Five years ago I took the advice of my older sister: “Don’t take financial accounting.” Instead, I substituted it for principles of accounting I and II. Basically I had to take two classes in lieu of one, which was much harder than just taking financial accounting in the first place! Nevertheless, I ended up learning a lot more than many of the other management majors, and and ended up passing an upper-level managerial accounting course with flying colors. 👍🏽

Fast forward 5 years, and I now find myself taking a graduate level accounting course. While it is not my favorite course, I am developing a greater appreciation for the subject. I’ve noticed that many accounting principles are applicable to the way in which we should live out our lives. What do I mean by this? Well… consider the basic accounting equation:

Assets=Liabilities+Owner’s Equity

Assets: Wouldnt it be nice to live in such a way where we are living, breathing assets to those we meet? That is, we benefit those around us just by being our authentic best-versions of ourselves?

Owner’s Equity: In order to be an asset to others, we need to invest in becoming the person God truly created us to be.  A few simple ways we can do this include:

1. Investments in our educations. We should learn as much as possible while we are young so that we can capitalize on it when we are old and secure well-paying, intrinsically satisfying careers.

2. Investments for our hearts, souls, and bodies. We should invest our hearts for the one God has in plan for us. This means engaging in pure relationships before marriage. Trust me, it will just make things easier down the road for you and your partner when you don’t have to suffer the shame of explaining why you did the things you did in the past.

Liabilities: Of course, when investing there are costs that must be covered and a certain level of risk associated with our choice in dealing with them. Costs of investing in our futures may include…

1. Monies paid for education. These should be monitored closely! God forbid you leave your significant other with a huge debt to help pay someday…they won’t like it. When I look back, I am very thankful that my father worked at the university that I attended and I was able to get my undergraduate degree for free. If I had not performed a cost-benefit analysis first, my 17 year-old self may have chosen to attend Cornell University, and been faced with a tremendous amount of student debt. Luckily, I had a well developed self-concept back in the day and realized that I didn’t need an Ivy League education to be happy. My advice to you is to borrow advice from people who have “been there and done that” when deciding on educational investments and pay it forward with well thought-out, informed actions.

2. Ridicule and occasional loneliness are other costs incurred when choosing to live our lives as an asset. Some people will not see value in a proactive and pure lifestyle, and may even rebuke you for it. When dealing with belittling people, owe yourself a favor and disregard it.

So even if accounting is the bane of your existence, it offers some important life lessons: Surround yourself with people who see value in long term investments and focus on managing relationships with them. Had I not taken 5 million accounting courses, I may have never come to this realization… it is just a reminder that everything happens for a reason and some of the most rewarding realizations occur after our hardest battles. 🖤

Love always,

V.