The Bank of You

I'm gonna start today with a story.

When I was about 11 years old I went to the bank to open a bank account. Now I know you're wondering ‘why did I need a bank account at 11 years old?’ I really didn't. They were opening one for my older sister and when you're the youngest, you're always the second bird that gets killed with the one stone. But I was actually excited about this because I thought this meant I was gonna be rich and could buy anything I wanted (too bad i got a debit card not a credit card though).

Now to open an account, at least with the bank we decided to go with, you needed to make an initial deposit. So I had brought with me my birthday money and change that was in my piggy bank. All of which came up to about £50, aka a fortune to me and from what I knew about savings and interest, I was gonna be a multi millionaire in no time.

I left the bank feeling great! I had made my own pin and was getting letters in my name every month letting me know how much money was in the account. I felt like a grown up. I mean I didn’t actually use the card, I was 11 but my perception made it exciting.

Let's fast forward maybe 3 years… I'm in secondary school now and we're in the talks of lunch money: £10 in my bank account every week. Nice.

I go to use my card, but it’s not working so I contact my bank and they tell me they've frozen my account due to to inactivity.

See, for those 3 or so years I hadn't made a single transaction in or out of my bank account. Apart from that initial deposit and maybe a few others here and there… I never touched it. I didn’t have a job, so there were no deposits, and I didn’t want to spend any of it (I also wasn’t really allowed to) so there were no withdrawals either.

The letters became boring because I knew what my balance was (the same as last month) so I’d stopped opening them and I had forgotten my pin because well, I never needed to use it.

It wasn’t exciting anymore because I couldn’t do the things that you’re supposed to do with a bank account. The novelty had worn off until the those barriers were no longer there and spending the money was a necessity.

Now, I’m not telling you to spend all your money. In fact this story has nothing to do with money.

Within us we hold our own personal account at the Bank of You where the currency is imagination. An Idea Bank. Often times we make those initial instalments of suggestion and if you’re like me, you don’t have the means to make regular investments or there’s a hesitation to withdraw, leaving your account stagnant.

Last month, we in the Tribe318 Community made pledges to push as hard as we can for the last few months of the year and work on those projects and ideas which we had been meaning to get to.

I’d like to extend the same to you all this month.

Go into your idea bank and make a few transactions. If you don’t have one, get one.

We’re in the last quarter of the year, so let’s spend it well.

- B

Get it? Quarter…. like the American quarter….. spend it well…. came up with that one myself I did. 😂😂