“The real tragedy is the tragedy of the man who never in his life braces himself for his one supreme effort- he never stretches it to his full capacity, never stands up to his full stature” – ARNOLD BENNETT

From my favorite book “7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens” there is a long discussion about Personal Bank Account (PBA). All throughout the book, the term PBA is repeated, and this made me decide to share this idea with you today.

A personal bank account (or PBA in short) is a metaphor bank account that holds your, values, morals, ethics, principles, beliefs, and ideals you live by every day. If you feel negative or disappointed, that would be a withdrawal from your PBA. If you do a random act of kindness or renew yourself, you just deposited something into your bank account and improved your perception of yourself. I haven’t really kept track of my PBA, but you don’t have to make the same mistake I made. Start tracking your PBA.

Having a PBA is very simple. Whenever you want you may begin. If you like you can keep track on a piece of paper. Start with $ 5, and each time you do something decent you add a deposit of five more dollars. Each time you do something ruthless you withdraw five dollars. If you have been having a lot of deposits you can increase it to ten dollars. If you have been having a lot of withdrawals you should think of moving it down to three dollars and work your way up again.

How can we deposit into our PBA

  • Let’s try to keep promises – If we say we will do something for someone or for ourselves, then let’s do it.
  • Let’s be considerate – Let us try to be considerate to other people and their feelings.
  • Let’s forgive ourselves – If we have done something wrong, it is not the end of the world, let’s forgive ourselves and we will feel better in no time.
  • Let’s be honest – Let’s be honest to others and ourselves. Let’s avoid lying.
  • Let’s renew ourselves – Let’s try to get our bodies in shape by exercising and relaxing once in a while. Remember to LAUGH.
  • Let’s develop our talents – If we know we have a talent, let’s try to improve it.

When do we withdraw from our PBA

  • When we break promises – Not “Walking the Talk” or when we do not do what we say we will do
  • By being selfish – not wishing others good
  • By being dishonest – lying all the time
  • Wearing ourselves out – not having time to relax, working too hard, sleeping less and eating unhealthy
  • By neglecting our talents – doing nothing in areas we are good at e.g. school, sports etc.

There are no age limits to using the PBA. Children or adults it doesn’t matter, we can all use it. It is all about keeping track of things we do. I think it is a good way to see which side (Good or Bad) one is leaning on. I would not mind seeing my PBA growing bigger with positive things that is MORE DEPOSITS. I know I may do SOME WITHDRAWALS, and that is very okay, I am just a kid, a human being, and that is expected.

Angela-Acaye