPDATE: I've now completed the book 3 times, and it only gets better. Each time I go through it I realize there are some useful pearls of wisdom in there that I had grasped conceptually but not completely faced (about myself). Some people might regard the material in this book as shocking. But what's really shocking is that here in the 'Land of Opportunity' after years and years of college and real world experience, this is not common wisdom. You don't hear this material anywhere. It should be Business 101, or Prosperity 101, Life 101.

In this book, MJ DeMarco calls out the normal 9-to-5 hamster wheel and highlights the power of choice. It's honest, practical, and well written. I really liked how he emphasized ownership, how your perceptions and beliefs impact your failure or success, and how consistent action is key. I highly recommend this book if you're looking to take control and are done waiting for permission.

Great!!🙂