Debt/indebtedness is the state of being owed a favor that is stipulated to be returned at one point in time as officially or unofficially agreed by two parties, either in a business setting or otherwise.
This definition of debt is coined by me (you can call me your book of psychological economics) to explain the concept of debt and why it doesn't necessarily have to do with money: a creditor and a debtor.
We live in a world where everybody needs someone.
The idea that people can thrive alone is a mirage. Making money, for example, is not a sole process.
At some certain key moment, there have been people who have been instrumental to our financial development and otherwise, however, we also have to understand that, these people at one point in time, have also benefited otherwise from us, and even if they haven't, they're expecting to do so, someday.
Nevertheless, It's not just enough to need people, you need to create a financial environment where these people you need, equally need you back in return.
This is the concept of debt
As humans, we're sentimental
...so even when an agreement is not officially binding to prove or show we owe someone, the sentimental or subconscious agreement we have to pay them back someday for granting them a favor is mostly binding on our goodwill.
Now, some people might say, oh, "It's important to do things without expecting anything in return" but this isn't applicable in the real world anymore. The world, any format we're familiar with, is a place of transaction.
Everyone has a limited amount of resources, however, we cannot spend these resources alone.
The process of utilizing these resources to serve others, who might be in severe lack of it, opens up a business affiliation of endless possibilities.
The resources we need in life to survive are endless, this is why we create an external affiliation with others, extending our hands to them so that we can appeal to their sense of indebtedness, which we might inevitably need someday.
The world is becoming more costly to live and I say this without referencing money at all. Money is indeed an important way to create a sense of indebtedness in others, but we need a smart way to create this chain or cycle, accessing the right people, the timing, and the methodology.
This is when I'll stress again that money itself is only a tool.
Money can be the tip of the spear; an actualizer of the goodwill we intend to carry out, otherwise, there are ways we can get people to be indebted to us without money acting as a means.
One of the reasons why we need debt is because of limitations and scarcity.
Unless you're in that cycle of the world's 3% wealthiest, most of the financial decisions we make come with consequences and opportunity costs.
We cannot help everyone in life, and not everyone can help us as well, this is because reality is harsh and we have to constantly make decisions on who to help and who to let go, and this is the same with almost everyone out there.
Sometimes, what multiplies resources is not the depth or the volume, it's how useful it becomes in serving you and others. Make no mistake nothing is free in the outside world.
It's important not to pretend that anyone is giving you anything for free.
Far from it
That mindset is foolhardy. When you begin to question the original intents in things that seemingly come or look free on this surface, we'd surprisingly discover a lot of things.
While people can categorically give things for free, there's a level of expectations within that goodwill, that you might not necessarily need to owe them back.
However, this occasion is rare. At the end of the day, it's important to make people need you as much as we need them (this isn't achievable in some special cases) the reason as I've said before is because of the scarcity of resources.
While we need favors from people, it's important to serve them unequal favors, which will create a sense of sentimental indebtedness, which might make it difficult for them to say "no" whenever we come calling.
Life is transactional, people are making choices that should be favorable to them. We might continue living in the illusion of dependence on others for free, but nothing or most of everything in life is not free.
Establish understanding
Understanding this psychological economic concept will help you study others, know what they want, try to appeal to these wants and needs, and try to meet some of these needs.
The process of indebtedness is silent, we do not go about telling people that they owe us. We recognize the fact that we need them, so what we first do is to get them to need us, create an avenue, fulfill that need, and watch their emotions do the rest.
People will always appeal to those who they're firstly indebted to, and this is reality in its true nature.
Interested in some more of my works?
