How Fiscal Responsibility Can Limit Success

One of the things that we are taught – as human beings in general, adults in particular, and leaders especially – is that fiscal responsibility is essential to success. What is fiscal responsibility? In a nutshell, it amounts to staying out of debt. Markers can include having sufficient earnings to match your lifestyle, good use of credit, being savvy with investments – you’ve probably got the idea. 

Generally, fiscal responsibility can certainly be used as a gauge of success, I won’t deny that. And on the surface, it seems like an appropriate gauge. It’s certainly a good thing to be able to truthfully say that one is fiscally responsible, right? I mean, the weight of the opposite – fiscal irresponsibility – can feel crushing. Ask anyone who has been in the position of dealing with outstanding loans, overwhelming credit card debt or simply insufficient earnings to meet the needs of day-to-day living. 

The challenge, as I see it, is that our collective view of what it means to live responsibly is skewed. There is far more to the success landscape than fiscal responsibility alone. There are other kinds of debt that can inhibit success, and other kinds of responsibility that need to be held in order for success to be genuine and complete. 

When we focus solely on fiscal deficit or fiscal responsibility, we skew the experience of success by overlooking things like social responsibility, responsibility related to health and well-being, and education. Similarly, when we focus on social responsibility alone – or health, or education or whatever – at the expense of fiscal responsibility, we skew success the other way.

Here’s what I’m suggesting: when it comes to success – that thing that everyone seems to want in some measure – we need a wider definition. We need a more wholistic view. Standing solely in the space of fiscal responsibility – that space where we work so hard to earn a paycheque, increase production, elevate the financial bottom-line – is not enough. If we limit our focus to that space and overlook other potential deficits – social, health, education, etc; -- we don’t actually achieve success. Instead, our society ends up in collective burnout. This does not serve anyone well. 

Bottom-line: when it comes to staying out of debt, let’s remember that there is more to focus on than just the financial piece. Debt of any kind – social, educational, physical, mental, emotional – is debilitating. So, let’s hold a more balanced view. Let’s do what needs to be done so we – individually and collectively – can experience wholistic success.