Defining your financial “self”
Ramblings during an afternoon spent staring at numbers too long…
When he was 16, George Washington copied 110 Rules of Civility & Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation, most likely as part of a handwriting exercise. The exercise was based on 16th century Jesuit rules. As the article at the link points out, most of the rules appear fussy and silly today.
One important aspect that the linked article doesn’t cover, though, is what is required to improve and define oneself. Several years ago there was a TV program about George Washington and these rules were read to a high school class. They got a good laugh, along with numerous comments that following the rules would be hypocritical—they wouldn’t allow the student to “Be myself.”
I remember thinking that their responses miss the point completely. In following these rules, Washington would have had to actively think about them, probably doing something his nature didn't want to do. But the more he followed the rules, the more ingrained they became and ultimately they were his nature. It’s not hypocrisy—it’s self-discipline leading to self-definition. We can define who we want to be. We determine our “self” and, to paraphrase the adage, if you don’t define your “self” then you are still choosing what “self” you will be.
Much of what I see in the personal financial weblogging community is a similar tactic with the financial part of our lives—something beyond improving financial habits, and closer to what I’d describe as defining our financial “self.” Obviously this is a generalization since not all personal finance weblogs have that wide of a scope in their goals. But for many pf blogs, it strikes me as something very similar to what Washington was doing when attempting to follow his handwritten rules to improve himself and ended up defining who he was.
When he was 16, George Washington copied 110 Rules of Civility & Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation, most likely as part of a handwriting exercise. The exercise was based on 16th century Jesuit rules. As the article at the link points out, most of the rules appear fussy and silly today.
They all have in common a focus on other people rather than the narrow focus of our own self-interests that we find so prevalent today. Fussy or not, they represent more than just manners. They are the small sacrifices that we should all be willing to make for the good of all and the sake of living together. These rules proclaim our respect for others and in turn give us the gift of self-respect and heightened self-esteem.
One important aspect that the linked article doesn’t cover, though, is what is required to improve and define oneself. Several years ago there was a TV program about George Washington and these rules were read to a high school class. They got a good laugh, along with numerous comments that following the rules would be hypocritical—they wouldn’t allow the student to “Be myself.”
I remember thinking that their responses miss the point completely. In following these rules, Washington would have had to actively think about them, probably doing something his nature didn't want to do. But the more he followed the rules, the more ingrained they became and ultimately they were his nature. It’s not hypocrisy—it’s self-discipline leading to self-definition. We can define who we want to be. We determine our “self” and, to paraphrase the adage, if you don’t define your “self” then you are still choosing what “self” you will be.
Much of what I see in the personal financial weblogging community is a similar tactic with the financial part of our lives—something beyond improving financial habits, and closer to what I’d describe as defining our financial “self.” Obviously this is a generalization since not all personal finance weblogs have that wide of a scope in their goals. But for many pf blogs, it strikes me as something very similar to what Washington was doing when attempting to follow his handwritten rules to improve himself and ended up defining who he was.
posted by Dwight at
4:02 PM
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