Courage

“Each of us literally chooses, by his way of attending to things, what sort of universe he shall appear to himself to inhabit.”

  - William James 

Courage isn’t the absence of fear; it’s taking action in spite of our fear. Let’s face it—life is complex, and nothing is assured. There are no sure-fire investments, and no one can guarantee tomorrow for any of us. People who demand guarantees are often paralyzed because they are afraid to take any risks, but life is full of risks.

Hope

“Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.”

  - Albert Einstein 

Genuine hope can be a slippery and elusive thing. Some people have been hurt or they’ve failed badly in the past, and they have given up all hope, but on the other end of the scale, some divorce hope from reality and believe that things will somehow magically work out without having to deal with the painful truth. True hope blends a rigorous grasp of reality with tenacious optimism.

Steps of Change

“Someday soon we'll stop to ponder what on earth's this spell we're under? We made the grade and still we wonder who the hell we are.” 

  -  Styx, The Grand Illusion

I hope you’ve already taken some steps forward to identify your purpose and connect your resources to what matters most, but in case you need a bit more encouragement, I want to offer some perspectives that may help...

No vision for the future

“There is nothing like a dream to create the future.”

  - Victor Hugo 

I’ve known some people who were so absorbed in having fun today that they don’t think beyond the next party, the next cruise, or the next ski trip. They want all they can get, and they want it now. To them, money is only valuable if it meets their immediate desires. I’ve known a few of these people who lied, stole, and cheated to get what they want.

Why No Change?

“A prudent question is one half of wisdom.”

  - Francis Bacon 

Why do some people recognize their choices and make decisions that enhance their lives, but others fail to see choices, or see them and fail to act? There may be many different reasons, but I want to highlight a few.

Lack of information

I’ve talked to a lot of people of all ages who simply didn’t have any background in financial issues, so they weren’t aware of their options in managing their money.

“The best way out is always through.”

  - Robert Frost 

Earlier, we identified four types of people and how they manage money. People in each category come to a moment of choice when they either move forward or stay stuck in a rut. 

Many people who are buried in debt have continued to make poor decisions because they don’t want to face painful realities. Robert and Joyce had made countless bad decisions over the years, and now in their 50s...

Re-Think About Your Money

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.”

- Aristotle

A Wise Man Has a Clear Plan

The wisest man on earth had a lot to say about financial planning. Even a casual reading of the Proverbs shows us that Solomon understood the importance of having a clear, intentional plan for handling money. Throughout his statements in Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, he reminds us that a plan helps us make good choices, and those choices make a difference—a big difference. He wrote, “Careful planning puts you ahead in the long run; hurry and scurry puts you further behind”

Weed-Eaters and Gyroscopes

"I stopped believing in Santa Claus when my mother took me to see him in a department store, and he asked for my autograph."

 - Shirley Temple 

You and I live all day, every day in the culture of self-indulgence. If we’re aware of it, we can do something about it. From my own experience, I’ve learned that living a life without a transcendent purpose is a dead end street.

Tomorrow

Day 15 of 40 Days to Make Your Money Count

A Wise Man Has a Clear Plan

Purpose and Contentment

“Money often costs too much.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson 

People who are full of purpose and contentment arrived at their tipping point years before. Some had been taught valuable lessons when they were kids, and they made good choices early in their lives.

Many others, though, lived for years deeply in debt, barely in the black, or fairly wealthy but without a sense of purpose.