The advantages of being poor

To some, being poor is embarrassing and shameful, but to a select group of people; being poor is something they’re grateful to be. They embrace it and use it to their advantage to achieve better lives for themselves and for those around them.

If you were poor or are poor don’t fret because you’re in good company and you’re actually at more of an advantage than those with bigger bank accounts.

Being poor empowers and motivates

It may seem hard to believe for some, but having little money can drive people to greatness. But it can also drive individuals to destroy themselves. It all depends on the way a person reacts to a financial situation. Here are a few tips for empowering and motivating yourself if you are poor:

- Don’t become jealous, become even – When you see someone richer than you, you should only be jealous for so long. You must turn that jealously into a competitive edge. Every gadget, car, and vacation they have should motivate you to achieve the same luxuries. Don’t become too consumed by one-upping these people because the grass isn’t always as green as you think on the other side.

- Your rags-to-riches tale will inspire - Whenever I feel frustrated I read a rags-to-riches story. There are so many of them, and new ones are being written every day. These stories aren’t unique to the United States either. Some of the most well-known of these stories are:

JK Rowling
Andrew Carnegie
Roman Abramovich
Tamir Sapir
Chris Gardner
Oprah Winfrey
Felix Dennis

By rising above poverty, your story will go down in history inspiring people for generations to come. This is motivating because simply by positively changing yourself, you will positively change lives.

You’ve got nothin’, you’ve got nothin’ to lose

Think you need money to achieve your dreams? Think again. You’re so much better off with little to no money, even if you’re launching a business. When you have no money, you have the freedom to pursue your dreams without the fear of losing money or putting yourself in financial ruin. Fear is the biggest deterrent of success. The fear of losing money is probably the biggest for most; and you can easily be fearless by being poor.

I know there will be people rebutting saying that you do need money to achieve a lot of dreams. I still beg to differ though. Take the story of Liz Murray. She dreamed of attending Harvard but was poor and homeless. With hard work, perseverance, and ingenuity; she found a way. Liz received a scholarship and attended Harvard. The old cliché of “where there’s a will, there’s a way” is certainly true.

Here are a few tips to achieve your big dreams with little money:

- Use your talents – You can develop many talents over your lifetime, but there are some that you were born with and were meant to use. They give you an advantage over other people. Properly harness their power and you’ll find that you can achieve what you desire in life.

- Use the internet – If you’re reading this article then you have access to the internet. The web is one of the greatest and cheapest (often free) tools to help you chase your dreams. It’s a time suck for some people, but if you can stay focused, the learning and networking opportunities are priceless. Social networking sites like Facebook give EVERYONE the opportunity to network with extremely successful individuals.

- Grow your mind – Knowledge doesn’t discriminate. Rich or poor, you can have all the knowledge you desire. You might not get the greatest education in school, but you can take it upon yourself to learn and fill in the gaps that public education misses. Knowledge has more power than any pile of money. Read articles on the internet, watch educational tv shows, or borrow books from the library.

You have something to live for

Most parents may think it’s best to give their children everything they desire. But the only thing that this does is stifle ambition. When you have everything, what do you have to strive for or even live for? We all need a purpose to get us up every day. When people have everything they ask themselves, “is this all there is to life.” It almost like you’ve hit a dead end in your life. Now don’t get me wrong, not everyone born with a silver spoon in their mouth lacks ambition. But I rather have the ambition that only comes from being poor. It’s unstoppable.

You aren’t as poor as you think

If you’re reading this article, then you really aren’t poor. You have internet access, which means you have electricity, which means you have a roof over your head; which in most books isn’t considered being poor, no matter what government statistics and labeling say. You have more luxuries than many people of the world have necessities. Even if you’re reading this at a library because you can’t afford a computer, you’re less poor than plenty others. So before you read any further, please get this misconception out of your mind. “Poor” is such a broad term today that it doesn’t have the same meaning it used to. YOU ARE NOT POOR.

The best things in life are free!

You can’t buy love. You can’t buy real friends. You can’t buy family. You can’t buy happiness. You can’t buy time. There are so many things that make life great which you can’t buy. Even though you are “poor” you have access to the most valuable parts of life. So I guess if you think about it; you’re as rich as they come.

*A note to the critics:

I know the critics out there will say there is nothing great about being poor and tell me to think about all the children dying in poverty stricken countries because of lack of access to food, clean water, and medical care. There are many horrible and tragic things that result from poverty. That is why I have signed up Lyved to be a part of Blog Action Day 2008. On October 15, 2008 some of the most influential blogs in the world will unite to discuss poverty. My intention of this article was to inspire people who think that they are poor to take action and achieve more in life. They’ll change their life, the lives of those around them, and by doing so; they’ll change the world.

Photo by greefus groinks

Business & Money | August 28th, 2008 | Published by Andrew Galasetti

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This article was published on Thursday, August 28th, 2008 at 10:01 pm and is filed under Business & Money. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

12 Responses to “The advantages of being poor”

Interesting Links 89 says:
August 30th, 2008 at 12:27 am
[...] The Disturbing Origins Of 5 Common Nursery Rhymes - (Cracked) The Advantages Of Being Poor - (Lyved) Baby Put In Microwave On Purpose - (CNN) 15 Of The Most Luxurious Swimming Pools On Earth - [...]
Online Activity for 2008-08-29 | Creeva's World 2.0 says:
August 30th, 2008 at 1:39 am
[...] The advantages of being poor (via Digg) [...]
As vantagens de ser pobre « Favoritos says:
September 11th, 2008 at 6:01 am
[...] Link: The advantages of being poor [...]
Mind-Mart.com says:
September 18th, 2008 at 1:42 am
There are definitely advantages–you’re forced to use your brain more because you can’t afford to take the easy way out and pay someone to do it for you–if you want to survive.
Andrew Galasetti says:
September 18th, 2008 at 8:11 am
Very true!

-Andrew
Margo Moon says:
September 22nd, 2008 at 1:57 pm
It’s always interesting to hold our underlying assumptions up to a new light.

Thanks for this article!
Andrew Galasetti says:
September 22nd, 2008 at 2:27 pm
Yes, it’s great to look at things in a new way. That’s what I try to do with every article here on Lyved.

-Andrew
ThePaperWall says:
September 26th, 2008 at 2:28 pm
I totally agree! Having nothing to lose really frees you from your inhibitions and the need for money really motivates. My friend and I left our jobs because we weren’t happy. We’re now broke, but able to have the freedom to explore other possibilities.

it also allowed us to start a column chronicling this journey to inspire others to do so, too. Check it out.

Thepaperwall.com

Lee and Lola
Andrew Galasetti says:
September 26th, 2008 at 2:38 pm
Glad you agree! Following your happiness is much more important.

-Andrew
Cleancut and Homeless » Blog Archive » Link Dump says:
September 30th, 2008 at 4:35 pm
[...] The Disturbing Origins Of 5 Common Nursery Rhymes - (Cracked) The Advantages Of Being Poor - (Lyved) Baby Put In Microwave On Purpose - (CNN) 15 Of The Most Luxurious Swimming Pools On Earth - [...]
Millionaire Acts says:
December 2nd, 2008 at 3:00 am
I believe that it’s not a sin or a curse if you were born poor. The problem lies if you still die poor. There are many rags to riches story out there. And there are even kids as young as under their 20’s making some decent income in the internet. These stories proves that it’s our fault if we died poor since we did not act on our situation.
Andrew Galasetti says:
December 2nd, 2008 at 7:48 am
Well if someone dies poor because they donated their money, that’s very respectful.

-Andrew