Being broke is different from being poor

Hi,

the past days, I got reconnected with some friends, I did not see in years. I just called them, remembering that they always have been there when I needed, and I was always there for them also.

One of them, had sadly lost all he had this year. His wife and kids are with him, but the house, firm cars and everything else are gone. I was shocked to hear that, especially as he was very positive about it.

He told me one thing, being broke is one thing, being poor is another and mostly is a mental setting.

He reminded me of 20 years ago, when we both have been broke, so broke that we went to visit people with the hope that they gave us food by inviting us to dinner. We were in the university then, the scholarship was very low, and living costs still high. It did not break us, on the contrary, he told me then, as we are broke, we can't go only up.

In 6 months we were selling ready-made projects for different classes in university. A lot of lazy students, preferred to pay for a project, then actually working on it. As there have been so many, we automated everything, with randomised text layout. Usually, at the start of the year, the professor was giving a randomised set of data, to create either a mathematical model, or a design for movement in a robot. With a visual basic script, implemented in AutoCAD and Word, we could generate a project in 10 minutes and 30 minutes review, to double-check the data and text. That was it. We sold them pretty expensive, but there was a market for it. After this, we never had any issue with money for living during our university, master, and PhD time. For me, it was a lesson, that being broke is a point in time and being poor is a mindset.

He mentioned, that he will probably need some money for a faster reboot, which I will gladly give him. I know I will get it back as he is a fighter. It was unfortunate that he lost all, due to some factors, like being robbed by one employee, that also sabotaged one of the most important machines he had. This rotten element can cause a firm to go broke very fast, especially in the field he was active, with high turnover, but low operational margin. He will switch the sector and will go into another business, with higher margin, as the risk is lower for cashflow issues.

I have to thank him for the mindset showing. And always, remember, if you are rock bottom down, there is only a way, up.