The 7 Deadly Sins of Finance

Dustin Elliott  Co-Founder, The Hill Country Group // Founding Board Member, The BLESS Foundation // Forbes Top Wealth Advisor

Taking a few X’s and O’s from a playbook on life, I wanted to apply each of the 7 Deadly Sins to the most often discussed topic in the most popular book every written, money.  Money, in and of itself, is simply a multiplier of means to an end. It takes whatever is already inside of us…and multiplies it. For example, if you like cars without money and suddenly you have money, chances are, you’ll buy cars. This observation is why it is exceedingly important that children, teenagers and young adults develop healthy attributes and a deep sense of integrity before they have wealth. Often, the pursuit of wealth teaches us many life lessons that prepare us for managing it. In some cases, we can be taught that money is a means of acquiring the what in life we desire. In others, we can be taught that money is a means of sharing the who we have become.

In my experience, you don’t get very many of the whats until you become the who you are meant to be.

The 7 Deadly Sins of Finance:

ENVY

-being dissatisfied with our lives, talents and gifts while focusing on the circumstances of another’s. In today’s tainted lens of social media, this one is not difficult to grasp. It’s rooted in jealousy. It creates unfair rivalry and unnecessary competition. It can manifest itself in gossip, sarcasm, teasing, contempt and lead to schemes meant to destroy others, while rotting us from the inside out.

Rather than be envious, why not befriend someone whose station in life is appealing to you? Chances are, they are making above average financial decisions, and they may have some insight you could benefit from. It is often said, you are the average of the 5 people you are closest to. Assuming this math is true, how do you add up? If you made an adjustment and added a mentor where a detractor currently resides, would your average increase?

GREED

-a desire for inordinate amounts of possessions or status…or in this case, money. Greed uses others for personal gain, with little regard for the harm our manipulation may cause them. It can manifest itself in many ways, gambling excessively, weaseling, narcissism, selfishness, embezzling, avoiding conflict, being unlawful or unethical, being too possessive or even refusing to set healthy boundaries.

Rather than be greedy for more personal pleasure, fall in love with the journey, the pursuit…and establish a process by which you share the fruits of your labor with others. Setup a foundation or DAF that automatically takes 10% (or more) of what you come into and be radically generous with it.

There’s no drug on this planet that can compare to the high we get when we help someone else, especially when we do so with no expectation of something in return. The gift of giving truly is without comparison.

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