My word for 2019 is dignity.
A couple years ago I joined a program called “Dating with Dignity” and it led me to a quality relationship…one that blew all the previous shitty relationships completely out of the water.
And recently I’ve become aware of the phrase, “retiring with dignity” — which I love! — something Dave Ramsey talks a lot about.
(I don’t plan on ever retiring — I enjoy my work too much — but what a brilliant concept!)
Dignity is the word of the new year!
I read that the average 60-year-old in America can’t afford to write a $600 check if they needed to.
Why? Because they don’t have the money.
Actually, they HAD the money…but they squandered it. At some point in the past, they HAD the money in their possession, but they failed to manage it and grow it.
The opposite of dignity is “squandering.”
It means “to waste in a reckless and foolish manner” or “to allow (an opportunity) to pass or be lost.”
Squandering usually happens unconsciously, when you’re not paying attention…or when you just don’t care. (Courtesy of a decay-inducing sense of apathy.)
You find yourself:
Squandering your time on social media…
Squandering your energy on low value conversation (LVCs)…
Squandering your money on dumb a$$ purchases…
Squandering your freedom by going into debt…
Squandering your business, by over-discounting, or by under-promoting…
What, if anything, did you squander in 2018?
Whether it was money, opportunities, relationships, health, your own personal sense of dignity, etc… where were you unconsciously being reckless, foolish, or otherwise careless?
As I reflect on my 2018, I’m looking closely at where I “squandered.”
There’s a school of thought that says, “It’s not possible to ‘waste’ anything — because the universe is abundant.”
But I assure you, when you’re honest with yourself, you can detect your own patterns of wasting (i.e., squandering) something. Even if it’s subtle!
The moment you decide to change, you get a fresh start — a new opportunity to choose differently.
Yes, you’re responsible for cleaning up any messes that resulted from your squandering.
And yes, that clean-up could take time…
But it’s worth it, in order to experience dignity.
I was just reading about a dancer acquaintance of mine who had a bad injury. Now she can’t dance…indefinitely. Dancing was how she made most of her money. Being unable to work, she set up a GoFundMe page, asking people to donate her next 2 months’ of rent, bills, and grocery money.
Ugh. I’ve been there. It sucks.
AND…I know that being in that sort of situation (where you totally can’t pay your own way) is the result of many things — one of which is “squandering.”
I’m not judging my acquaintance. I have compassion for her.
(Although I’ve noticed she has a tendency to manifest emergencies like that in her life, quite regularly.)
But honestly, her situation makes me more determined than ever to ramp up any and all activities that increase my own “dignity”!
…Like building up a huge war chest of CASH, enough to cover life’s big surprises…that’s dignity.
Or using “Profit First” to manage your money. (Google it! It’s an amazing resource for business owners!)
And living by the phrase, “All debt is bad debt.” – “The borrower is a slave to the lender.”
In 2018 I learned that top line revenue isn’t the true measure of success…it’s your ability to manage the money you have, well…while managing yourself well in the process.
Who’s better off — someone who made $30,000 and had $6k in savings at the end of the year to show for it?
Or someone who made $100k+ and had ZERO to show for it at the end of the year?!
It all comes back to this idea of dignity.
If you choose dignity over squandering — even at the subtlest levels — how would your life be different in 2019?
Talk soon,
Michelle
Founder, The Anti-Marketing Manifesto
Michelle Lopez Boggs is a copywriter, copywriting mentor, and author of "The Anti-Marketing Manifesto: How to Sell Without Being a Sellout." She's helped her clients sell millions of dollars' worth of products and services online by using the MEI(S) principle — motivate, educate, and inspire, and sell. 