Concentrate On Your Personal Economy

I was deep in thought when I came to the realization that given all of the information available to us today, we easily can become overwhelmed. While there was a time in history when people starved for knowledge and there was great excitement at obtaining a new book or other item to read, today there really is just too much information out there.

Think about the likelihood that you could actually watch every episode of every television show that you wanted to watch in today’s world of satellite, cable, and made-for-streaming “television”. It would be impossible. There is just not enough time in a lifetime to watch it all. The same is the case for all of the great content there is to read out there.

I can readily admit that I am addicted to reading as much about business, the economy, healthcare and politics as I can. My inbox is filled with newsletters and articles that I read every time I am out walking or have a few spare minutes to glue my eyes to that little screen I carry around in my pocket.

But, in the end, I always struggle with the return on investment of my time. Granted, I am learning a great deal every day, and remain fairly well updated on the goings on of the world, but would my time be better used in some other manner? I often tend to feel that could be the case.

The area where I question the time I spend consuming content the most is politics. Sure, I can tell you much more about what is going on in politics than the average American, which sadly, isn’t saying much, but what is the ROI of all that time I spend keeping current on the subject?

Does being up-to-date on the political landscape make a difference in my life? Can I make a difference at all by knowing what is going on? Does being aware make it any easier to swallow the circumstances that are provided to us by the politicians and the immense political machine that the American government has become? Realistically, while I struggle with the answer, it seems to be a resounding ‘no’.

And this is what really got me thinking that day. For as much time as we all can spend reading about politics and politicians, how does this knowledge actually reflect upon our own personal economies? Not the U.S. economy, or the economy in the state we live, but our actual personal economies – our own little financial empires, however big or small, that can be effected by changes in Washington as well as something as personal as changing a job or whether or not we buy a new car.

All of the politicians in Washington and the state capitals try to influence our votes by telling us to ask ourselves if we are better off now than we were “x amount of time” ago. These politicians then try to either take credit for, or blame others for, the state in which we find our own personal economies at the given time. And while things like the Affordable Care Act and tax increases or whether or not mortgage loan interest remains tax deductible can all have an influence on our personal economies, there is no one bigger influence on them than ourselves.

Stop doing your job and see what happens to your own personal economy. Do an amazing job and get more business or a promotion and see what happens. Buy a brand new house or car that you can’t afford and see what happens. Each of these things will have a far bigger impact on your life than whether a Democrat or Republican is president or who is controlling the congress.

As someone who has spent a good deal of his time reading about politics and politicians, I don’t necessarily recommend putting your head in the sand, but I do recommend not getting too caught up in the political rhetoric that ultimately in the end will not have nearly the effect on your own personal economy as the financial decisions you make.

Paying more attention to your financial decisions and taking the time to better understand how they will affect your own personal economy will yield far more ROI on time invested than any other effort you can undertake.

Photo by Charles Thompson via Pixabay