If You're Broke, Watch This First

Being broke isn't a life sentence, but it is a phase you've got to learn to respect. This is not easy for me to share because being broke sucks. This isn't fluffy motivational stuff. This is real. This is what I lived. This is what I've learned and what I would do if I had to go back and tell myself something that would help me. So let me start with the first piece of advice, something that you need to hear. Get used to being broke. Not in a defeatist way, but in a practical way. Being broke is a part of the process, okay? You have to start somewhere, and right now you are broke, okay? Just admit it. And when you're building something from nothing, you're gonna have some seasons where there's no money, right? It's normal. Stop resisting it. Stop resenting yourself. Stop hating on yourself. Start taking pride in spending less, getting scrappy, and embracing that grind of being broke. The best way I can illustrate this is with one of my favorite stories, and that's the story of Sylvester Stallone riding the movie Rocky. I've mentioned this story before because it's so impactful, but it's worth repeating. Sylvester Stallone is writing the script to Rocky. At the time, he's dead broke. He could barely survive. He's late on his rent. He has basically no money. He's so poor that he even had to sell his dog at a corner liquor store for $50 to survive. He finally writes a script to Rocky, presents it to production studios. They love the script, but his whole goal of writing Rocky is so that he could create a role that he could star in and be an actor. And the studio didn't want him to be Rocky. They wanted to cast another known actor. And he says in that moment that it was easy for him to refuse because he got used to being broke, Right? That kind of belief, that kind of resilience is what builds legacies. Second piece of advice is build a skill and be consistent with it. If I could go back, I would tell myself to pick one skill and go all in and do it every single day. I eventually realized that and started doing that. When I started making videos, I didn't realize I was actually building presentation skills, communication skills, and building an audience in the process. I was stacking skills without even knowing it. So don't try to chase the next shiny object, the next passive income dream, or whatever you're looking for to make a quick buck. Chase skills that become your income in the long term. Can you edit videos? Can you build a website? Can you manage ads, can you write emails? Learn if you don't know how to do any of these things or anything else. And get really good at it. Put the time into it and be consistent every day. Work on your craft. Number three, who you hang out with matters more than you think. I mentioned this several times in recent episodes, so you know that it's important. I would have changed my environment sooner if I can go back in time. When I quit my teaching career and became an entrepreneur, I had to let go of almost all my friends. They were good people, but they weren't going where I wanted to go. And as Jim Rohn says, you're the average of the five people you spend the most time with. And if you want to win a business, you got to hang out with people that are winning in business. That simple. And I started going to conferences, started going to co working spaces, started going to meetups. And at first it felt like I didn't belong. It felt a little awkward. But then I became one of them. Number four. Make money to make money. Okay, here's the reality. Here's just the raw truth. When you're broke, you need cash flow. You need money. It doesn't matter if it's not sexy. It doesn't matter if it's not creative. You need a surplus, money left over after your basic expenses so that you can take that surplus and invest it in yourself and invest it in your business. So I tell myself, do whatever it takes, whether it's doing small services like editing videos or building websites, or learn how to do those things and then charge for them. Even if you have to drive Uber because you'll make some extra cash that you wouldn't have otherwise. You need capital to build a business. And you can't invest in a product, in a brand, in yourself without money. Okay? That's just the reality of the world. Number five. Time is your ally if you stay in the game long enough. I wish somebody told me this earlier when I was struggling in the early days. Success takes time. It's not overnight, it's over years. But most people tap out way too early. Here's the thing, you can't lose if you don't quit. Keep your outputs consistent. One thing per day, one tiny improvement. It all compounds over time. And this is why time is your friend. Number six. Focus on what you can control. When you're broke, it feels like everything's out of your hands. But here's what you can control, right? You can control how you spend your time. You can also control who you spend your time with, like we mentioned, the people that you surround yourself with. You can also control your physical and mental health. If you focus on what you can control. These three things, how you spend your time, who you spend your time with, and your physical and mental health, everything else starts to shift. Number seven. And this one will probably move the needle the most if you implement it. And that's 80% signal, 20% noise. Steve Jobs was known for this. Everybody that has worked with him have shared stories about this. 80% of his time was dealing with the most important things that will move his business forward. This is the signal. And then he understood that there's going to be noise, there will be distractions. 20% of your time, forget about this idea of, like, I'm too busy to be focused. No focus is going to help free you up. Focus on signal, sales, customers, product. That's it. And lastly, number eight, believe in yourself, because no one else will. This is a big one. If you're waiting for others to believe in you, you're going to be waiting forever, okay? Everybody's worried about themselves. You need at least one ally in your life, and that has to be you when you're getting started. I've seen people with less talent, with less skill, with less experience, win really big in life and business because they believe they could. If you're broke, let me just say this very clearly. You're not broken. You're just early in the journey. You're in the phase where most people give up, don't give up. You're not most people. You are the exception. If you're in the grind, I see you, I've been you, okay? And remember this, your current situation is not your final destination. Every dollar you earn, every skill you build, every sacrifice you make, it all adds up. It all matters. Take pride in the struggle. One day, it's going to be your story. And if you want to keep going, then I'm here with you, okay? I'm here with every episode of this podcast. Okay? And if you want to take things further, you know about our newsletter, our three things newsletter. You can sign up over at 100- MBA-NET. Sign up for any of our guides, and you'll be part of our weekly newsletter where we help coach you from afar and help you build your business absolutely free. Just like most of everything else we offer here at the 100 MBA. Until next time, go out there, make it happen. Believe in yourself. You got this.