The Boulder (and I’m not talking about Colorado)

Money works in 2 ways: forward and backward. The negative risks of the “backward” position increase in direct proportion to the sum total of the money. Therefore, more money is not a positive condition if/when the conditions to move that sum forward in a controlled manner are not met. In addition to uncontrolled forward movement, external factors can lead to a “backward” position including financial inflation or a decrease in the perceived value of the currency or asset comprising the sum total.

History has proven that the vast majority of people (even the most prestigious and accomplished financial professionals) only conceive of money in the “forward” position.

The forward/backward model of money can be visualized as a boulder one pushes up a hill. A $5.00 boulder is easy to push forward and doesn’t do any real damage if it rolls back down. By comparison, a $100,000.00, $1 million, or $1 billion boulder is significantly more difficult to move forward and control. If this size of boulder goes backward (i.e. it contracts or becomes a liability), it becomes devastating or even fatal to the business or individual managing the mass.

“Forward” is not necessarily better by default, either. If the boulder is $100,000.00 and abruptly shrinks to $40,000.00 while still moving forward, then the momentum of resources and infrastructure built to manage the $100,000.00 become a liability. You’re still moving “forward” but the boulder— although it is smaller — becomes unmanageable because of the rapid change.

Things that make money a liability in the forward position include:
- Rapid and/or unexpected changes in size.
- Lacking tools to continue moving forward in a controlled way.

Consequences of money moving in the backward position include:
- Opportunity for loss rising in proportion to the total sum.
- Difficulty in stopping backward momentum and/or moving forward again.
- The capacity to harm or incapacitate the business or individual managing the sum.