Financially Transparent — Why I Do It
Tactical strategies about: making, managing, and spending money.
Some of you know and some of you don’t… but here’s why:
I recently created a course called “Directing Every Dollar”
The goal was to create something that provides:
Tactical strategies about: making, managing, and spending money.
Over the years of working, I’ve always tracked my finances and my spending. I have had an awareness since day 1 of where my money is going and how I’m directing it.
With the completion of my MBA in May of this year, I knew that I needed to do something with an additional 10–15 hours each week.
A number of the people that I am connected to have online courses on various subjects and I thought perhaps that would be a good route for me as well. Simple to begin, low to no overhead, and great for my personal brand.
I went between a few different potential subjects such as daily disciplines, personal finances, learning, and reading.
Then I turned to prayer and sought God’s guidance for this idea of mine.
I wanted to be sure that this course was something bigger than me and that I was not going to be working in vain.
Within the course of a week, 3 people then asked me about personal finance tips and guidance.
That was all I needed — I got to work.
Now, here we are.
The most difficult part for me was the formatting. I like to do everything with excellence and I wanted to ensure that I had a professional aura to everything that I created. I didn’t know exactly how I was going to do the videos that went alongside the slide deck but that’s okay… I didn’t need to.
I can always iterate in the future especially after I gain some feedback from people who go through it.
I settled on this for the format:
— 3 video lectures along with the complementary presentation material
— Walkthroughs of various strategies that encourage financial health and wealth building
— Introduction to tactical methods of tracking money movement
— An editable version of a personal budget/cash flow plan
The main focus was on creating something high value that was also useful.
How it was created
As many of those close to me know — I’m a voracious reader.
In the past 1,000 days, I’ve completed over 250 books.
I don’t say that to brag or anything, I say it because I want to learn.
I’ve gone through a number of books on personal finance, put principles into practice, and studied extensively in other areas also.
The biggest thing I realized was the location of the content. There were many many things that I learned and studied but there was not a ton of information concentrated in an area that I could direct others to.
This left me two options when people asked for guidance:
1. Overwhelm them with resources and content to consume
2. Create something that is easier to digest
I elected the latter and here we are.
My focus is growth and becoming better and I truly hope that what I’ve created can bless others and lead them down a path of financial prowess and good stewardship.
What I realized was that by funneling all of my knowledge and experience through this course, I reinforced the foundation I’ve created. That led to a major heart struggle.
I do things with my finances that I don’t think anyone else does and I rarely talk about those things transparently.
“Giving is an action. Generosity is a matter of heart.” — Chip Ingram. It’s not just giving money, it’s managing it…medium.com
So I again turned to prayer and now increased transparency is going to be part of the course and I pushed back my initial launch date again.
The areas of allocation and the reasons that I spend so much in certain areas is something that is unique for many people and for myself, I do some things differently than the majority of people do.
I want people to understand that we are all unique and no matter what our focus is, we can manage our resources effectively. But also, I want people to understand that honoring God with our resources and showing ourselves trustworthy allows us to be blessed beyond our greatest imagination.
If you want to check out the course, it’s right here: https://gumroad.com/harrisonwendland
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