Funny, isn’t it, how so many important conversations with our children happen in the car?
The other day I was driving my oldest son, who is in the 10th grade, and we got into a conversation about currency. (To be honest, it was more of a dad-to-son coaching session.)
This happened to be the 23rd anniversary of the day I started my consulting practice. So I talked to him about how and why I began my own business. Back then, I told him, the company I worked for went out of business. We were in a recession at the time, and there were few sales manager jobs available. I didn’t want to stay in the technology business and go back to being a salesperson after I had been a manager.
So, I decided to take a chance with a new approach. I would be an outsourced sales manager for technology-related businesses that didn’t have a sales manager on staff. I thought that if there were no good full-time sales manager positions available, I’d just divide my time and talents amongst several firms and create a job for myself.
So what does this have to do with currency? Well, currency was key to making this new idea work.
Having cash saved is what allowed me to start my own consulting firm. During my first 10-plus years in the business world, I saved money regularly. I was faithful to my savings goals, buying U.S. Savings Bonds and contributing to a savings account each and every month.
When I first started my consulting practice, I said I’d give it one year to see if I truly could make it as a consultant. At the end of the first year, I had $30,000 in revenue and I still had enough savings to cash flow a second year of consulting. The next year my revenue was $60,000. Because I still had cash saved, I had options. By the end of my third year, I was finally established.
Back to my son.
I told him he had “currency” in his life as well. In high school, great grades are his version of currency. If he has great grades, his currency will buy him scholarships to continue his education. If he proves himself to be a leader in high school and if he reaches out to make his community a better place, he will have even more currency. It doesn’t stop there, I told him. Strong grades and leadership roles in college will give him more currency when it comes to getting a great job.
Also, if he continues to save “real money” every month, he’ll have cash that will give him options after college. If he has saved $10,000, he might have seed money to fund an idea or buy a rental property or travel the world for a year before beginning his work career.
So what kinds of currency do you have? Think beyond your savings to those types of things that can create money.
Knowledge and expertise are types of currency. If you own real estate, location is key to your currency. Deep and meaningful relationships—business and otherwise—are forms of currency; some you can monetize, others will simply make your life more rewarding, a few will offer opportunities for both.
The bottom line is this: More currency means more options; less currency means fewer options.
Count your currency, and begin banking on yourself. Start today.