Resolute Pursuit

The power of broke is all about substance over flash. It’s about creativity over certainty. It’s about taking a shot over playing it safe. And here’s another thing: The money runs out after a while. Those deep pockets you may or may not have, they’ll never be deep enough to buy all the passion, ingenuity, and determination it takes to have success over the long haul.

Even if you’ve got money behind you, there’s no guarantee that it will see you through. It’s the money in front of you that counts, after all. It’s the money you need, not the money you have, that makes all the difference. And this book is all about that difference, and how to put it to work for you.

Let’s face it, when you’re up against all odds, when you’ve exhausted every opportunity, when you’re down to your last dime…that’s when you’ve got no choice but to succeed. You’re out of options, man. So you double down, dig deep, and switch into that relentless turbo mode we’ve all got kicking around in our machinery. And that’s when the real magic happens. Are we clear on this? 

The power of broke is the half-court shot you fire up with time running out and the game on the line. It’s the shot your teammates won’t take because the likelihood of that ball kissing the net is pretty damn thin and they don’t want to mess with their stat lines. They’re playing the percentages while you’re playing to win — and this can mean everything. I don’t mean to mix my sports metaphors here, but I’m reminded of that great Wayne Gretzky line, “We miss one hundred percent of the shots we don’t take.” So, take the shot! Absolutely, take the shot. 

The power of broke is all about taking that shot. The power of broke is looking up at the sky, wondering what you’ve got to do to catch a break, and saying, “God, why am I doing this?” It’s living with the constant fear that you’ve gone crazy for putting it all on the line—but putting it out there anyway. There might be a million reasons for you to throw up your hands, throw in the towel, throw away your dreams, and put an end to whatever craziness you’re pursuing, but the power of broke is that one reason you keep going. Maybe you’ve been rejected by thirty loan officers, but that green light could be waiting for you on the thirty-first try. Perhaps your product or service has been totally slammed by the first thirty people who try it, but the thirty-first review is a rave. And that comes from the one guy whose opinion really matters.

Whatever it is, keep at it — absolutely, keep at it! Because, hey, you never know. When you’ve got nothing to lose, you’ve got everything to gain. Sometimes it takes having your back against the wall, leveraging your last dollar, and having no place to go but up, up, up if you expect something to happen. Because if you’ve got to succeed to survive, you will. Trust me on this.

This is an extract from Daymond John's The Power of Broke published by Random House