A few days ago, I received a message.
It sounded like this:
“Imran, I want to attend your workshop but I have no money. I had money before but I spent them all and now I need to earn money again. Can I attend for free?”
My answer was NO but not because I don’t give free seats. It is because I hear this story all the time and there is something to learn from here.
Most people decide that it is time to improve their circumstances when circumstances are already bad. It is the person who lives healthy and exercise after his first heart attack. It is the couple who got terrible into debt and only after that establish some financial discipline.
And it is the huge group that will decide entrepreneurship is for them when they’re broke. But it doesn’t work like that. When you’re broke, it’s hard to get the money and time and motivation to make it happen.
Sure. You can do it. I have plenty of friends who started with nothing and are now making six figures per month. But it is a lot easier to earn an extra $5.000 or $10.000 per month when you have a stable income, when you don’t worry about how you will make your bank payments and when you’re not desperate to get cash to last you until the end of the month.
The lesson here is that it’s not what you do when you are broke… it’s what you do when you’re not broke. If you wait until things get better, no matter if we’re talking about health or marriage or money, it will be hard to dig yourself out of the hole you are in and to build something good.
So do it when you can.
For you, this may be now. You have money. You have some time. Sure, you don’t have too much of either but you’ll never have more unless you change something. It’s not like your job will require you to work just ten hours per week and pay double next week. And from what I’ve seen, people who think they can’t live with anything less than $4000 per month, will soon end up thinking they can’t live with anything less than $5000 per month.
Think about it. If I ask you right now to invest $2000 to get your business education to start an extra stream of passive income, you may tell me “But Imran, all I budget my money. I can not move even a single cent. I wish I could.”
But isn’t this true when you were earning half of what you are earning now? Isn’t this true when you were earning a quarter?
It’s just that each time when you get a promotion or you earn more, you spend more. And that “more” becomes your standard and you think you can’t spare a single cent. This is how people are stuck into the treadmill of life, for small improvements like taking a Grab instead of taking the bus or having a bigger place they don’t even use properly, they’re always stuck with their job and their current income.
Because business education costs. Ads cost. Running a business costs. And if you don’t invest now, when you’re doing well, I assure you, you won’t invest when you’re in crisis mode and you’re wondering what the future holds for you.
I want to make a note here though. The back to the wall strategy works too. I’ve seen people lose it all. Lose their jobs. Lose their homes. And somehow, they’ve made it happen. Like the phoenix, they’ve raised out of their own ashes and created a new life for themselves.
Their mindset was…
“I’ve lost everything, I have nothing left, I may as well try it, it can’t get any worse than that?”
And this is especially true if you watch motivational movies or read inspirational books. It’s true… apart that it doesn’t apply for most people. For every person who is inspired to take action because “there’s nothing I can lose”, there are 49 who will just be paralysed with fear. These people, instead of taking massive action, they’ll just sit at home, watching Netflix all the time, afraid of confronting their true problems.
So my advice is simple.
If you want your future to look different, then you must act now, when you can. Maybe instead of chilling watching NetFlix, read how Facebook and ads work. Instead of buying that vacation to Bali, set up your first business. Instead of spending $10 for a movie ticket, spend $10 for a business or self-improvement book which will help you create change in your life.
The best time to start a business is when you have the money and the security to do so. This means you have a job, you can rely on some income and you aren’t overwhelmed by problems. Sure, it’s not ideal but it will never be. The worst time is when you’re broke, jobless and you are scrambling for solutions. And in those cases, unless you’re one of those people who are motivated by adventure and by risk taking, you’ll likely be paralyzed a lot more than motivated.
Best regards,
Imran
