The “Self Made” Fallacy

Some of you noticed that we skipped a week last week. I was fresh off a week-long excursion to Utah and life and work just caught up with me. So, I apologize for that!

The impetus for the trip to Utah was for my annual participation in Mastermind Talks (MMT). MMT is a by-invitation-only entrepreneur conference run by Jayson Gaignard and his wife; the highly curated event has a lower acceptance rate than Harvard. I am truly blessed and humbled to be a part of the MMT Community. I am also excited to share some of the things I learned with YOU, my Three Action Thursday Community.

One of the speakers at MMT this year was Esther Perel. She shared something that really hit home for me and may have been the most powerful thing I heard at the event….

She said, “The quality of our life is solely dependent on the quality of our relationships.”

I would say when most people hear that quote they think about their friendships or perhaps their romantic relationships. I started thinking about it in regard to our three focal points of Three Action Thursday (Personal Finance, Building Relationships, and Personal Development). I realized that in order to be successful in these arenas, we must rely on individual relationships or group relationships, such as like-minded communities. There is no such thing as being “self-made”. We cannot grow in a vacuum and nothing is more easily digestible for growth than the experiences and lessons learned from others. We have to nourish and grow these relationships, but then we have to also be brave enough to ask questions and to ask for help when needed.

To live our best life we have to be forward-leaning when it comes to our financial intelligence, we have to be intentional in building relationships, and we have to be committed to personal development. We can’t do any of that without relying on others.

**Actions: Write down the names of individuals or groups/organizations that are helping you develop your financial intelligence, your relationships, and your own personal growth. Do you need more community? Have you found people and organizations that are adequately supporting you? If not, identify where you can look for the support you need.**