Pay Yourself First

You think you know what this article is about – but what you are thinking is only a small part of this big picture.
Yes, one of the first rules of finance is to pay yourself first! Most don’t do it. Some never knew it. No one who gets it would deny its truth! Especially after years of not doing it. So, yes, pay yourself first.

And yet, there’s so much more.

I was meeting with a good friend recently, and we were discussing habits for personal growth. You know, the normal stuff – faith, family, marriage, health, etc. And while he was talking about health habits, he said, “You know, pay yourself first”.

I gotta say, I always thought of that concept only in terms of finances, never everything else.

But, ultimately, when we honor our health by taking care of ourselves every day, and our spirituality by investing in faith every day, and our marriage and family by learning and applying lessons daily, and our minds by reading daily – all of that is under the same concept – pay yourself first. Get these things into your schedule first. Take care of yourself first.

That last one seems like a selfish one. Take care of yourself first? What about our family and friends? What about our church community, business and career relationships? Yes, we take care of them, help them, serve them and do our best to make a positive, lasting influence in their lives. But how good of a job do we do when we’re not right? If we are beaten down, sleep-deprived, low in energy and vitality, and even unhealthy – what kind of impact can we really have?

Think of it this way… You’re flying with your kids on an airplane. An emergency occurs and the oxygen masks come down. What is our natural response? Get the mask on our kids first. Right move? NO! We are actually told to do just the opposite – take care of us first.

Because if we don’t get us right, we won’t get anyone else right.

So, let’s take my friend’s excellent advice: Pay yourself first.