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Poverty Is The One of The Greatest Gifts

Use Your Past To Accelerate Financial Success

By Destiny S. HarrisPublished 18 days ago 4 min read
Poverty Is The One of The Greatest Gifts
Photo by John Moeses Bauan on Unsplash

"Sometimes poverty is the greatest gift you can ever be given. Sometimes loss is the key that leads you to gain (Suze Orman)."

Born Financially Motivated

Something magical happens to those who choose to make something of themselves even though they're born with nothing.

These people develop an innate tenacity for personal and financial improvement; they will surrender this desire to improve for nothing.

Those who choose to create wealth for themselves firmly believe that the universe has destined them to experience and have more.

Whatever you believe becomes your reality.

If you are born into poverty or fragile economic circumstances, this doesn't have to be your financial destiny.

The choice is yours whether or not you forge a new path of wealth, freedom, and options.

Most People Didn't Come From Wealth

If you're like most people, you didn't come from a wealthy or ultra-wealthy background. Most people come from a middle or lower-class economic background and aren't taught about personal finance during childhood.

Though the best time to learn about money is when you're young, most people don't learn about money until they're an adult (30s or 40s and beyond).

Many 40, 50, 60, 70, and 80+ people still don't understand how to manage their money. However, not being taught about money during their childhood isn't a viable excuse for not performing well at money.

We all have the opportunity to take direct action to improve our financial circumstances. The choice is always up to us, but as I mentioned at the beginning of this article, only some people are willing to change their financial destiny.

It's easier to accept mediocrity than to change your results; staying the same is comfortable; it's similar to staying in bed after your alarm goes off when it's cold, dark, and rainy outside; these are some of the most challenging times to get out of bed.

Discomfort is painful.

Change is painful.

Use Your Past To Accelerate Financial Success

Have you ever wished you were born into different economic circumstances?

When I was younger, I used to wish my family had more financial resources. I saw the kids and families who did have more resources (or at least appeared to), and I wanted that for my family and me.

Though my family never became wealthy during my childhood, my parents provided me with the proper foundation to create wealth in my future years through financial education and exposure.

Reading books at the dinner table began my financial education. I took it further by continuing to read books and exposing myself to wealthy individuals and opportunities outside my usual environment.

What are you choosing to do to transform your financial destiny?

Complaining about your past will never shift your financial results.

The only way to shift your financial results is to acquire and apply knowledge prudently.

Ownership Changes Everything

Knowledge alone doesn’t change outcomes.

Plenty of people read books, listen to podcasts, and nod along to financial advice without ever shifting their behavior.

The difference between those who escape their starting conditions and those who stay trapped in them is application under pressure.

When you grow up with less, you learn early that resources matter. But you also learn something more important if you’re paying attention: effort without direction is exhausting, and direction without discipline is useless.

Financial progress requires both. You don’t need to be born wealthy, but you do need to be intentional.

The past can either become an anchor or a launchpad. Many people use their upbringing as a permanent excuse. Others use it as fuel. The difference isn’t intelligence—it’s ownership. Once you fully accept that no one is coming to fix your financial life for you, something sharpens. You stop waiting. You stop resenting. You start building.

Wealth is not created through wishing, manifesting, or proximity to the right conversations. It’s created through repeated decisions that favor long-term stability over short-term comfort. It’s choosing to learn when it would be easier to distract yourself. It’s choosing to save when spending would temporarily soothe you. It’s choosing to invest when fear tells you to hold back.

People who rise from nothing often develop a clarity others never experience. They understand that security is built, not given. That freedom is earned through consistency, not luck. And that no amount of motivation replaces structure.

There’s also a quiet confidence that comes from knowing your trajectory is self-directed. When you’re no longer relying on inheritance, timing, or external permission, you move differently. You don’t need validation. You don’t need approval. You trust your process because you built it.

Your origin story does not define your ceiling. It defines your starting point. What matters is what you do after you become aware of the gap. Once you see the patterns—how money flows, how people get ahead, how discipline compounds—you’re responsible for your next move.

The work is not glamorous. It rarely feels urgent. But it’s powerful. And over time, it rewrites the narrative entirely.

Not because you were lucky.

Because you chose to be deliberate.

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This article is for informational purposes only. It should not be considered Financial or Legal Advice. Not all information will be accurate. Consult a financial professional before making any significant financial decisions.

adviceeconomyinvestingpersonal finance

About the Creator

Destiny S. Harris

Writing since 11. Investing and Lifting since 14.

destinyh.com

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