What I Learned From Going Bankrupt in My 20s That Proves to Be Immensely Valuable in

[Savage]

Use this thread to discuss the following entry from Steve Pavlina's blog:

What I Learned From Going Bankrupt in My 20s That Proves to Be Immensely Valuable in My 30s

[Dan.Linehan]

Great post Steve -- thanks for sharing this.

[Bradshaw]

Excellent!

[coLLege kid07]

Really enjoyed the post. I believe there was a lot of good lessons in there

[Brutha]

It kind of funny that you post that article in a time where you struggle with whether you really want to be a famous author

[Wreck]

If you were broke, bankrupt, and homeless and couldn’t spend any money, what activities would give you the most joy?

How would one go about finding the answer to this question?

[Calculusaurus]

Great post. Very enjoyable and useful

[carenkh]

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

Actually money is quite powerless. You can give your power to money, but that will only weaken you. If you think you need money to do great things, you're procrastinating by creating an unnecessary obstacle to expressing your greatness. You can build a good flow of money to enhance your self-expression, but money is powerless to help you create that expression.

I've had that quote, plus your next one

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

Seriously, part of the reason people suffer from financial scarcity is the silly thought that money will somehow give them power if they don't already feel powerful w/o it.

The main reason I have plenty of money flowing through my life these days is that I figured out how to empower myself when I was broke. That internal sense of empowerment is far more important than any amount of cash. If you throw lots of cash at a disempowered person, they'll just find a way to blow it on stupid stuff.

Money doesn't bestow power. Money can only serve as an additional channel for your current level of power. If you feel powerless w/o money, you'll feel just as powerless with it. Powerless people who inherit lots of money spend a good deal of time being paranoid about losing it.

from the same thread resonating in my head and heart since I read them a few days ago. I'm so glad to see you expand on them in that article!

Somehow, when I was in my late 20s, I knew to ask myself the question: If I had unlimited money and unlimited energy, what would I do? Then I set about finding ways to make that very thing happen. Being broke a lot of the time now, it's hard to remember that enthusiasm and optimism. But I suspect it's me that's gone off course, not the principle behind that thought. Your article (and that previous discussion) was very timely for me.

[Niki]

I love this article. It's true, so true! Life is wonderful when you express yourself. When we are creating, inventing, or whatever, we feel like a million bucks, even if we owe a million to others.

I often have the same problem myself. When I concentrate on making money I get jammed, but when I just create, give form to my ideas, I feel like the best I can feel, and it's wonderful, truly amazing. I love Steve's ability to put into words what we all experience in life. It makes things a lot more clearer, and sometimes a hell of a lot more easier.

[jkmuller]

Thank you for sharing your story Steve. It was clearly very personal, and I found it deeply moving. In all the time I've read your blog, I think your latest posts have been the most inspiring and inspired that I've read. Keep it up!

[pharmboy]

Steve,

Thanks for the great post. It couldn't have come at a better time. I am in financial trouble, even though my wife and I make over $150,000 per year. I am working at a career that many outsiders see as a dream job, but it is far from it, and gets tougher with each passing month. It is hard to find someone in my industry who is truly happy with what they are doing. I have initiated a creative project using my skills as an artist and writer. Lately, I have left it on the back burner, as my job sucks up more energy. My wife was just telling me this morning that I should focus my efforts back on that project. I was thinking that focusing on my job and eliminating my debt would pretty much eat up most of my time. Your inspired words will help me find the time to escape into my project and do what I love despite my financial situation.

Thanks again!

[Ecce Homo]

It's my turn to say that today's article was very timely for me personally. I particularly appreciated the questions you posed at the end:

If you were broke, bankrupt, and homeless and couldn’t spend any money, what activities would give you the most joy? Are you centering your life around those activities today? If not, then you must ask yourself, “Why the hell not?”

It's a nice change of pace to hear someone ask "What kind of activities would stir your passion if you were dirt poor and lived under a bridge" as opposed to the usual "what would you do with your life if you were a gazillionaire" question. It puts things into a clearer perspective.

[theknightwhosaysni-NI]

If you were broke, bankrupt, and homeless and couldn’t spend any money, what activities would give you the most joy?

I think it's a trial and error process. Try something and see if you like it. Don't sit too long thinking about what is it you love.

I personnaly sometimes feel some pressure to find the dream job, the 10/10 career that is 100% me. This may be a side effect of reading too much personal development material

Right now if I had to answer the question above, "going surfing" would be part of the answer, and that's not something I would like to make my career with. It gives me some direction though.
Trying different activities with the contributor/creative mindset is my solution for now.

