What should you do if you’re broke and ambitious? I’ve heard this question tons of times over the years and I never really had an answer for it because I’d never been and still haven’t been in that situation. It’s all about being smart with your money but that doesn’t mean that this can never happen to me. Although my calculated risk paid off so far this doesn’t mean that I’m perfect. But ok back to your situation, let’s imagine that you’re ambitious, went all out and suddenly are down to your last dollars. That’s a possibility and now you have to work your way back up again just to do it all over again. You probably feel like Sisyphus. Pushing the rock on the hill just to see it go back down and then just to repeat the whole process over and over again.
What to do if you’re broke and ambitious but don’t want to work.
This one if kind of funny to me. Some people have the following attitude.
- I don’t want to work a normal job but I want to be successful in what I do.
- I want to work but only in that position (mostly a higher one that you can’t have right away).
If you’re falling into the second category I can tell you only one thing. Stop feeling so fucking entitled. Sure you’ve got a degree but that doesn’t make you better than other people. You have to start at the bottom just like anybody else. And they dare to say stuff like “but I deserve that position”. The only thing that you derve is a slap to your head. Maybe that’ll get you to use a little more common sense next time you “think”. I hate people with this attitude but I guess you kind of figured that one out already. That whole attitude is the reason that you’re slowly going broke and don’t get the job you want.
The “I don’t want to do a normal job” part even when you’re broke.
Listen, normal jobs suck. I get it. They’re a huge waste of time in my opinion. But how can you claim that you don’t want to do a normal job when you don’t have money? That kind of doesn’t make sense. It’s not about not wanting to do a normal job. You just don’t want to work in general. Because if you wanted something you’d do everything to get if, even if that meant that you had to work a normal job just to make money. Let me give you a real-life example. I know a girl who’s got a controlling mom and is pretty miserable at home. She’s about to move out. But moving out costs a lot of money and she chose to move out despite that. She knew it meant she had to work crazy long hours (she works 60+ hours a week) to make it happen.
She could have stayed at home and suffered silently but she chose to do the right thing and move out. Amor fati, embrace your fate. And then people make claims like “the devil I know is better than the devil I don’t.” Well, I wouldn’t be so sure of that. The clock is ticking. You’ll be more miserable 5 years down the line and you’ll be older and less likely to take the step to make a change. Because waiting equals problem creating. You’re going to struggle anyways so why not struggle to pursue something meaningful?! The longer you wait the harder it gets and you’ll turn bitter instead of becoming better.
What to do if you’re broke and ambitious. Get a job but…
This one is self- explanatory right? I mean you need money so you work to earn that money. But make sure that you get a job that doesn’t require you to work a lot of overtime if you don’t need to. I never accepted a job that required me to work more than 8 hours a day. I could do this because I didn’t throw my money out of the windows. There’s a reason why I lived for 3 months in Thailand without having to worry about money. Sure I made money from my second book (you can buy it here) and my blog but I also had cash aside.
The best-case scenario is that you look for a job that pays you to work 8 hours but lets you go home when your work is done. So far I only know one profession that allows this and that’s being a mailman.
This is like the best-case scenario. Some people will have to work more than one job to get by and eventually be able to save money. Sell whatever you don’t need and be smart with your money! Buying stuff that you don’t need is like the easiest way to go broke in no time.
The 72- hour rule.
This is a pretty interesting concept. Most people see something, think they want it and then buy it. This leads to the fact that they sometimes have 4 headphones while they only use one. This is where the 72-hour rule comes in. It’s pretty easy. Whenever you see something, don’t buy it. Wait for 72 hours instead and buy it if you still assume that you need it. You’ll most likely forget about it and never buy it or realize that you didn’t need it in the first place. I mean how many people complain about the fact that they’ve got way too much stuff?! The 72- hour rule solves this issue pretty quickly.
What to do if you’re broke and ambitious. Try to live below your “standards”.
This is the reason why most people have money problems. They need a nice house/apartment, a car, the newest smartphone, tablet, computer and so on. Buy what you need and forget about the rest. I was extremely happy in Thailand and I only had a bed, a fan, and a shower. I was sleeping in a hut and that was all I needed. Some people will be like “well I can’t do that. I need comfort.” The truth is that you don’t but look at it this way. Wouldn’t it be better to live a little more modest and than later improve your life situation when you have the money to do it? Doesn’t that sound so much better. You’re just afraid of what people will say behind your back. Those same people have probably a lot of money problems or a leaping pile of debt.
Living the Instagram rockstar life that they couldn’t afford in the first place #sohappy #completelybroke.
Some alternatives.
You don’t have to live alone of course. You can just rent a cheap place with friends and split costs. Or you can live at home for a while if you’ve got a good bond with your parents. You can kind of make a deal with your girlfriend to figure out how to make money. Demetrious Johnson had a job with normal hours so that he could focus on training. His girlfriend worked 4 jobs to get in extra money. They lived in a small place. She just believed in him and supported him (watch this video to see the details.). He’s one of the greatest MMA fighters that ever walked the planet. Probably wasn’t easy but they made it work. Now he makes all the money and she can stay home with the kids.
The problem with the last example is that for every DJ 9 guys just talk a lot and never achieve anything. But what DJ and his wife have defiantly falls under the category lifegoals. The problem these days is that mostly both genders chase a career and that just doesn’t work out in the long run.
What to do if you’re broke and ambitious. The money aspect.
So you did all those things and suddenly have a nice amount of money. So what do you do now? Well, I can only say this “invest in yourself”. I can only say this because I don’t know what your goals are. Just realize that there are also a lot of free resources in this world. I mean I watch MMA related stuff every single day. Investing in yourself means that you buy books or courses related to whatever you want. Hell, maybe you even get a mentor. I had multiple mentors in life. Some were free and some were paid for but I always made sure that they achieved something that I wanted. That’s why I took Sean Fagan as a mentor. He is a blogger and a fighter. He’s probably also one of the few people that understands how hard it is to balance fighting and blogging.
After a while, you’ll have learned so much that you can do the same thing. In Thailand, multiple people came up to me and asked to private sessions. That’s also why I have a coaching program that teaches young men how to figure out what they want and go after it with killer confidence. I gained so much knowledge over the years that I now teach it. I guide men who’re at the same spot where I was 3 years ago. Lost and insecure. Not knowing what they want but also realizing that they want something different than working from 9 to 5 until they’re 65.
Or you can just invest your money in whatever you need to do to take your life and projects to the next level. Just stay woke and don’t go broke.
Work with me.
Did the final last paragraph resonate with you? Well, I can help you out! You can contact me if you have questions regarding the coaching program. Or you can prove that you want to turn your life around and take immediate action. That means that you schedule a free 60 min Skype call with me where we go over your wants, needs, and obstacles in life. You can schedule that one here.
Be quick though because places are limited. I only take 3 clients for now because my main focus is on fighting.
Till next time,
Alex
