Why Being Broke Is a Mindset Problem, Not a Money Problem
Audio only · watch on YouTube
David Wood tells his audience flat out that if you are over 25 and do not have a thousand dollars to your name, you have a problem, and he is not going to pretend otherwise.
He borrowed the money and is not ashamed of it
David opens by saying he borrowed money to start his business and feels no shame about it. He says there are very few things he would ever recommend someone borrow money for, but business is one of them, because without investing in yourself you are not going to make any money. His advice to people who say they do not have a thousand dollars is direct: borrow it, go to your mom. If you are 30 and you cannot come up with that, he says, that is the problem itself.
He notes that most people would never talk to someone this bluntly, and the reason, he says, is that those people are broke too.
He was there himself, living in a van
David is careful to say this isn’t him talking down from some position of comfort. He says a few years ago he had a big problem himself, that he didn’t have a hundred dollars, and that he used to live in a van because his financial problems were so bad. He says that history is exactly what gives him the standing to be blunt now:
I've been broke, and I know what it's like to not have a thousand bucks, and so I can be strong with you because I used to live in a van because I was so broke and had such bad financial problems, and now I'm over it.
He tells listeners not to stay stuck in their own situation forever. If you take excuses from yourself, he says, you end up having to take everyone else’s crap instead, and that keeps a person “busted broke for the rest of your life.”
Not having a thousand dollars is a mindset problem, not a money problem
David frames this specifically as a first-world issue. If someone lives in a third-world country, he says, they have a bit more excuse. But in America, Canada, the UK, or most of the European Union, being over 25 with no thousand dollars to your name means, in his words, “you do not know what to do with money.” He calls the underlying cause a poverty mindset, and guesses it often comes down to being stingy. Left unaddressed, he warns, that mindset will keep someone broke for the next ten years, and he asks listeners to actually picture themselves a decade from now, still exactly this broke, because they were not willing to part with some cash.
He compares the moment of recognizing this to the first step of recovery from alcoholism: admitting there is an issue and that you need help. He says money moves resources in this world whether people like it or not, and if someone doesn’t have the money to do what they want to do, in a first-world country, there is no excuse left except to look in the mirror and ask what needs to change. He calls this a matter of personal responsibility.
The offer he was pointing to that night
David says what he is about to walk through is “the easy way of doing this.” He directs anyone not already in Empower Network to scroll down and hit the add-to-cart button, get in for , and buy that product. He says he would go on to explain, later in the same session, why that product matters, how it fits into the process he was describing, and how it can help build whatever other business someone might already be in. His instruction to the audience was simple: hit the add-to-cart button below the video and get in if you aren’t already.
Written up from the original recording. The full transcript is below.
Read the full transcript (5 min talk, 944 words)
We're gonna go on a journey together and you're gonna get to make a decision. It's so simple, it's unbelievable. I borrowed money to start my business and I am NOT ashamed of that. There's very few things I'd ever recommend somebody borrowed money to do, one of them is business. Because if you don't invest in yourself, you're not gonna make any money. Period, right? So I'll tell people point-blank, I don't have a thousand bucks, borrow it. Go to your mom, right? If you don't have a thousand bucks and you're 30, that you have a problem. Now most people would not talk to you like that, and the reason they won't is because they're broke too.
Okay, and I'm gonna tell you something guys, if you're 25, 35, 40, now I've had, I've had that, I had a problem big time a few years ago folks. I didn't have a hundred dollars. So if I'm telling you you had a problem, I had a big problem, right? But if you're 35, 40, 45, 50, 25, and you don't got a thousand dollars to your name, and you got to put it on a credit card or borrow it, you have got a problem, man, woman. It's an issue. There's a lot of people with this problem around the world. It's an issue. It's a poverty mind issue. You got a problem with how you make money. This is not a lot of money, folks. It's not. It's ridiculously small for the value that you get for it, and if you don't have it you say, well, that's too expensive. No, you're too broke, and you need to make some money, borrow it. Don't be a wuss bag about your life, because if you take that excuse from yourself, this is what's in it. You could, you could hang up on the video, but you know I'm, you know I'm right. You could sock me in the face, but you know I'm right. Right, if you don't have a thousand dollars you are broke, period. I've been broke, and I know it's like to not have a thousand bucks, and so I can be strong with you because I used to live in a van because I was so broke and had such bad financial problems, and now I'm over it. Don't, don't stay stuck in your crap forever. Look, and here's what happens if you take crap from yourself, you're gonna have to take other people's crap, and it'll keep you busted broke for the rest of your life. And there's nothing that's gonna be worse than allowing yourself to wall around in your own garbage in your life.
Say, Dave, but I don't have any money. Well, get over it. Get over it. Right, I'm showing you how to get over it. Stop, stop being busted. Make a decision, wake up and say, God, I'm broke, man. What's the first step to recovery if you have been an alcoholic, synonymous? I haven't, but Dave Sharpe has, you know, I shouldn't say that, I suppose you're not supposed to talk about it. He's actually not in that, he's a different one. It's admitting that there's an issue and you need help.
Not having a thousand dollars in one of the richest countries in the world is a poverty mind, broke issue, if you're in a first world country. Now if you're a third world country, you have a little bit more to excuse yourself for this, but if you're in America, Canada, the UK, most of the European Union, and you don't have a thousand dollars to your name, and you're over 25, you do not know what to do with money. You don't know how to make money, and if you don't stop the whatever poverty mind is keeping you broke, which is probably being stingy honestly, if you don't stop it, you'll be broke for the next ten years, and I want you to imagine, and guys this is serious issue here, I want you to imagine ten years from now being as broke as you are now, because you're not willing to part with some cash because you got a poverty mindset. It's not cool guys. I was broke for a long time, and I couldn't do anything I wanted to do, I couldn't buy anything I wanted to buy. Money moves resources in our world, guys, if we like it or not. It's the way it is, we got to admit the truth about reality in life. If you don't have the money to do the stuff that you want, you got an issue, man, if you're in a first-world country. There is no excuse other than looking at yourself in the mirror and saying, something's got to change. What is it? What am I not doing correctly that I can change, because it's your responsibility. Responsibility.
Now what I'm gonna be drawing out tonight is the easy way of doing this, the easy way of doing this. If you're not in Empower Network, scroll down to the bottom, there's an add cart button, just get in, okay, hit the button now. You can get in a power for $25, okay, and you need to buy that $25 product. I'm explained why tonight, I'm gonna explain how it fits into this process, and I'm explained how it can help you build whatever else, but whatever, whatever other business that you're in. So hit the add to cart button below this video, okay, hit the add to cart button, alright, and get in if you ain't in.