Issue IX | Nature vs. Nurture

In a nutshell, this is the argument between the inner and outer world: Which is our reality?

Is it who we are or where we are when we’re born that leads us to where we’ll eventually go?

This question is essentially unanswerable, especially if trying to do so in a way that explains how everyone on Earth has gotten to where they are. There are things completely outside of our control that happen to us and things we do completely optionally that influence our lives.

The same thinking can be applied to our finances. Whether it’s command over generational wealth or being buried in the deepest, darkest pit of debt, how did we get here?

I do acknowledge that things happen that we cannot influence in a meaningful way. Sometimes, those things are for the worst. This makes up a part of what I consider our nurture, or our outer world. Without a doubt, our nurture influences our outcomes.

However, it is my opinion that our nature, our inner world, is, in most cases, the more influential determining factor when it comes to getting where we are and where we want to go. Whether good or bad comes to us from our nurture, we decide how to go about navigating it.

You can decide to do something to get yourself out of debt. You can decide to save for retirement. You can decide to make more room to spend on things that actually matter to you. You can decide to cut out things that don’t. Most of this is up to you.

While this isn’t strictly what nature means in the context of Nature vs. Nurture, I see it as inextricable with the definition that I’m using: our ability to influence our outcomes with our decisions is the outward manifestation of our nature. While making certain decisions may not be in our nature as a default, it can still be within our nature to override and make intentional decisions.

Regardless of differing opinions, this much is true: all of this applies to money. The nature, the nurture, and whatever proportion of the two that influences our outcomes. What that means is that we have at least some say in how our lives are going to go, especially financially.

It just takes that first action.

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Until next time!