There are a lot of similarities between dieting and financial management. The principles are simple – spend less than you earn, protect your assets and invest the rest.
If it were that easy to implement, there would only need to be one book on the subject. Instead, like the diet section of a bookstore, there are thousands of personal finance titles all promising a different approach.
As a fan of Jessica Brady’s Financially Fierce podcast, I was interested to see how she could consolidate her ideas into a book. Brady’s acknowledgement of the complexity, nuance and inequity surrounding money is what sets this book apart from many others.
Traditional financial advice has historically been written from a narrow, masculine perspective. Brady challenges this by recognising that people come to money with very different starting points and lived experiences.
Personal and executive assistants rely on strong organisational skills and careful oversight of budgets, priorities and logistics. Get Growing offers an interesting parallel as the same structured thinking we apply at work can be applied to our personal finances too.
Rather than offering a get-rich-quick plan, Brady guides readers through exercises that explore their beliefs about money, the habits those beliefs create, and how small behavioural changes can lead to long-term financial security.
My biggest takeaway was that financial freedom is less about a number on a bank statement and more about safety, stability and choice. For anyone looking for a thoughtful, practical approach to improving their financial wellbeing, Get Growing is a valuable addition to the personal finance shelf.
Jordan Bryan is school manager at University of Melbourne.