We don’t live in a vacuum. We are surrounded by family, friends, acquaintances, employees, bosses, clients/customers, colleagues, advisors, vendors, and everyone else. Financial success is not just all about you, but your support system. Let’s take a look:
Family and friends: A common theme is to go to college, move out (possibly out of state), and do it all yourself. Nowadays you can keep in touch with family more easily with the use of technology, but nothing beats geographical closeness. If you have a medical emergency or even something minor requiring the help of family or friends, then finding support is more problematic. Another example is the support system inside your marriage, which is why a healthy relationship with your spouse is so important. Divorce does not help your finances, but your attorney’s. No one is going to support you more than your family and friends.
Bosses: There is a saying that it does not matter where you work, but who you work for. Look at your past and see if this is true. Having a healthy relationship with your boss can catapult your career much easier than constantly questioning if your boss is going to fire you today. I’m sure that your stress levels will be lower too.
Clients/customers: If your customers see you as just another provider of products or services then that is what you are to them, which is not very beneficial to either of you. This is why it is so important to have good rapport with your clients. There are always times when someone isn’t satisfied, and if the relationship is strong then it can overcome hiccups along the way. Remember, no one is perfect and everyone annoys someone or makes mistakes along the way.
Advisors: Anecdotally, individuals that have tax and/or financial issues tend to have had poor relationships and communication with their advisors.
Everyone else: The examples are unlimited and healthy relationships should even extend to your neighbors, landlord, and every single business that you patronize. People who tend to have poor relationships seem to struggle more than those who do.
Strong, healthy relationships are important and our goal should be to build them vs. thinking that we can always rely on our own strength.
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