Ahhhh, the magnificent carrier that is FAITH! What a wonderful vehicle it is, isn’t it? After all, it is faith (commonly used in conjunction with prayer) that gets us through rough times. Some of us are a bit too reliant on its marvel though. Some of us start to falter into the opinion that if you believe in something, that everything will come to fruition just from that. Friends, this is a dangerous form of entitlement. When was the last time you got something worthwhile for nothing? If at all, it rarely happens, right? That’s not how faith and prayer work. You can’t ask for something and then do nothing all the while expecting to receive it.
Let’s get into some real world examples. Picture a single person that claims they want to find their soulmate, the yin to their yang, the peanut butter to their jelly, the sour cream to their onion, the beef to their cheddar, the mac to their cheese (can you tell I’m a wannabe foodie), their better half, yada yada yada. They hope and pray that they will meet someone special, yet they stay home all the time fashionably sporting the “around the house” look and don’t put themselves in the environment where their dreams can manifest. Sure, they can hope that the Amazon delivery person fits all their parameters of the ideal person, but let’s face it – that’s not likely to happen.
Now picture someone who wants a better paying job, but lacks doing anything extraordinary at his or her current place of employment, having become stagnant. They have the nerve to ask the universe for help yet they neglect to put forth the effort of highlighting themselves for promotion nor do they aggressively hunt for the next opportunity. They literally believe a job offer is going to fall out of the sky into their lap without exercising any true physical determination.
Now let’s bring this back to personal finance. I frequently hear clients say, “I want to be financially stable” yet their actions seem to trend against that narrative. You can NOT tell me in a consultation that you struggle with saving money yet you have the latest and greatest iPhone at our next meeting when the one you were using prior to that was fine. You CAN NOT throw words out into the universe and expect for something to happen like a plot twist in a movie. YOU have to move your feet, get to work, assert yourself, be about that life, bathe yourself in that aura... If this isn’t clear enough yet - YOU have to do YOUR part, my friend!
For my biblical folks, you have probably heard of this similar theory – faith without works is dead, same concept, different name. The moral of the story is this – you can be a proponent of faith/prayer/divine intervention all you’d like, but if your steps aren’t ordered to mirror that or you don’t move accordingly, you are essentially setting yourself up for a monumental fail.
My parting advice is that you model your actions after those burning desires of yours. Certainly ask for help, but be sure to grind to get it as well. This is what YOU want! Cheers to you until the next time, folks! Keep advancing!