This Homeless Man’s Secret Made Me $18,000

From The Daily Dojo

This Homeless Man’s Secret Made Me $18,000. Here’s What I Learned

Without even trying, I made $18,000 with my first coaching client.

And I learned how from a homeless man in Egypt.

But, no

I don’t mean in an Oliver Twist, Fagin sort of way.

People struggle because they don’t give

I was in Italy a couple of years ago.

I met this nice woman, she was a friend of a friend.

Beautiful, intelligent, gifted, and had been studying homeopathic remedies for years.

With all of her talents, I was surprised to hear from my friend that she struggles financially and works odd jobs to make ends meet.

I suggested to her that she should start using social media and tell people about her homeopathic recipes and how they can help people.

Even posting some of the recipes online so that people can try them out and see how good they are.

Her response was, “If I give it away for free, no one will ever buy it.”

So I dropped it

I could tell her that the lesson that I learned in Egypt and applied in the US would fall on deaf ears.

Egypt’s poverty is the worst I’ve seen, But…

I was in Egypt in 2021, visiting my wife’s family.

The first time I was there in 2002, I was so shocked by all the poverty that I saw, nothing in the US can compare.

I’ve now been to almost 30 countries, and Egypt is the poorest country I’ve been in but…

The beautiful are the nicest people I’ve met.

I always feel safe when I’m there.

I walk off by myself in the city, just wandering around, passing by poor neighborhoods, and being greeted warmly.

Always being asked if I need help.

Back to the homeless guy

There are three types of homeless people, hustling and begging on the street.

You have the typical beggar that you often see in the US, sitting on a corner, with or without a sign, but their hand is always out, asking for money.

Then you see the more entrepreneurial beggars.

They invested some money to have something to offer, Chiclets gum, facemasks, or other cheap stuff.

In the US, I’ll see guys offering to clean windows with a spray bottle and some rags.

But the smartest homeless person I met, was when I was driving with my cousin to the mall.

We were looking for street parking on the crazy chaotic streets of Cairo.

Where lines on the street don’t mean anything, And sometimes one-way streets, aren’t.

As we’re driving by the mall, a man steps out of the street, waving to my cousin, pointing us to a parking spot that just opened up.

He then gets behind our car to make sure no way hits us or takes the spot.

As we park, he tells my cousin he’ll watch over the car to make sure no one messes with it, at which point my cousin gives him a few Egyptian pounds.

When we get back, he is still there watching the cars in his “area” keeping them safe, and helps us to safely pull away from the spot into crazy traffic.

Earning a few more Egyptian pounds.

• he knew where people with money would be
• he provided a service that they found valuable
• he went out of his way to be helpful before asking for money

BTW, my cousin said that this is typical in Cairo.

So how did it help me make $18k

After getting back home to the US, I enrolled in some online classes, like I often do.

I was in a year-long writing class. The teacher was really smart, knew his stuff, and firehosed us with a ton of information.

So much so, that in the breakout rooms and forum discussions, most of the students talked about being overwhelmed and having a hard time keeping up.

During classes and in 1:1 discussions with the teacher, I would ask questions about how the material could be broken down to be more easily understood and applied.

I also gave him examples of how I would teach my crew on construction sites and my students on the mat, breaking complex subjects into easier modules.

Eventually, he asked me if I would work with him to revamp his curriculum.

I went from being a student, learning how to write, to now being a consultant helping the teacher.

And earned an easy $18,000.