[Savage]

Ideally these two questions should produce the same answer:

• What would you love doing if you were guaranteed to have unlimited money for the rest of your life?
• What would you love doing if you were guaranteed to be dead broke for the rest of your life?

My answer is that I'd work on personal growth and share it with other people.

With unlimited money you may be able to expand what you do, but the core truth behind it should remain unchanged.

[ellie]

Yes great post

I'm taking the leap in a new direction work wise, I'm just in the midst of it, so I wont get too excited, but I have noticed since doing something for the love of it, rather than looking for a career that makes you lots of money things seem to much easier. I figured out my current career is just not working for me and I have to let it go.

I was too concerned with money and position, but now realise I had missed what really worked, doing something just for the love of it and if I was broke this is definitely the field I would love working in.

[impaul99]

Great post Steve.

My story back in 1998 was very similar. The only difference was that I didn't go bankrupt only because the government here had a plan where they negotiate with your creditors on a payment plan that works within your budget. I had a failed business and I had to get a job to pay off my debts.

Eventually I paid everyone off. However, during that time when I was really broke I really learned who my friends were and developed a rock solid relationship with my wife. I know she'll stick by me even if we're dead-broke and I also know that no matter how bad things get financially I can always recover.

What surprised me was just how quickly things can turn around as well. I went from earning like $500 in a year (YES YEAR!) to making a six-figure income in about 5 years. I went from selling my 1987 Honda Accord in 1998 to pay for food and having no car, to driving a fully loaded 5-Series BWM (used) in about two years.

It was all done by applying Personal Development strategies.

What I learned was that it's not that hard to recover. You might think it will take you 20 years to recover from a huge debt, but it doesn't have to. It's amazing what you can accomplish in just one year of truly pursuing your true passions.

I also learned that when you're broke and when you've got money, the people that really love you treat you the same, but the so called "friends" you've got that don't really care about you treat you totally differently.

I think having gone through that "near bankruptcy" just like you have, and having had dealt with the same stupid creditors you dealt with has made me stronger.

I once had a credit call my Dad and tell him that he raised a failure for a son. He told him he should be ashamed of himself for raising such a degenerate, etc. He's so lucky I wasn't the one who picked up that phone and that I didn't have the conversation recorded, because that's TOTALLY ILLEGAL to do that. They're not even allowed to talk to my Dad about my financial situation, let alone say crap like that.

For anyone who's getting harrassed by credit collectors right now, here's some advice. RECORD the conversations, and even if you can't afford a recorder start your conversations out by saying "Before we start talking, let me inform you that I am recording this conversation." and then let them talk. THey might actually treat you like a human being. Or at least follow the law. If not, there are debt-relief agencies that would probably be really happy to take on your case.

ANyways, I just wanted to say that the article was really good Steve and once again it's shockingly strange just how similar our past experiences are.

[Angela]

One of my favorite moments in Steve's ICDI presentation was when he proudly announced that he had turned $20,000 into $150,000 ....

.... in debt.

Very funny.

[geekchic9]

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

Ideally these two questions should produce the same answer:

• What would you love doing if you were guaranteed to have unlimited money for the rest of your life?
• What would you love doing if you were guaranteed to be dead broke for the rest of your life?

That's easy. I would be in school.

To be more specific, I would be learning, and I would be teaching others to love learning as much as I do.

Thank you, Steve.

[faheeta]

See how unethical business practices can come back on you. If the video game publisher would have worked with you instead of against you, they may of had Steve Pavlina today as a business contact.

[Ecce Homo]

Originally Posted by Angela

One of my favorite moments in Steve's ICDI presentation was when he proudly announced that he had turned $20,000 into $150,000 ....

.... in debt.

Very funny.

Now that is awesome!!!

[Andrew Brunelle]

Quality article, Steve. I truly enjoyed this one. No matter where we are in life, we can always creatively express ourselves and come closer to joy.

[Ari Koinuma]

Hello,

First time poster here. My name is Ari.

My life story has so many parallels with Steve's it's not even funny. Except he was a game developer and I was (still am) a musician. For 10 years I tried and tried to make a living with music -- and I had a couple of projects that achieved modest success in indie market. But virtually no income has been generated from this activity.

The last thing I did was to make a rock album on my own. I didn't spend any money and I did everything by myself. I didn't let anyone hear it in progress -- I was just trying to create music that I wanted to hear.

