The Science of Resourcefulness

Summary: How resourceful are you? When we harness the science of resourcefulness, we can achieve great things in our personal, professional, and financial lives. Author Scott Sonenshein joins us to discuss his new book on resourcefulness.<br> Scott Sonenshein is the Henry Gardiner Symonds Professor of Management at Rice University. His new book Strech: Unlock the Power of Less-and Achieve More Than You Ever Imagined gives us a new way to succeed in business and our lives by using the science of resourcefulness.<br> Chasing or Stretching<br> How do we define success? For many people success means more; more money, more stuff, more employees. But that definition is wrong.<br> There are two approaches to resources; chasing and stretching. When we chase, we <a href="https://www.listenmoneymatters.com/burnt-out/">tire ourselves out</a> going after more, more, more. If we stretch, we use the resources we already have available. Once we stop chasing and start stretching, we are better able to solve problems and innovate which means we are more fully engaged in our endeavors.<br> Necessity is the Mother of Invention<br> Remember when you were a kid and you could spend a whole afternoon playing with things that were not store bought toys? Building forts out of boxes or making drums out of oatmeal containers and turned over pots? When we were kids and used things we already had, our play was more creative and imaginative.<br> The same is valid for adults. When we stretch the resources we currently have; time, money, relationships, we are more creative, more prosperous, and more fulfilled.<br> Mo Money Mo Problems<br> Sometimes it can seem like the more you have of some things, money, time, stuff, the more problems you have. When you have too much money (a hard concept for most of us), you might have <a href="https://www.listenmoneymatters.com/lending-and-borrowing-money-from-family-and-friends/">relatives </a>who think they can use you like an ATM. When you have too much time, you might overeat or drink out of boredom. If you have too much stuff, your home might start to look like an episode of Hoarders.<br> We thought those things would make us happy but often, they make us unhappy because of all the problems they cause that we didn’t foresee.<br> The Personal in Personal Finance<br> Sometimes we forget the personal in personal finance. Your goals should be personal; they should be helping you to work toward what you want. That means you don’t copy or compare yourself to others. Your neighbor bought a new car, so you did too. But did you want a new car?<br> When we keep chasing things just to keep up with those around us, we feel unsatisfied even when we manage to acquire them because they weren’t the things we wanted. If your ultimate goal is <a href="https://www.listenmoneymatters.com/financial-independence-2/">financial independence</a>, how is buying a brand new car going to help you achieve that?<br> It’s natural to compare ourselves against those around us; it can be a way to measure how well we’re doing. But a comparison to others shouldn’t be our only measuring stick.<br> Mindless accumulation is not a goal. Getting more resources is not a goal. Resources should be a means to an end, not the end themselves.<br> Artificial Constraints<br> If you need to leave for work at 8:00 and you wake up at 6:30, it takes you an hour and a half to get out of the house. But what happens when you wake up late, at 7:15 instead of 6:30? Are you 45 minutes late for work or do you somehow still manage to make it out the door by 8:00?<br> More often than not, we somehow figure out a way to manage with what is available to us at the moment. This kind of constraint breeds creativity.<br> A good exercise that demonstrates this is to take a look at your budget for the next month. Vow to cut 10% of your spending for that month. That might mean bringing your lunch to work rather than buy...