Being Point

Month: March 2009

  • How Do You Define Financial Security?

    Perhaps, for purposes of this discussion, we can accept that absolute security does not exist . . . in order to allow a practical conversation about relative security. A very simplistic way to define SECURITY is FREEDOM FROM CONCERN OR WORRY.

    Let’s take on financial security first. Do you consider yourself financially secure? Why or why not? Without violating any confidence about your personal financial situation, can you share with the group how you define financial security?

    Again, ABSOLUTE SECURITY would mean that you had enough money for the rest of your life (unknown duration) and it was always going to be safe and liquid and available to you . . . in an economic climate that did not erode its purchasing power through either inflation or deflation . . . and on and on.

    The point being . . . that we have to come to terms with relative financial security to achieve a certain comfort level. A certain amount of cash to last for a period of time that you decide is “sufficiently secure,” a livelihood, macro-economic conditions that allow you to maintain or expand your security.

    It’s always interesting to challenge assumptions. In this time of an ailing economy, it’s useful to examine what we require to feel secure. What is it for you? How much are you concerned about financial security?

    Copyright 2009. E. B. Hutt Bush and Coaching for Results, Inc.

  • Your Individual Relationship to Security

    Our minds are reeling and our heads spinning over the state of our economy. We hear pundits talking about terrifying things from deflation to the end of capitalism. All the while, each of us is dealing with our own individual relationship to security.

    Not “security” in the policing sense of the word, but “security” as safety . . . and even as a feeling of being protected against change and / or from loss.

    Shakespeare said, “Security is the chief enemy of mortals.”

    How so? It’s easy to say there’s no real security because change can happen in an instant. Yet, security, like everything else, exists in degrees. For example, someone with assets certainly has more *financial* security than a person who is destitute.

    Perhaps the quest for ABSOLUTE SECURITY is what Shakespeare is talking about . . . the natural human desire to arrange things just so and to keep them that way.

    What is your relationship to security? Financial, relational, health, safety, job?

    How secure are you in your ability to handle whatever comes up in life? How can you feel more secure in the face of rapidly-changing times?

    Copyright 2009. E. B. Hutt Bush and Coaching for Results, Inc.