Creative Banking
Paul J. Croft
Facilitating Authentic Conversations by Education, Transformation, & Science (Living FACETS)
Before it was widely known as #FoodInsecurity, I was hungry. The money wasn't always there to allow eating. Before it was widely termed #ImposterSyndrome, I knew my background did not 'fit' #Professional and #Social circles or cliques. Before it was time to #Graduate, there had to be a plan of #Financial survival to avoid #Bankruptcy after my #HigherEducation #Journey. It would not be sound nor reasonable to believe that working multiple part-time jobs simultaneously would make sense as a #Career #Path.
#Educational #Economics requires "#Creative #Banking"
Thankfully, I completed my #Undergraduate and #Graduate #College Degrees at #University on time. As a #FirstGen #Student, and the youngest among #Siblings in the #Family (PEACES of Eight ), it provided detailed #Perspectives of what a true #Investment is when pursuing #Careers. These valuable insights later helped my work with #Students of widely varying means as a #Faculty #Professor and #Mentor. The #Opportunity to help them (and others) determine and employ similar techniques was paramount to assisting in their avoidance of costs while gaining experience in #School.
(0) Living Investments as Formative Education? Yes...
#Financial #Hardship, while not pleasant to experience, does provide #Growth #Opportunities that are of greater value ..after the fact.. and it is that experience that builds a more resilient and robust YOU. This is not about being #Destitute without #Food, #Shelter, #Money, or Possessions; it's about a #Mindset in which virtually every decision made earlier in #Life is ...ALWAYS... based upon a #Bank #Account #Balance and the Money in your #Pocket (or on your #DebitCard) at any given moment. Fundamentally, it's balancing 'real' #Investments of #Time & Money according to #ROI -- where those ROI are not measured in #Dollars -- while accounting for timelines and milestones of much greater #Worth.
Returns on Critical #Investment are measured according to the #Future YOU
While #Bookkeeping is important, understanding the #Value of #Planning beyond a current #Baseline #Budget is essential when setting #Targets. Living Investments serve as Formative Education that directs actions important in Life and at #Work, your purpose on the #Job, and any roles as #Supervisor or #Manager in #Workspaces. Yes, there will be times to forgo major and minor events and opportunities in order to secure selective #Pathways on the #Journey. There will also be times when #Funding -- at #Cost -- must come from your limited #Resources. Those '#Losses in the moment' are #Expenses you will recover in a later #Dividend, with a 'Career #Currency' form of payback.
(1) Self Enumeration of Living Funds: SELF Leads Success
As a #CollegeStudent, I recall a simple #Question from others: "If you can pay for College -- Why can't you buy food?" -- Yet it was never easy to answer. My funds were from multiple part-time jobs (scheduled around classes and #Weekends), #FinancialAid with #Loans (thanks be to #God), and from #Summer earnings. Once #Tuition and #Fees plus other payments were made there were monthly #LivingExpenses. Was it a lack of #Planning, #Wages, or a form of #Discretionary #Spending or #Eclectic #Tastes in #Food and #Drink? No. Simply insufficient time available to increase funds -- and #TA, #GA, and other jobs do not provide a true #LivingWage. Add regular expenses like #Rent, #Power, #Gas, #Water, and #Insurance; plus, surprises like #CarRepair? Difficult to reduce or eliminate.
#Expenditures match (or exceed) #Income? Some #Debts are #Expendable
How do you resolve such a precarious situation or possibly 'get ahead'? Start by (1) Counting it out ..ALL of it.. Costs in money, time, plus any steps/obstacles in your #Pathway. Be honest in your listings and examine them from a #Business point of view as equal components. Enjoy evenings or weekends out? That is unrecoverable as it adds to the timeline and incurs #Debt. That's 'kicking the can down the road' rather than a comprehensive adjustment -- and that contributes to delay and detracts from completion, spending, and investment. Create and Find cost-less alternatives (items and actions) and find #Freebies as cost replacements. Ask those who have done it by making some debts 'temporarily' expendable in the short-term. There are also ways to get a #MentalHealth or #WellBeing respite that don't require monetary transactions.
