How to Deal with the Feeling of Poverty? Master 3 "Lazy-Strong" Mindsets to Break Free from the Cycle of Poverty
- 懶大 (Lan Da)
- 職涯與生活
- Last updated: October 3, 2023
- 3 min read
In this article, you'll learn:
After reading this news about the feeling of poverty, I realized that Taiwan is facing a serious social phenomenon in recent years, which is the feeling of poverty. Although government data shows that the number of low-income households in our country is decreasing, many Taiwanese people feel that life is becoming more and more difficult, mainly due to multiple factors such as inflation, low wages, high prices, high housing prices, and widening wealth gap. Although current video news also includes advertisements, I still watched the news for the sake of the vast number of lazy people.
The Feeling of Poverty is Real, Actively Becoming Stronger is the Only Solution
Although I am not a 富二代 (second-generation rich), I am fortunate that my family is not considered a 貧二代 (second-generation poor). At least my parents worked hard for most of their lives to raise me and bought a house. The money is just enough to use. I believe that even if you don’t start from a wealthy family, it doesn’t matter. At least my parents left me many opportunities, so I don’t have to start from a life of debt.
The feeling of poverty, spending less than NT$500 a week, what kind of life is that… it’s really hard to imagine. Fresh graduates with a monthly salary of less than NT$30,000… I also find it hard to imagine… because except for my initial sales career and the transitional period of part-time work, my salary has never been less than NT$30,000.
After entering the workforce, I first chose a sales job, starting with selling insurance. But I sold insurance with pride (the claims I handled were more than the premiums I received). In the beginning, I earned a lot of money through my own efforts. Although the performance was sometimes good and sometimes bad, and I received salaries of a few thousand NT$, on average, it seems that I never earned less than NT$40,000 from the first year. So it’s really hard to imagine what it’s like to be poor.
During the period when I was a 月光族 (moonlight clan, living paycheck to paycheck), although it was brief, I also felt poverty. Fortunately, due to good performance, I quickly got out of the predicament.
During this period of more than 10 years, I worked for 2 insurance companies and an independent financial consulting company, transforming myself into a consultant-type talent. Then I taught myself how to build websites, write articles, give lectures, conduct training, simple programming, and financial knowledge. The most important thing is financial planning. I really think that financial planning is probably one of the most important turning points in my life, helping me to re-verify the idea that “money can solve problems”!
Through these 10 years of learning, I upgraded my skills and increased my skill points, so I had a different sales career. (I believe that consciously learning skills and making yourself stronger will give you more opportunities.)
Stock Market Adventure: Thrill and Emptiness
In the middle, I took a detour to become a full-time investor (although speculating in stocks is unproductive, I admit it). But the thrill of trading is unparalleled! Hundreds of thousands or millions of NT$ come in and out, and the truth is revealed in that 0.01 second. It’s as exciting as it gets. But I quickly got tired of it. It’s not a matter of earning more or less money. Watching the Taiwan stock market is like waiting for the US stock market. This kind of life sounds comfortable, but I feel like I’m missing something.
Return to the Workplace: New Challenges and Enlightenment
By chance, I returned to the workplace and had the opportunity to take over as the CEO of a new technology startup. Although it is just a small startup, I feel like I have come back to life. The impact created through software is more fulfilling than simply trading. This feeling of creation is also a life experience. That insurance claim back then deeply influenced me. Where did I get the ability to give others NT$15 million (although it was given by the insurance company, the feeling of sending it out from my hands was incredible). So I feel that everyone should have enough insurance to face different risks in life. This is also the goal and vision of this new technology startup.
Different things always allow everyone’s skill points to develop differently. After this round, I learned about different fields such as company management, company operations, business development, data analysis, marketing…etc.
However, at this time, I was over 30 and under 40. But as life experience continues to accumulate, looking back at my past efforts, I really have not let him down. But these are all afterthoughts of time + choice = result. (Maybe going back to trading would be more comfortable?)
So whenever I see this kind of poor news and sad stories, I am still very curious. If there is an opportunity to force yourself to grow, invest in yourself, and transform yourself from manpower to talent, then there will be opportunities to continue to grow and have more opportunities to escape poverty.
In addition, saving money should be "consciously" done through the "plan" and "goal" of financial planning to make the money you save meaningful, instead of just spending the money you save a little later. That would be a pity. Because not investing in yourself may be physical “laziness”. If you are too lazy to even invest in assets, then there is probably no hope.
From my own experience, I have learned that
I wanted to make myself stronger, stronger, lazier, and more speculative (investment opportunities) because I was lazy back then.
Further Reading
懶得有結論 (Lazy Conclusion)
Okay, the inspiration for 懶得變有錢 (Lazy to be Rich) came from this article, which says to give yourself more time to understand yourself, grow yourself, and then achieve yourself through more efficient methods.
If your physical and mental state are all truly “lazy”, then no one can help you no matter how lazy you are. Don’t let the psychology of poverty become learned helplessness.
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