A Lesson from Lincoln

One of Many Principles Your Family Will Love

 

How do you think Abraham Lincoln handled a family dilemma that many of us face today?

We know from a letter he sent his stepbrother, John Johnston, that he realized he had been inadvertently contributing to his extended family’s problems.

Apparently Johnston had reached out, requesting financial help — and it looks as if this was a chronic issue. Lincoln wrote him to say:

“At the various times when I have helped you a little you have said to me, ‘We can get along very well now’; but in a very short time I find you in the same difficulty again….if I should now clear you out of debt, next year you would be just as deep in as ever.”

 

A Hand Up vs. a Handout

Lincoln didn’t want to leave him in the lurch, so rather than a handout, he proposed a hand up — one that reinforced accountability and responsibility:

“You are now in need of some money; and what I propose is, that you shall go to work, ‘tooth and nail,’ for somebody who will give you money for it. I now promise you, that for every dollar you will, between this and the first of May, get for your own labor, either in money or as your own indebtedness, I will then give you one other dollar. By this, if you hire yourself at ten dollars a month, from me you will get ten more, making twenty dollars a month for your work.”

He included this advice:

“Now, if you will do this, you will be soon out of debt, and, what is better, you will have a habit that will keep you from getting in debt again. You have always been kind to me, and do not mean to be unkind to you. On the contrary, if you will but follow my advice, you will find it worth more than eighty times eighty dollars to you.”

 

Getting on the Right Cycle

 

Doug Andrew shares Lincoln’s letter in his Legacy Masters course as a way to demonstrate the difference between getting our families on the Abundance Cycle vs. the Entitlement Cycle.

It’s one of dozens of lessons within Doug’s comprehensive 36-episode online course designed to help you create a lasting legacy of Authentic Wealth for your family.

With Legacy Masters’ on-demand videos, tools, and exercises, you’re able to capture the big-picture vision of how your family can thrive, as well as follow step-by-step ways to implement Habits of Abundance within your family.

It’s the perfect course for anyone looking to lead their family to greater abundance, and we invite you to take advantage of it for your own family.

 

 

 

> Want to discover ways to foster your family’s 3 Dimensional Wealth? Get the Legacy Masters course, and learn directly from Doug Andrew how to make values-based learning come alive. Click here.