(2) Extract, Verify, Enrich, & Nourish yourSELF to Overcome Unnecessary Threats
Are you in debt, or accumulating more since your #Education or in your pursuit of #ProfessionalDevelopment now? I do not advocate skipping meals, intermittent fasting day-to-day, or a 'one meal a day' approach nor having only a one-dollar bill in your wallet during a two week stretch every month. When you extract the net worth from each item and action on your (1) Self Enumeration listing above, you can (2) Extract and Verify obstacles and impediments clearly to Overcome Unnecessary Threats. That will Enrich your efficiency and effectiveness in making timely decisions that nourish Growth. Not simply a "Needs versus Wants" analysis -- It's about How and Why you make choices to 'EVEN' out the odds for you long-term Success.
Defined by 'Needs for Living' -- or -- Defining the 'Wants from your Career'?
This process of #Investment requires you to PARE-IT down line by line. Shift #Perspective and #Attitude to Recognize and Embrace an Inner Transition in which your #Philosophy and #Frame of #Mind are focused upon "Where you see yourSELF" in two to three, and five years, from now. Much like an #Interview Question, here the purpose is to envision what is truly driving you now -- for your Future -- the #Work that truly displays YOU. If you do not pursue your future in this manner, then anticipate 'bouncing' from one job to another over several years. That investment has very little return for your efforts and tends to maintain a Financial and Professional status quo in spite of what appears to be 'gaining' experience without real traction.
(3) Become RABID in your Creative Banking
While making ends meet was tough for many years, an important opportunity arose during the earliest of those years. It was about attending and presenting at what would be my very first #National #Conference with my #Mentor. It would include a #JobFair, #Networking, an #IceBreaker, and many opportunities to meet with #Colleagues while witnessing 'my' #Professionals in action on a larger stage. The problem? The costs in time, timelines, duties, prior commitments, and dollars. The costs of #Registration and #Airfare alone were equivalent to half my monthly #Income. Minimal #Savings could not even meet threshold costs. How could I get the #BUCKS needed?
Build Unified Capital Kindling for Success
How could I possibly #Invest with no #Capital, a #FixedIncome, and no financial support available from #Parents or #FamilyAndFriends? My #Employer indicated support for one-third of the costs -- not enough -- but joining that with contributions from a #Grant plus a competitive funding program added up to two-thirds of the full amount needed. Only one-third more would get me there to #Network, #Navigate, and #Nourish my Future SELF in a Professional Capacity. What exactly was stopping the process -- other than me? This was the time to (3) Become RABID by diverting 'normal' spending to benefit the future and temporarily suspending and skipping other costs -- or Creative Banking. Combining a Growth Mindset with Innovative Processes allows for the #Realities of #Access to #Broader #Investments through #Dialogue among many to be realized. The 'BUCKS' derive from a RABID approach and leads Future Success.
How do you #Employ Creative Banking to Invest in your Future?
Newsletter series... The Bigger 'Y' latest installment - TLC Leadership
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Background and Information: Paul J. Croft on LI & ResearchGate
Post-script
Enumerating the Depth & Cost of Commitments is about what #Sacrifices have been and will be made. Not to generate sympathy, empathy, or pity (or self-pity) but to honestly posit career expectations with an individual's specific context and circumstances. That's not about feeling downtrodden, neglected, nor ambivalent but about the very real moments of doubt, concern, worry, fear, and sheer terror about what could or would happen 'if' the money were not available. For some it can become 'too easy' to get caught in a cycle of desperation, feeling it is 'you against the world' or about others 'keeping them down' along the way. Rather than normalize such a thought process, help nudge the feeling to sensible actions that nullify the roadblocks. BE BRAVE -- Before Evincing and Broadly Raving About Vulnerability Embrace the essence of how the present moment leads the Future you are creating. To BE BRAVE -- Boldly Examine what your own Background, Resources, and Attitude can do to inspire a Vigorous Empowerment. It works for many people [e.g., "I have learned the secret of being well fed and of going hungry, of living in abundance and of being in need." - phil 4:12; #Philippians].
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