How To Be Successfully Poor 

Series:Breaking Bad
PC:NSF Music Magazine

In the entire series of Breaking Bad, this dialogue somehow stuck to me. I watched it when I was 20, and now when I am 22 years old and on the brink of my academic life; I am starting to realize the value of this line. It is time to decide,and the decision has to be yours.

Rich Vs Poor-The Bigger Picture

As I start to read the book Rich Dad and Poor Dad(there's a reason it is so hyped up,highly recommended); I start to realize that being rich or being poor doesn't necessarily have to be about money. 

When we talk about these two groups, we say that the rich have money whereas the poor don't. The middle class have money but their wants are not affordable with the money they have so they stay in the middle. But this is just a skewed view of the picture. It is not whole,infact far from the actual reality. 

In simple terms, you can have money but still be poor. On the other hand, you can have nothing, you may either start from nothing or loose a lot of money but still be rich. Because the question is not about money, whether you are rich or poor depends on your perspective towards money. Poor people simply are poor because they depend on others to give them money; whereas rich people know how to make money. So my dad could run a normal photo studio shop but still never feel deficit in money simply because he knows how to make money; not just from the revenues of the shop, but also from investments, knowing how to price his products, taking risks and bringing new products on the shelves by scouring the retail markets and getting something unique,at a cheap price. On the other hand you could be born in a rich family but still be poor if you don't know how and where to use your money. In a metaphor: Poor people work hard, but Rich People work smart. Both have money. But both don't use it the same.

So you need money. Money is very important, you simply cannot say that money is not important, but that also doesn't necessarily mean that being rich means having a big bungalow, many properties, and countless cars and gadgets in your possession. As I said, if you know how to use money,you are already rich. Or just a successfully poor person. Here's what I think: Knowing how to make money will make you rich, but knowing how to use it will make you rich and happy.

Being Successfully Poor-An Ideal

Here is where I, for the first time in my life; had to think what to do with my money. I want a simple life, I can adapt more easily to less is more approach of life.There is nothing wrong with this attitude;but it becomes wrong the moment you think that you don't need to earn money because you want a simple life. Most people who think like this and live by this often lead the most difficult and costly lifestyle.Because they think "money is not important since I want to lead a simple life", they earn less. They are the ones who will buy a 20rs MC Donald's Burger instead of 50rs fruits. They are the ones who will end up paying so many taxes that they cannot afford a decent apartment that is well ventilated and surrounded by trees. They are the ones who will end up buying more plastic cause it's cheaper and end up polluting the environment instead of conserving it. They are the ones struggling for peace because they have to work extra hours for a job that doesn't offer them enough money for living the "simple life" that they want. And they are the ones who end up in hospitals and infact paying more than they earn because of the stress and compromised lifestyle that they live in.

If you make less money and you want more you are poor. If you make more money and you want more you are rich. But if you make more money but want less,then you can be successfully poor. So the point is not about making more money or less, it is wise to always make more money. But the lesser wants you have for yourself, the more you can use money smartly in things that matter to you and your values. Afterall, your money shouldn't just be just a means to pay bills,but rather it should empower you to live the lifestyle you want, a means to live. 

Most people in school learn to work for money;most street smart people read books to learn how to make money work for them. But in the end, if you don't know the value/purpose behind your decision(why you are making money) then it will never make you happy. Successfully poor people look for happiness. They are just happy; not rich and happy. But there is a purpose that drives them to use money for the greater good,or something they believe in. You can bring no change in the society without money. No profession alone is enough for a big revolution to happen. You need to know how to make money and also reflect and find out where YOU want to use it.

Two Schools of Knowledge:Both are Important 

Movie:A Bronx tale
Source:Pinterest

When you stay in school,you learn to earn knowledge. You learn to learn knowledge,value it and use it and keep on stacking up. But when you graduate,you realize that outside school; people earn money,value it and use it. That is a great shift. You are taught how to gain knowledge and get marks your entire academic life, but not how to make money and use it.Hence, so many people are afraid to even step out of their academic life. Most of our parents and forefathers had to self-learn the concept of money and we are the next in line. But what if we had gotten guidance and education in both parallely instead of one after another? The debate should not be if it is better to be street smart or book smart,but to combine both together in school to live better and more efficiently than any of the generations before us. Being in school means we learn about the constants that always guarantee success in life: discipline,hard work, honesty, knowledge to work for finding solutions to questions not yet answered. Whereas street knowledge teaches us the variables that can be manipulated,that can be used and managed: money and time.

So that should be the end goal really: Academic and Street Learning in one single school.