Feeling the Heat
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Man, is it the 100 degree temps out there, or is there something in the water that’s causing people to behave badly with their money? I understand we have a rough economy at the moment, but lately I’ve been witness to, and the personal and professional casualty of, horrendous financial choices by several people I know well, and woven into their story – to some degree or another – was the excuse that the state of the country’s financial affairs is partially what drove them to their fraudulent or criminal choices.
In each case, these individuals got themselves into scalding hot water not so much from the economic shifts as their inability to reach out when times got tough and ask for help.
When huge ego drives someone to think that they are somehow immune to the negative consequences of their negative actions (you know, that whole karma idea?), then they are prone to think the rules apply to everyone else anyway, so why go to “lesser minds” for answers if they can solve (read: manipulate) things on their own?
And these people’s choices never affect just themselves; when they go down, they tend to take a bunch of innocent bystanders with them, which is certainly the case with the folks I’m referencing.
In the midst of my anger and sadness over these people’s inability to accept responsibility for their financial misdeeds is the certainty that out of this adversity can come the opportunity to:
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review my own financial systems to see that they are completely in order,
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renew my commitment to ask for help when I need it, and
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remind me not to lose sight of how my decisions affect others.
That’s our question this week, for members of our Let’sTalk Coaching Club:
“Regardless of where you stand financially, what is the ‘good news’ of your situation?”
There are some excellent posts on our members-only site in answer to this, and I’d like to extend an invitation for you to join the Let’sTalk Coaching Club – for free.
Simply follow this link: http://tinyurl.com/letstalk – post a picture, write a little bio, and Let’sTalk money! Each week we pose a new question, issue a challenge, feature 3 of our members, and exchange information to make us all better with our money. I hope you’ll join us.
In the meantime, I’ll be clearing my confusion and frustration over the stuff I’ve been telling you about: these individuals didn’t pay to rent the space they’ve occupied in my head, so I think it’s time to evict them and move on.
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