The result was a rock album I was very proud of. I've received many great feedback, and I am now planning to do more of that. After all those years of trying to provide needed service for others, I'm back where I started from, making music that *I* love.

Of course, on the way I got interested in blogging and entrepreneurship, and here I am.... I am now a musician, blogger and entrepreneur. It's a potent combination, I hope. ;-)

But here's a quote that I thought would summarize what Steve is saying:

"Don't aim at success. The more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you will miss it. For success, like happiness, can not be pursued; and it only does so as the unintended side-effect of one's dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of one's surrender to a person other than oneself. Happiness must happen and the same holds for success: you have to let it happen by not caring about it. I want you to listen to what your conscience commands you to do and go on to carry it out to the best of your knowledge. Then you will live to see -- in the long run, I say! -- success will follow you precisely because you had forgotten to think of it." ~ Viktor Frankl

(Thanks to The Financial Philosopher for the quote.)

I'm going to write a blog entry about this quote some time.

ari

[codefreeze]

Thanks Steve.

I think this is actually THE most important (and for me best) article on the site!

[oxconner]

Hi Steve,

for me, this is probably the best article you've ever written. Good luck with the book, which is going to be a huge success and you deserve it.

Paul, Ireland

PS I would consider the book Think and Grow Rich very distasteful and the complete opposite of Steve's message. Steve talks about contribution and Hill's is a wealth extraction playbook.

[JimOfferman]

their games continue to emphasize violence and killing more than ever, and those games have been accused of spawning real-world acts of violence too.

Please, just don't go there. I expect something better than FOX level fear mongering from you, Steve!

There is absolutely no research that proves beyond the shadow of a doubt the existence of this so-called link between violence in games and real-world acts of violence. Saying that video games turn good little boys into mindless killer drones is about as baseless as claiming that rock 'n roll will turns us all to devil worshiping.

On the other hand, there are millions upon millions of gamers, myself included, who enjoy these games and never commit any actual acts of violence. Heck, the majority of gamers these days are thirty-somethings with a decent job and cute little kids...

Playing a (violent) game like Half-Life 2 is no different from watching The Terminator or reading Rosemary's Baby.

It's harmless entertainment.

(the rest of the article is great, btw)

[Savage]

Originally Posted by JimOfferman

Please, just don't go there. I expect something better than FOX level fear mongering from you, Steve!

Whoa, Jim. You read quite a bit more into my text than what was actually there.

I was simply making a factual statement regarding this publisher's reputation in the media. They continue to have PR problems.

I imagine the issue of videogame violence and the media must be a hot button issue for you for this statement to trigger such a reaction.

[HESBON]

Hi Steve
Have Been Your Regular Reader Of Your Articles,but This One Is Has Really Touched Me Because You Have Encouraged Us,that Failure Is A Learning Process,in Fact Part Of Success And My Question Is,what About Those Who Experience Success Without,do We Have Them Or They Don't Exit?

[Monique7nuns]

If you were broke, bankrupt, and homeless and couldn’t spend any money, what activities would give you the most joy? Are you centering your life around those activities today? If not, then you must ask yourself, “Why the hell not?”

Ideally these two questions should produce the same answer:

* What would you love doing if you were guaranteed to have unlimited money for the rest of your life?
* What would you love doing if you were guaranteed to be dead broke for the rest of your life?

broke - check.. I have about $75 to my name and approx $130,000 (+/-) of debt - Hooraay! They always cheer for people when they go over Niagara Falls in a barrel, right? haha

bankrupt - check.. I can't declare it again cause I did about 5 years ago. I have to wait another 3.. but essentially, with a whopping $75 - yes, I am.

homeless - check, check.. If not for the generosity of my family, yes I would be and have lived in my truck before. I'm very grateful to have be where I'm at.

A bulk of my debt $110,000 is tied up in school loans. I haven't been in a position to begin repaying them.. well maybe I was once or twice but thanks to forbearance, hardship deferments and brief stints in school I've been able to avoid it for 10 years. The rest tied up in personal loans and credit card debt.

I have a small freelance web design business that I started about 5 yrs ago, the last time I was in this position and declared bankruptcy. That business has approx 5 clients and yields and average of $200/month - if I'm lucky. I haven't been able to increase the work or client list, but then again I'm not sure I really want to continue. My feeling lately is that when I am financially stable, I want to do away with it all. I want to give up because it isn't growing and I hate being tied to a computer hour after hour.

