The Ripple Effects of Scarcity

Earlier I mentioned some of the changes I made to avoid being around booze for the first few years after making the decision to stop drinking. In complete transparency, some of those changes weren’t all that difficult since buying beer and going to concerts both require money. Our financial resources were so scarce at that point we couldn’t always cover all the necessities. One could easily argue that giving up drinking would have been much more difficult had I actually been able to afford it…

Having detailed the turmoil created by even a minor car issue and our monthly big night on the town (at the Ci Ci’s Pizza $3.99 buffet), you should have a clear picture for where we were. As those patterns continued - and compounded - the impact wasn’t limited to auto repairs and eating out; the ripple effects spilled over into so many more areas of our lives. Sooner or later, scarcity touches marriage, work, and self-worth.

My highly DRIVEN behavioral style has been a key part of my extreme work ethic for as long as I can remember, even though I didn’t understand it that way until about a decade ago. My “charge hell with a water pistol” approach has almost always provided me with the ability to fall asleep wherever and whenever I stopped moving - almost… The only time I can think of in my adult life where I’ve struggled sleeping was when we were fighting our way through the cascading effects of scarcity. It’s hard enough to show up and perform professionally when you’re dealing with personal challenges, but doing it consistently at a high level with very limited sleep (for weeks on end) is damn near impossible.

During a recent Emerging Leader Development course Cindy and I provided for an organization, one of the participants shared that their biggest takeaway from a lesson we covered early on was that connecting with their team members requires that they consider all that person may be going through at the time. He shared that it helped him realize that how someone responds in the moment may have little to do with the situation at hand and far more to do with all the other factors they’re battling in their lives. Truer words couldn’t have been spoken in describing the ongoing feeling I struggled with at the height of our financial challenges! Scarcity doesn’t stay in the checkbook; it ripples into every relationship and role we hold. Owning our part prevents resentment and unlocks cooperative growth.

But owning our part makes little difference if that’s where we stop. The ninth leadership Napoleon Hill shared in Think and Grow Rich was “Mastery of Detail.” He explained it like this: “Successful leadership calls for mastery of the details of the leader’s position.” Seems simple enough on its face. When it comes to how personal finances, the scarcity I’ve been referencing here, impacts all other aspects of our lives, mastering the details of both the cause and the solution is crucial. We’ll dig into that next. Right now, think about one way a past resource struggle spilled into another area of your life. Honestly note your contribution and one leadership lesson it offered. As you do, I believe you’ll develop a fundamental understanding of how family and financial adversity tests self-control like no workplace challenge can. Owning the ripple effects builds the definiteness of plans that turns chaos into purpose!