We all would be ok with our finances being multiplied; at least, I know I would. We all want more of something. It could be more savings, more freedom, more time with our kids, whatever it is, we all crave more of some things. This idea of more can consume us quickly if we aren’t continuously aware of what we want more of, but it can also drive us towards the things we love if we root it in our identity. My wife and I have always said that we don’t simply want a good marriage; we want a great marriage. We don’t want to survive, but we want to thrive. This applies to all areas of our lives, but especially our finances. To financially thrive, we need to understand the critical principle of stewardship and the truth that every penny is an opportunity to multiply.
Stewardship — The First Step to Financially Thrive.
To thrive financially and live a life of multiplication, we need to start with unpacking stewardship. In the world we live in, the slow and steady approach is devalued and replaced with the quick and risky. Instead of building a life built on principles, we put all our money on red at the casino and then are upset when our financial situation doesn’t change. What we are unknowing or perhaps sometimes knowingly doing is practicing poor stewardship.
Simply put, financial stewardship is being faithful and multiplying anything you have been entrusted with.
Like everything in this blog, we always focus on our root cause, primarily our identity. We don’t simply want to practice financial stewardship occasionally, but we want to be financial stewards. When we shift from practicing stewardship to becoming a steward, we see a radical change in our outcomes.
Characteristics Of A Financial Steward:
- Purpose Driven — passionate and discicplined in the mission of being faithful and multiplying the things they have been entrusted with.
- Compassionate — They understand that money is a tool that has the ability to add value to others not just theirself.
- Competent — educated in financial topics, have the ability to take in multiple perspectives, and learns from every situation.
- Courageous — bold and radical in their mission to be financial stewards. Embrace the idea that to get the results that most people don’t get, you have to do the things most people won’t do.
- Forward Thinking — they understand that a decision today impacts tomorrow. They sacrifice what they want now for what they want most.
Let’s Get Practical
Anytime we receive or give money or wealth of any kind, we are entrusted or entrusting someone with the impact of that money. My wife and I have had to purchase a wide array of baby products, the latest being a sleepsack, or as I affectionately call it, the baby straight jacket. This transaction is not unlike many we make throughout the month but let’s analyze this through a financial steward lens.
Situation: Purchasing A Sleepsack
- The purchase of this sleep sack provides the company to be able to make a quality product and to improve the product offering in the futre. Our money is directly adding value to the companies we spend our money on.
- This provides our daughter a great way to sleep more comfortably and hopefully longer which will improve the life of our daughter and ours as well.
- How much are other brands? is there an alternative that could be more cost effective and better for all parties involved? How long will she be in the sleepsack? Could I find something used or look for a deal?
- Can we afford the sleepsack? Is it a luxury or essential?
I know this can feel like analysis paralysis for some of you, which is something we don’t want, but intentionally thinking about how we do things is very important. We are not looking for perfection; we are simply looking for progress.
I’m sure most of you have heard the phrase anything worth doing is worth doing well. I would argue anything worth doing is worth doing badly. This is not an excuse for lack of effort, but success really is a horrible teacher. Anyone who was once an expert failed when they first started. Most of us have made poor financial choices, and often we are afraid to make a change or put ourselves in a position to make a mistake. If you can’t do it well, do it poorly!
Fail early, fail often, just learn from it! Your ability to thrive financially depends on it!
Principles of Multiplication:
The more we become financial stewards, the more our finances will multiply. It really is that simple. When we are faithful with a little, we will be given more. Faithfulness requires responsibility, consistency, and strength. That is a perfect recipe for building your finances and being able to thrive financially.
I’m sure there are a number of cliches and overused lines on this, but to quote the great Ben Parker, “With great power, comes great responsibility.” Unfortunately, everything in our life that is great has the potential to hurt us. A great relationship can be the source of our greatest joy and also our great suffering. It is no different with money and, more specifically, the power of multiplication.
We need to understand two main money ideas to live a life of multiplication.
1) Multiplication happens with there is something to multiply. You can’t multiply with zero.
This is a straightforward principle, but if you don’t have financial margin, you can’t multiply your finances. Now I know that might seem hopeless to many of you out there, but in reality, we are in control of our finances, especially our margin.
Whether we realize it or not, we organize our life about what we most at any given time, and without reflection and accountability, the things we want are instant gratification. We want the house, the new car, eating out, clothes, more than financial peace and margin. It’s because instant gratification feels good, and sacrifice is hard.
The problem with instant gratification is that it creates a destructive habit cycle where the more stressed we are, the more we spend, making us more stressed, and so we spend, and on and on it goes.
This destructive habit cycle constantly erases any work we have accomplished the previous day. The beauty of life is that we have today. We have this moment to change for the better. Shame lives in the past, fear and anxiety live in the future, and peace and freedom are in the present. Which one do you want to multiply in your life?
2) The more there is to multiply, the greater the multiplication. (Either good or bad)
Nothing is stagnant in nature because life is constantly in a cycle of growth and decay. We are no exception. We are either improving daily or decaying daily; there is no such thing as staying the same. We can use this to our advantage when we are intentional or to our detriment when we are unaware.
The adage that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer is absolutely true due to the power of multiplication. Let’s make it a little more real; the more debt we are in, the easier it is to get into more debt. It compounds and snowballs feeling unbearable. Contrastly, the more financial margin you can create, the more margin you will be able to experience.
It is discouraging to put all of your efforts into stopping the snowball from getting more prominent. It is exhausting but so worth it.
As always, you got this!
