Making sure you are “Banking Right”
So, I am sure we are all wondering what “banking” has to do with the topics explored by this blog and yet the truth is that “banking right” has a huge impact on our lives; on a personal and on a business level. Maya Angelou put it succinctly when she said, "when we know better, we tend to do better". A lot of people that I have spoken to through the years are good people in the core of their beings and yet inadvertently are “banking wrong”. They usually recognize the natural law of action and reaction or cause and effect, yet they fail to understand the magnitude and implication of this law. Christianity and most religions believe that you can only reap that which you sow.
For me “banking right” means that it is usually what you put into your bank account that you get out from your ATM card. It may, depending on the precise nature of this bank account come back with huge interests and dividends. This holds true in personal relationships as well as in business relationships. As long as we are breathing, we are constantly banking every second, of every minute, of every hour of our lives; through our thoughts, words and actions towards others. The most important question we should be constantly asking as these seconds and minutes tick by is whether we are banking “right” or “wrong”. Life constantly tosses at us random banking transactions and gives us the opportunity to “bank right” and yet, some of us persistently choose to “bank wrong”. The most profound thing about banking “right” or “wrong” is that the result in each case has far-reaching consequences given that we are all inter-connected. Our families and friends are affected by our banking choices and consequences of the choices for good or for bad. Now, isn’t that enough reason for us to “bank right”.
For me, the number one reason why we should be kind, loving and nice to each other is simply because it is the right thing to do. You enrich the life of another and they in turn are happy and wish you well. It does not end there; you have also just completed a “right banking transaction!” You have banked away in your character vault, a wholesome, kind, and good gesture. Listen to this, it gets even better, it adds to the strength of your overall character and also comes back to you (may be not right away) in form of people, events and circumstances that replicate that good deed!
Check out the reverse scenario, people who constantly stick it to others and simply refuse to show love or kindness to other people, end up seriously hurting others through their actions and are never quite able to find peace or tranquility in their own lives even when they experience the pathetic satisfaction of seeing another human hurt or humiliated by them. They deplete their already ravaged character and most importantly ended up with the most horrid bank transaction! Life being the ATM machine will replicate their actions and channel it right back at them through similar events, similar people and similar circumstances.
If you understand this law of banking right, it will no longer seem like a coincidence that someone like Oprah Winfrey is blessed beyond her wildest imagination. We see her “banking right” most of the time.
So what should we do when someone sticks it to us so badly and hurts us so deeply that we are really left with no other alternative (at least, we tend to think that) but to meet them at their horrid banking level. I will share a really personal and somewhat still raw experience that I encountered recently. An individual whom I called a friend and whom I brought into my home took advantage of me in a business transaction. I might also add that people warned me against this individual and I did not listenL. I trusted this person enough to believe that this individual would be fair, open and honest given the history that we had and the wonderful experiences that we shared. I was devastated when I got the exact opposite result from this relationship. I was taken advantage of to the extent that I am still paying the monetary price of that mistake. My first gut reaction ( and what many advised me to do) was to file a suit against this person and have this person disgraced and pay for all that I was put through. However, given that I knew about the concept of banking right and the profound benefits to it, I chose to forgive this individual and set me eyes on higher grounds.
You know, we often times fail to appreciate and be grateful for our lives and tend to let simple glitches or hiccups we encounter distract us from what we should do on a daily basis – show gratitude for the immense blessings in our lives. A lawsuit would be “banking wrong” as it will result in more bad blood and negativity. Even as the monetary cost of this mistake weighs down on me, I am at peace knowing that I chose the higher road and that even though I am seemingly the fool in this transaction, I banked right in this scenario. This individual had just banked away some really negative and hefty stuff and I cannot help but wonder what waits this individual at the ATM.
On a business level, the truth remains that it is the way that you treat your clients that is a huge determinant of how far your business will grow. If you take advantage of them, stiff them with unnecessarily high and hidden fees, or treat them poorly, you might experience a huge temporary success but then you quickly dwindle to nothingness. If Bernard Madoff understood this law of “banking right”, he would have thought better about his Ponzi scheme and would not be seating in jail on a 150 years sentence. If these billion dollar companies understand the law of “banking right” they would do right by their customers and not be charging incessant hidden and unnecessary fees. If politician and leaders of the world understand this law of “banking right” the economic and social map of the world will be a lot better.
We do not have to be multi-millionaires or uber rich to apply this law of “banking right”, we only need to do it at our little level of actual day to day encounters with strangers, customers, family and friends. Instead of always frowning, opt to smile a little more and meet people’s glances as you pass them with our usual quick, “Hello, Good Morning, how are you...” People generally never expect a pleasant greeting. you know they are pleasantly surprised when you see how their faces light up. You have infected them with the right mood! Bravo! You have just successfully completed the right bank transaction! Instead of sticking it to the person who has constantly stuck it to us, let us opt to play the fool who ultimately banks right!
Life will constantly throw your way banking scenarios through your thoughts about others, your actions towards another, and your words to others. Would you choose to bank it “right”?