I was going to write about something completely different this week but whilst doing some research, I saw an article about J.K Rowling that caught my eye. After separating from her husband, she and her baby daughter moved from Portugal to Scotland to be closer to her sister. With no job, no money, a failed marriage and a baby daughter to care for, she signed up for benefits describing her economic situation as “poor as it is possible to be in modern Britain, without being homeless”.
Writing is something that she loved and she had already started writing her first book. Despite her financial and personal circumstances, she made the decision to finish writing her first novel. She sent the manuscript to a publisher who rejected it, as did the next eleven. The thirteenth publisher took a chance on her and the rest is history. She is the first author to earn more than $1 billion.
People like to see a story like this as being destiny but there is no such thing. Rowling took responsibility for her own future, she owned it. Yes, there would have been an element of luck in the process but if she didn’t take responsibility for her own future and finished her first book, would that luck have come along?
Back in the real world, managing you finances and investment decisions involves taking on responsibility for your financial situation. Research has found that taking responsibility for their own financial outcomes is related to overall net worth. Those who take ownership of their financial outcomes build wealth over time and feel responsible for it rather than just feeling lucky.
This means monitoring what you save and spend, making prudent investment decisions and setting goals that you have to achieve. This is something that most people don’t have any interest in doing and prefer to rely on chance.
How responsible are you in relation to your finances. Let me know at steven@bluewaterfp.ie