Do you have ample financial controls to keep you afloat on your life journey in 2018? Do you have adequate capacity to take on the challenges: anticipate financial issues, understand the consequences for each decision and action taken, identify the interdependence of financial variables, and understand the nexus between your personal finances and other domains of your life?
It’s a tough world out there, and it gets tougher each day. The challenges somewhat demand a high level of prediction close to being certain without flaws. It cannot be argued that at least at this point in time, the only thing certain in our finances is an uncertain future, but it doesn’t mean that it’s time to raise the white flag or rely on some sort of superstition.
There are a lot of ammo that one can use to improve one’s lot, such as the use of mnemonics. A mnemonic that hits two birds with one stone, in a sense, is in a form of an acronym and at the same time the acronym itself seamlessly works its definition of the message. An example is the word GRIT. This word conveys two things, the first one is its own definition and the other one is an acronym for values that exhibit preparedness, timely intervention, sustained commitment and a witty-kind of anticipation.
Here goes GRIT:
Growth. One cannot refute that learning is a never-ending process and a journey that one must embrace. Investing in yourself by religiously gaining new insight, knowledge and skill would surely put you ahead of the challenges that life brings about. Come to think of it, one of the quotidian words in personal finance is savings, but if you carefully examine or ponder on this topic, the act of setting aside a certain amount of money for purposes of using it in the future is something that we all do instinctively.
Even before we enter school, we all have been doing some saving activities in our early years. On the other hand, topics such as inflation, real returns, and investments are a whole new animal and need extra effort to learn them. Taking that extra step to learn further separates you apart from people who are lax and ignorant and it helps you get fit that would help you get through the financial marathon.
Resiliency. In a world that is volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous, the ability to withstand fortuitous and hapless events that are detrimental to our finances is a scarce capital that we all should use to invest. This complements the first element because both human capital and social capital are strong drivers toward achieving
financial resiliency.
The former has something to do with knowledge, skills, experience, and other relevant personal qualities that one can use to generate more income to obtain financial stability. While the latter has something to do with the support system that you have in terms of your relationship with your family, friends, colleagues and neighbors that can provide financial aid during difficult times.
Integrity. This is focused on the soundness of the financial decisions we make every day. An example we can think of is the time when we are faced with complex financial issues wherein our initial reaction is to find band-aid solutions.
In fact, such an approach does not off a real solution, but it could bring more daunting problems. Always keep in mind that there are no financial shortcuts, and when things seem to be so good to be true, you might want to step back and pause and check yourself.
Tenacity. While you focus on your personal growth, keeping your integrity intact, and ensuring you are financially resilient, it is important to know that the last financial control that is the most important and critical attribute to survive your financial journey is to be steadfast in your finances, goals, and the exercise of the first three attributes.
It’s all about being tenacious or persistent to stay committed to achieving your financial goal. After all, you would not want to let all your efforts and sacrifices go to waste.
