Are You Your Credit Score?
Posted in Social Commentary on May 21st, 2007 by Erin DietrichWhat does a credit score say about a person? Can it truly be used as a measure of one’s character, worth or value? Loads of people base their judgments on your credit score. These may be the obvious people - lenders, loaners and apartment managers – or the not-so-obvious – potential employers, people you date and even family members. Is your credit score an accurate representation of you? Are the judgments being made about you after a glance at your credit score fair?
Although the exact method for calculating credit scores is a black hole, the concept doesn’t need to be a mystery. Simply put, a credit score is the rating of how well you keep your word when it comes to paying back money you owe. Your credit score doesn’t have to be about having the right number of credit cards or the perfect balance between good and bad debt. It is simply a reflection of whether or not you pay your bills when you say you are going to.
However, when it comes to credit people often are playing a game of pretend, with others, and more dangerously, with themselves. They pretend they have more money than they do. Or that checks and credit cards aren’t real money. They pretend they will always be able to juggle their bills and mortgage and come out ahead. Worst of all, they pretend (especially to themselves) they’re not giving their word when they sign a check or receipt thereby promising to pay. They imagine that because no one can see how precarious their financial situation is that it just doesn’t exist. It’s time to stop pretending.
The hardest thing anyone can ever do in life is to stop pretending. Sometimes it is hard to see through the games we play with ourselves, but once you do, hold onto it. Let’s say you want to raise your score. If you’re like most people, you’re looking for a quick fix – call mom or dad for a loan, close credit cards, play hardball with collection agencies or maybe even hire a company to fix your score. Although these big dramatic gestures may feel good in the short term, you are focusing in the wrong place.
Crazy as this sounds if you want to fix your credit you must practice both self-awareness and honoring your word. It doesn’t matter if you can negotiate ten dollars off your total debt balance; what matters is that you approach this process with as much integrity you can muster and say only things you mean (especially to yourself). Let your word mean something again. Your word, and others belief in it, is worth more than ten dollars. And honestly if you have poor credit and are still trying to find a way to raise your score to borrow more money, you are still pretending. Focus on what matters and don’t worry about what your credit score is.
Maybe because your credit score is not only a reflection of how you manage your money, but your ability to be honest and keep your word, is why it matters so much to others. What a credit score fails to show is the direction you are going, whether it be a incline up or down. Change your thinking and your credit score will inevitably follow. I don’t know if a credit score is a fair judge of a person’s entire character, but what I do know is ultimately your credit score doesn’t matter – who you are does!
