DAY 28: Focus On Strengthening Your Strengths, And Your Weaknesses Will Weaken Further

Yesterday, I started this series on the singular habit of personal finance you need to be financially disciplined and successful. Today, I conclude it.

So what works for you, what are you good at?

Some people are good with numbers whereas others are good with words. For some couples, he is a saver while she is a spender. For others, the wife does the book-keeping while the husband brings in most of the income. Finding your strength might be all the hard work you need to do to be successful financially.

And you know this is sometimes why children fail particular subjects in school and we believe they will never do well in life, only to find out later on that they are far richer or more successful than the mathematics or general science gurus that topped their class.

The bible supports it

Let me show you one scripture that reinforces that-

“Prov 22:6 (KJV) Train up a child in the WAY he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” (emphasis mine)

This is one of the many bible verses that talk about finances albeit surreptitiously (Click here to read others). It says you should teach a child in the (allow me to add) financial way he should follow and that child is guaranteed not to find another way in adulthood. That’s very powerful. But let’s read it again and you will still find another truth not as obvious- Train up a child in the way HE SHOULD go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. Notice he didn’t say train up the child in the way YOU WANT him to go. Neither did he say train up the child in the way HE WANTS to go. He also didn’t pluralize it.

 [You may have to meditate on it to fully grasp it. As a parent you might feel unworthy to the task after you grasp it. There so many different lessons from this one verse alone, for example, if a child departs in adulthood from the way you trained him in, is the scripture broken, or did he only find the way he should go himself?]

It’s all in the perspective

Also notice that the verse didn’t say “Don’t allow a child follow the other, wrong ways, so that when he is old he won’t have troubles.” You may laugh because it sounds funny, but Solomon could have said that and he will still be correct. The difference is that the perspective will have changed.

Look at this cup is it half empty, or half full?

 

Credit: geeksaresexy.net

Ok that was a little comical, but neither answer is wrong; it is a matter of perspective: someone is pouring water into it, while the other is taking water away from it.

What is the essence of me teaching you 101 ways in which the light bulb will not work when you just need the one way in which it will work? Yet that is exactly how we are being taught (in school) today. I want to teach you about A being A, and not B, C, D...Z. So I give a full lecture and draw a curriculum on B, C, D...Z, forgetting that A is the main focus.

You don’t need the many other ways that work or don’t work, YOU NEED THE ONE WAY THAT WORKS FOR YOU. That's why it is called personal finance.

As you already know, there are so many personal finance bloggers in the world. There are a million different books on finance and personal finance. Everyone seems to know what you should do or shouldn’t do with your money. And there are probably a 1001 different ways in which you can make/invest money, but do you try them all?

So, let me end by giving you 3 ways to strengthen your good money habit.

Ways to strengthen your financial strength and fully exercise your money muscles

1.       Know your money personality: Are you a saver or a spender? What gives you utmost joy- giving/spending, or keeping/saving? (Please read Dave Ramsey’s article/book)

2.       Accept, and see your personality as a strength and not a weakness. What that means is that you don’t think you are abnormal, neither do you see others as being better than you. As you begin to find out what works for you, celebrate your uniqueness, embrace it.

3.       Keep doing what works for you. Don’t accept another’s inferior opinion of you, or the way you choose to handle your finances if that’s what works for you. And don’t try to force it on anyone either as being the best. Write them down and recite them to yourself over and again till they become second nature to you.

In summary, you won’t overcome your bad financial habits because you concentrate on them (to fix them). No! You will only overcome your bad financial habits because you don’t concentrate on them or give them undue attention. And there’s only one way to do that:  know your strengths, focus on them and keep doing that religiously!