The GO TO HE- - FUND

(possibly the most important post of all time on the Internet)

I think that I would qualify as having a fairly high stress job - some think that doctors, police, and fireman and the like are at the top of the list because they are dealing with lives being on the line. While I appreciate them all for putting themselves in that position, it really comes with the territory. For many, it's why they do what they do. This is a key to enduring stress in any position. If there isn't an intrinsic "why" to what you do, the stress will bear down on you like nobody's business.

Not everyone can derive that deep sense of meaning - even if I met with them and said, "do you know what you are doing for this city by picking up this garbage everyday. You are keeping rats away. You are making this the place it is to live for the residents here. It's all on you," there are some that just couldn't internalize that.

So, the job becomes a thing that pays the bills - and....oh my.....THE BILLS!!! I have been in the credit industry for 20 years. Honestly, I don't know how people can live with the pressure that I see from the credit reports compared to what is coming in on the cash flow side. If it were me, I'd go fetal......complete with thumb firmly inserted in mouth as I mumbled, "maaahma."

Enter "The Go To He- - Fund" - back when I was scraping by just to feed myself and building my business, I found that I had fell slightly into debt. I hated it. As the tide began to turn and I found that there were rather unsavory aspects to my job, I came up with a plan.

I would start putting 10% of what I made aside - heck, I had been living on less than what I was making. As I made more, why did I have to live on more? There really isn't a rule that says just because you make more, you HAVE to immediately spend more. There's not! Really!!! I looked it up in the rulebook.

I realized that - I had an actual employment agreement at work that I had signed. It was written by my employer. It had all of these conditions and things that I could and couldn't do and my employer had the permission to change the rules when desired.

I needed an employment agreement that was written from my side of the desk - so I wrote one. Now, I know the employer would never sign it so mine had to take on a different form. It went something like this:

"You need someone to do the job that I do but it doesn't necessarily have to be me. I need someone to employ me but it doesn't necessarily have to be you. As long as we live by these conditions, we'll get along fine. If either of us becomes dependent on each other, I think we are going to have a problem. "

Trust me - after 19 years with the same place of employment, the great company that I work for has lived up to their side. They'll let you know that you are replaceable (most of the time in a nice way, of course).

How have I made my end of the agreement stick? - the caveat of knowing that if my employer ever crosses the line and totally violates my principles, I tell them to "Go To He- -" and I leave. Hence, the importance of that little "Go To He- -" fund that started so many years ago.

Word of Caution - it's not easy living with a "Go To He- -" fund. You want that kind of freedom.....I don't know if you could handle that kind of freedom. If you "push the button" too quickly, you are going to deplete the GTH fund and then be beholden to the next job to replete the GTH fund. It takes discernment over what a violation to your real principles are......the real principles. Remember, your employer is like a different person than you are...and how many people are there that you know that have your exact same princiles? Not many. Hence, you are going to have some clashes.......unless, of course, you are a laydown panzie all of the time.

My GTH fund has been in place for a lot of years - there were times that I had to borrow from it...but I always paid it back. The company has tested me in ways that I didn't want to be tested. I have been pushed to the brink where I wanted to push the GTH button....

....but I never have - and I have changed due to the pressures in ways that I never thought that I would. Has it made me better? That would be a judgement call. I can tell you that I have learned a different perspective than the one that I walked in the door with years ago. Being able to see multiple perspectives is nice. It puts you in the "Seek first to understand and then to be understood" camp of life.

You can live on less - as to the current status of the GTH fund? It's probably about due for a new name. Let's call it the.....

Thanks For Providing Me the Ability to Retire Fund - while the GTH served it's purpose and I highly recommend establishing one today, I think the new name is a bit more in line with the nature of gratitude......even toward a company that still does "stuff" that, at times, makes me want to tell them......uh.....well....you know.