What the Signers Couldn't Buy

Here's what fifty-six fortunes couldn't buy: certainty.

The men who pledged their wealth in 1776 had no idea it would work. The odds were against them — a ragged army against the most powerful empire on earth. They spent their fortunes on a coin flip. They signed without knowing.

I tell clients this because so many of them are waiting for certainty before they'll act. They want the perfect plan, the guaranteed return, the assurance that nothing will go wrong before they'll commit a single dollar to the future. And so they wait. And the years go by. And the drawer stays locked.

But certainty is not on the menu. It never was. The Founders didn't have it and neither do you. Stewardship isn't acting once you're sure. Stewardship is acting because it's worthy, before you're sure, and trusting that a fortune pledged toward something good is never truly wasted, even if the outcome surprises you.

The signers couldn't buy certainty. What they could buy — what their pledged fortunes actually purchased — was a chance. A door cracked open. A future that wouldn't have existed if they'd waited to be sure.

That's all your money can ever buy for the seventh generation: a chance. A door. A better set of odds than they'd have had if you'd kept the drawer locked.

It's enough. It was enough in 1776, and it's enough now.

Stop waiting to be sure. Pledge toward the worthy thing. Crack the door.

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