I've applied for 100's of jobs over the past year the time in which I've also been unemployed. I try not to think about the overwhelming rejection rate.. I may be in denial. I think it's possible I've built up the association of working as doing time in jail - although I've never been. A majority of my employment has been for the larger part miserable and dreadful.

I'm out here in the country, practically the middle of nowhere and I really love the laid back pace. I love taking pictures of nature, I'd like to get back into art and possibly teaching - where my very expensive degrees are.

The only way I see out of this - aside from winning the lottery and/or having a large sum of money fall from out of the sky - is to get another job that I probably won't like, for not enough money to get me very far.

Do what brings me the most Joy? What would I love doing if you were guaranteed to have unlimited money for the rest of your life? What would I love doing if I were guaranteed to be dead broke for the rest of your life?

Those are really good questions.. is it photography or painting? is it personal development and blogging? which I've also tried several times.. I honestly don't know. I love doing a variety of things.. and even though I have no clue how my current "down and out" situation is going to work out.. at least I'm not freaking out about it as much as I did the last time. I'm not as physically sick as I was then either - thankfully!

I feel like I have no direction and on some days even less motivation..

but anyway.. Thanks for sharing your story Steve. I've been following your blog for awhile now and really appreciate the effort. After writing all that out I feel depleted, suffice it to say any advice from you or anyone else would be greatly appreciated.

[Savage]

Originally Posted by Monique7nuns

My feeling lately is that when I am financially stable, I want to do away with it all.

Delete everything before the comma and you'll have a more accurate truth.

I think it's possible I've built up the association of working as doing time in jail.

A job you don't love is indeed a cage. Doing work you love is like donning a pair of wings.

I love taking pictures of nature, I'd like to get back into art and possibly teaching - where my very expensive degrees are.

If you already own a digital camera, you can take as many photos as you want for free. If not you can probably borrow a camera from someone. There are lots of idle cameras out there.

A lack of money can't stop you from teaching. Jesus was broke and he seemed to garner quite a number of students. You don't need degrees or a classroom to teach. Just teach, even if you're only talking to the animals at first.

The only way I see out of this - aside from winning the lottery and/or having a large sum of money fall from out of the sky - is to get another job that I probably won't like, for not enough money to get me very far.

That sounds like a reasonably good idea. I only see one problem with it.

It's complete and utter B.S. In fact, I'm quite certain that's the biggest piece of B.S. I've seen this whole month -- and I get exposed to quite a lot of it.

You're lying to yourself.

Do you really think a job you hate is going to dig you out of $130K of debt? No chance. You have more hope of winning the lottery.

Take some photos and teach if that's what you love to do. That's your only hope of every being able to provide enough value and summon enough energy to reach a level of financial abundance.

Stop making excuses, stop giving in to your fear and doubt, and just go try it. What have you possibly got to lose?

If you don't have anyone to teach, ask the universe to send you a student you can help. You'll find one soon enough.

Forget about the debt for now. Just start doing what you came here to do.

I love doing a variety of things..

Then go do a variety of things. No one is stopping you but you.

Isn't it silly to give away all your power to that tiny little minus sign in front of your net worth?

I feel like I have no direction and on some days even less motivation..

Then wander aimlessly until you find a direction that appeals to you. You don't have to be right on your first guess.

After writing all that out I feel depleted, suffice it to say any advice from you or anyone else would be greatly appreciated.

The best advice I can give you is to take a few days off, and just go out and do all the stuff that makes you happiest. Don't worry about money or a job or any of that. If other people react with disgust, tell them I gave you permission.

How about if you post some of your nature photos in this forum, so you can share a little of your passion with the rest of us??? And how about sharing some of your wisdom to teach someone here something that might help them? You have a ready-made classroom of hundreds of people.

[Jake Birkett]

Ironically I started up a company developing games just as Steve got out of the industry. I got into it after reading Steve's "classic" advice such as "Cultivate Burning Desire", which really worked for me.

I quit my well paid job making business software because I just couldn't stand to do it any more when I knew that I wanted to make games instead. As I built the business up I had to borrow money and really scrape by, and my partner got worried about money etc. Then it all took off and things are great and getting even better.

Of course it took 3 or so years before things panned out. As Steve said in some of his recent posts, success doesn't necessarily happen overnight, it's a combination of factors including your past experience and what skills you've spent time developing and of course your drive - plus throw in a little luck/Universal guidance ;-)