My trip down the "Going Broke Expressway"
- Jan 31, 2017
- admin
- Entrepreneur, Investing
THE “GOING BROKE EXPRESSWAY” IS THE WORST ROAD I’VE EVER BEEN ON.
I last drove that road in 2003 and I’ll never forget it. Each and every single stop along the way was worse then the stop before. And the worst part about it was that I didn’t really know I was on the road until I came upon the one exit that everyone whose ever travelled down this road knows all to well…
EXIT #3 – “CREDIT CARD SHUFFLE AVENUE”
Yes, it was probably when I began borrowing money from Peter to pay Paul that I finally realized that my life had changed dramatically. And when I say dramatically, I mean DRAMATICALLY.
It all started when I left Wall Street after having sold my brokerage firm and having made millions. Flushed with success I thought there was nothing I couldn’t accomplish in business. That was back when life hadn’t yet taught me that I had to live on HER TERMS, not mine.
It doesn’t matter what happened next does it? What’s so painful and humiliating about going broke is that it’s always the same story. No matter what business you started and blew or what new house you had to have it all comes down to one thing –
ARROGANCE!
Yea, I said it – arrogance! I was a victim of it. My arrogance caused me to overreach and overextend myself in business. Other folks’ arrogance forces them to overextend themselves with luxury items just to keep up with the Joneses. No matter how unique you think your situation is it always comes down to an overreach based on simple arrogance.
In my own situation I think I could have recovered quicker then I did. As foolish as I may have been, I’ve always been a saver and had enough cash left in the bank to get back on my feet again.
But that’s when I hit the next exit on the Going Broke Expressway –
EXIT #4 – “THINGS YOU DIDN’T PLAN FOR ROAD”
You know the road I’m talking about. Just when you think you’ll be ok this exit runs up on you quicker then you ever imagined.
In my case there was a medical crisis for a family member of mine who didn’t have health insurance. And the worst part about it was that it wasn’t one of those emergency room type situations. It was the type of situation that the medical industry lives for – medical expenses that cost a hefty chunk of money up front and a nice chunk of money each month.
But what are you going to do? Family is family – the rest is all a game of monopoly in comparison.
So there I was holed up in my apartment. To say that I was stunned would be an understatement. Shell-shocked was more like it. It took me a month to even have the nerve to tell my friends my situation (I was dreading the look on their faces).
(SURVIVAL HINT: Speak about your situation OPENLY AND HONESTLY with all your friends. Assume everyone in your neighborhood knows about it. ALWAYS carry yourself with dignity and you’ll set an example on how to handle your business.)
Looking back now though I realize that I was coming to another exit on the Going Broke Expressway –
EXIT #4 – “FORK IN THE ROAD”
Yup, here’s the exit where you have one of two decisions to make: you can either crawl up into a fetal position and get mad at the world OR you can take an honest and very brutal look in the mirror at the mistakes you made.
(SURVIVAL HINT: If you’re blaming anybody but yourself for every decision YOU MADE you’ve taken the wrong fork in the road. It’s on you 100%.)
It took me a year to fully admit, face down and digest the mistakes I made. But I knew I had to do it if I wanted to go to the next level in this game called business – my future was based on it.
It may seem like a harder road at first but you’ll take your medicine quickly and move on. If you don’t you’ll be bitter, miserable and mad at the world for the rest of your life.
Having taken the right fork in the road I came to the next stop on the Going Broke Expressway –
EXIT #5 – “PLANNING MY COMEBACK”
This is when you sit, plan and plot how you’re going to get back on your feet. Maybe you’ve taken a job you hate. Maybe you’re taken orders from the same type of punk you would have fired in a different time.
But it is a different time and you have to be humble and respect that. You cannot – UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES – wear your anger on your sleeve. Be patient. Take your time. Digest the experience. Your opportunity will reveal itself at some point – you just have to be alert to it.
If you stay focused, learn your lessons, don’t play your hand too early and keep your dignity you’ll get to the best exit of all –
EXIT #6 – “BACK AND BETTER THEN EVER”
If you’ve ever reached this exit you know that a great comeback is worth 100 trips down the Going Broke Expressway. You pay back all your debts. Stash a huge chunk of cash in the bank and you have enough left over to play the game again – on your own terms.
So if you happen to be travelling down this road right now keep this in mind –
Pain, her damage don’t end the world. Neither does despair or beatings. The world ends when your dead. Until then you got more punishment in store….
So stand it like a man – AND GIVE SOME BACK.