There are two avenues in the face of adversity: roll over and be a doormat or a victim, or allow the experience to strengthen you and build your character. For me, 2018 was a year chocked-full of challenges. In fact, it was the most challenging year of my life. I had more times than I care to admit when I went into autopilot since I was overwhelmed by situations or circumstances. I’m sure this is a protective mechanism of some sort, but this can be quite a disparaging place to find yourself. Through the challenges of 2018, I found that perspective truly is key in life. I can confidently say that difficulty creates resolve—it creates grit.
Our culture is constantly beating the drum.
If something is hard, get out, get off, give up, move on. It’s as though we have accepted failure as a way out of our circumstances rather than enduring them and allowing them to create a new level of perseverance in us. There are always extenuating circumstances, but we have seemingly found a serum for everything, or so we think. Are your finances in disarray? File bankruptcy. Is your marriage unbearable? Get a divorce. Is school sucking the life out of you? Drop out. You get the gist. In most cases, these ways out are not really the resolve you are looking for or ultimately what you need.
Grit is the strength in character you find in someone when they decidedly go straight through the battlefield, rather than choosing to go around or simply opt-out.
So much of what we have been going through intentionally to revamp your personal finances comes down to going through the storm and having a level of perseverance that you will not be yet another contributing factor to the stats we review. Instead, it will define your \”why\” for building margin.
As we’ve discussed, the current financial conditions of most people are bleak. Most people carry a combination of mortgages, car loans, credit cards, student loans, and a plethora of other random debt obligations. As a society, we are plagued by debt. But debt isn’t our problem. It’s simply a symptom of a more significant root issue.
In most cases, we take on debt to try and treat an underlying root issue of discontentment. In a society where social media allows us to highlight our good highlights—this has caused a high level of angst and discontentment. We are all prone to comparison; it’s human nature. Unless you move to a secluded island, there’s not much you can do to avoid this. However, you can develop a level of resolve to focus on your own situation rather than those around you. You know your situation more than anyone else––truly anyone. We tend to represent ourselves in the best possible light, and well, so does everyone else. You will never be content with your life as long as you\’re constantly focusing on the bigger and better deal or closely watching your neighbor\’s highlight reel.
Having grit in your finances is owning up to where you are financially and where you are not. Then it means taking action to improve your situation and change your trajectory.
Your finances are your responsibility. Not your family’s, not your boss’, or even the governments.
Overseeing upwards of 55 employees at one point, it was shocking how many people would transfer blame for their personal financial position to others, typically someone above them. Therefore, they believed as their boss, I should fix their financial position.
I recall one employee in particular, who felt they were not receiving the income they deserved, would escape responsibility and use situations to benefit their own position. Even after being benevolent with the employee, appreciation wasn\’t really shown because they felt deserving of it. Because they decided to own the position that their finances were a result of other outside contributors and not their lack of grit, I never felt as though I could trust the employee.
As wealthy as we are as a nation, we still feel the need to \”fake it until we make it\”, while not realizing that merely \”faking it until you make it\” may ultimately lead you to never genuinely making it. Much of the concern exists around making others think you have \”it\”––whatever it is, when you might or actually might not have it. In Texas, they call this “big hat no cattle”.
Whether you are where you wanted to be at this point or not—the past is the past.
Take the step to own where you are, and be mindful that situations are what you make them. If you are in a situation and decidedly have a negative, stuck, pessimistic outlook or perspective, the likelihood of you seeing the direct result of your actions to get out of the situation will be just that—bleak.
Whatever financial position you have found yourself in, there is hope to face your financial position head first.
Feel free to email Millennial Margin – support@millennialmargin.com
