Can You Govern What You Want to Grow?

Before you ask how much bigger a property portfolio could become, ask what you are prepared to take responsibility for. Not only when things are going well. When the situation becomes difficult, when your plans need adjusting, when there is no easy way through. What does your plan look like then?

That is the question behind survive first, optimise second. It is not an argument against growth. It is a question about the order in which we approach it. We can become so focused on accessing more that we give very little attention to becoming capable of governing what we receive.

A small property portfolio gives that question a practical setting. There is something in your hands that requires decisions, resources and attention. Wanting it to grow is one thing. Thinking through what it will require from you across different conditions is another. Have you given both the same care?

When I look at Joseph’s life, I see a distinction between receiving a position and being prepared for the responsibility of that position. We notice his elevation. We notice that Pharaoh entrusted him with authority. But before that, there was a long process that did not look like elevation at all.

Joseph experienced betrayal, slavery and imprisonment following a false accusation. Scripture describes God as being with him, yet that did not mean he avoided difficulty. My reading of that journey is that the hand of God was training him, developing him and exposing him to the situations and relationships he would need to understand before carrying greater responsibility.

That is an interpretation of his formation, not a promise that every difficult investment will eventually succeed. The point is that favour and preparation are not opposites. Being entrusted with something does not remove the need to learn how to manage it.

So what does this have to do with a property portfolio? It changes the question from simply, How do I get more? to, What do I need to learn to handle what is already here? What am I avoiding because it is uncomfortable? Where am I looking for a shortcut instead of accepting the instruction this responsibility requires?

Survival, in that sense, is not sitting still and hoping nothing goes wrong. It requires participation. You have to look at the situation, understand what is needed and make a plan. Otherwise, survive first can become another way of saying, I will wait for someone else to deal with it.

This is what I appreciate about Nehemiah. He was moved by the condition of Jerusalem, but he did not stop at being moved. He translated what was in his heart into practical requirements. When the king asked what he needed, he was able to answer. He had thought about resources, time and the help required to accomplish the work.

That movement matters: from concern to a plan. From a desired outcome to the resources, people and strategy needed to bring it about. A spiritual conviction does not make those questions unnecessary. It gives you a reason to take them seriously.

Apply that to the portfolio you have, rather than only the portfolio you hope to have. What needs to keep working? What resources does that require? Who do you need alongside you? If conditions become more difficult, what would need to change? These are planning questions, not declarations of unbelief.

There are two approaches to inheritance that I have challenged before. One is impatient and self-centred: give me what is mine so I can do what I want. The other takes no initiative at all: I will wait until the father tells me everything. One demands without maturity. The other mistakes passivity for relationship.

Neither is the model for responsible investing. Trusting God does not mean removing yourself from the process. And taking initiative does not mean excluding him from it. The question is how to bring your full attention and responsibility into the relationship, rather than using faith to avoid decisions or ambition to avoid correction.

Wealth enables outcomes. That is why it matters what happens to what has been entrusted to you. Growth has a purpose beyond the satisfaction of owning more, and preparation has a purpose beyond protecting your comfort.

Before planning the next acquisition, put your present responsibilities into plain language: what needs to be done, what resources it requires, who will do it and what must be reconsidered if the situation changes. If you cannot yet answer those questions, there is useful work in front of you. Start there. Learn to govern what you want to grow.