Survive the Bottom Line as an Artist

I saw a homeless kid last week on the train. As soon as he stepped onto the train, he opened the sleeping bag and made a little nest for himself to sleep in for the night. Apparently there are more and more young people becoming homeless these days. I’m not sure what the core reason is, but I’d like to share my understanding and experiences of surviving the bottom line.

I moved to Melbourne more than 10 years ago. As an international student (we don’t get Centrelink or tuition support), I had to make enough money to survive my Uni days. Some days I only had $20 in my pocket to buy food for the week after paying for rent and bills. But I survived.

Spend on what matters

The most shocking story I heard about homelessness was that someone had spent their rent money on a Play Station 3. Surely a Play Station is worthless if you don’t have a place to stay. When you are in a bad financial situation, the most important thing is to have a roof over of your head and have the right amount of nutrition in your body to keep you healthy. Without these, nothing else matters.

Take responsibility of your basics

So I looked into the motive behind these strange behaviors, and discovered that it’s mostly due to lack of responsibility for their own bottom lines. It’s certainly easy to get a short term accommodation to solve your financial problem, but it’s not a sustainable way to live your life. Time is ticking and if you don’t take responsibility of your basic living condition, it’s unfair for you to expect others to support for a very long time.

Be positive in your darkest days

Just because you are going through a dark time, doesn’t mean integrity no longer matters. Be grateful to the people who helped you, never take anything for granted, and stay positive. You will walk out of it one day and you shouldn’t have to regret anything you did in those days.

Find a fishing rod, and use it

I love the old phrase,”If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. But if you give him a fishing rod, you feed him for a lifetime.” When you are trying to survive, look for opportunities and skills you can gain, instead of immediate benefit that will disappear tomorrow. Hard work is not easy, but you don’t have the luxury to avoid them.

Never forget your bottom line

Once you are back on track, treasure your experience and understand you have achieved something powerful. Remembering your bottom line might allow you to do great things without the fear of losing. Perhaps you will end up to be much more successful.