Economic Engines II

“The most pathetic person in the world is someone who has sight but no vision.” — Helen Keller

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I’m following up with the last edition on economic engines, a high-level article to encourage you to have confidence in your finances. This one expands on the higher-level look. As the leaders of our home and visions, we should be building strong economic engines to drive us where we are going. If you’ve been afraid of this part of your leadership, be brave and roll up your sleeves. Don’t blindly trust other people with it; be sure you can at least verify. Broadly, know where your money is going because undisciplined dollar signs disappear. Disciplined ones magnify.

The more I’ve thought about writing on this, the more ideas come up on how to approach it. I’ve sketched a few ways to do but here is what I’ve come up with.

1. Baseline – Prayer, goals, budgets, competencies

2. Choose your engines

3. Execution & Discipline

Speaking of rolling up our sleeves, let’s get at it. Finances are not separate from faith. They’re the fuel for Vocation, generosity, and legacy. God calls us to build households strong enough to bless others.

1. Baseline. Money is a tool, an instrument. You can do great things or destroy people with it. Without it, you can put your family in harm’s way or close the doors of your dream. Scripture has a lot of warnings for us about money and wealth, for another time, but don’t be greedy and give generously. Invite the Lord into the conversation and allow Him to guide your money. This is where we start all of our conversations. “The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh, Blessed be the Name of the Lord” (Job 1:21).

a. Goals.You have to set some goals. If you don’t have a vision for where funds will go, they will find their way out. Assuming you know where you are going, starting with building an emergency fund, then getting out of personal debt, we can build a baseline to work from.

b. Budgets.Personally and professionally, write down your budget month to month, then tally the year – money in, money out. Where is it going? What can be cut that’s wasting cap space? I use Excel for business and EveryDollar for the home. Keep the two separate.

c. Competencies. This is nerdy stuff that isn’t super difficult but it turns people off from even engaging if you’ve been intimidated by it. Accept that you want to learn more, and then start digging in. Commit to building your financial competencies. Acquire a CPA, financial advisor, or coach (depending on what you’re needs are) and sit and learn from them. Ramsey Solutions and YouTube have great free stuff to get started.

Want to have greater ownership? Simply, start reading the numbers coming and going from your bank statements and put them into Excel, like I do with Righteous. I recommend the Dave Ramsey system for most people, straightforward and great for getting and staying out of debt. I use Everydollar budgeting for our home budget; it’s a piece of cake (save time and get the subscription to bring your accounts in). GAAP or Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, is a foundation you should be familiar with, especially if you’re building or managing organizationally.

1. Choose your engines! Part of what makes us capable in life is our ability to make decisions. We might not be responsible for what is handed to us in life, but we are responsible for what we do with it. In the parable of talents, each worker is given a number of talents. The workers are expected to be wise and multiply the yield. The one who just buried it and didn’t try was reprimanded. 

We can change out our economic engines and upgrade. You can choose to be in a bad state or move ahead. It’s a decision. I was in a salaried ministry role that we outgrew and we traded it out. Short-term step back for long-term growth. Back to the analogy, trading in the 4-banger for something with more pep.

If you’re feeling stuck and you’re already building your base, trade jobs or careers. Maybe organizationally, you don’t have the right or up-to-date revenue plan. Trade it out. Upgrade with intentional planning. It’s a decision that has a starting point and road maps. Upgrading isn’t greed, it’s growth for service.

I would recommend The Cashflow Quadrant by Robert Kiyosaki for anyone trading out engines.

1. Execution & Discipline are the hardest parts of dealing with your finances. Make a point to look at your accounts daily and have those numbers in front of you. Finance is 80% discipline. That discipline goes away when we don’t have eyes on it. Anyone can write a budget. Anyone can make a plan with some coffee. The next part is following through. When you look at that budget and you see that you’re eating out a ton, it’s a tough habit to break. Having accountability goes a long with discipline, bring your spouse or a pro step with you. 

Changing economic engines requires a lifestyle change. As the saying goes, “live like no one wants to today so you can live like no one can later.” Withholding self-gratification is a life lesson that does well here. This is hard to do as an individual, but it’s even tougher when you’re leading people who may or may not be on board. This is where you lead and communicate well. But it starts with you.

It helps when you have a big goal in front of you to help you stay focused. Write it down on a sticky and put it where you’ll see it often. That is your “why“. When you put a hefty “why” in front of you, you’ll understand that it’ll be worth it.

As we close out this edition, choose your engines carefully. Your financial power and wisdom can not only change your family tree, but it can also change others as well when you can hire or give generously.

Adam Jarosz is the founder of Righteous Co. and author of “Iron Ore: Journal of a Man” – a brand built on faith, adventure, and purpose. With over twenty years of experience in ministry and business, Adam leads retreats, coaches leaders, and writes from the trenches of real-life discipleship, while equipping others to live boldly and faithfully. He’s a husband, father of four, and believer in Christ and His Church, the power of grit and grace, and good fellowship. Follow along for insights that challenge, encourage, and call you higher with his newsletter, The Climb.