Karma: do you deserve the good stuff in your life?

What is Karma? Karma is a core principle in many Asian religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism.

Karma and the Hollywood effect

Most of us know from Hollywood cinema the basic idea behind Karma. If you're good then good things happen to you. Conversely, if you're bad then bad thing happen to you.

However, the idea behind Karma is a little more nuanced than Hollywood portrays. Karma literally translates to "action". The concept being that there is a cosmic effect from your actions. Rather like Newton's Third Law of Motion: for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Karma suggests that the universe rewards you for doing good deeds. However, it punishes you for your misdemeanours. So how good are you? What have been your good deeds this week?

The good deed measurer

How do you determine whether you are on the right Karma track?

Fortunately, the Karma calculator has now been created by TrustTwo. You can check out the Karma calculator here. It's a series of multiple choice questions that helps you to figure out how altruistic you are.

When I completed the Karma calculator it said that I was 50:50 in terms of being on the right path. Looks like I've got a lot of work to do.

Keep it honest!

A quick word of warning. When answering the  questions on the Karma calculator you must answer with absolute honesty.

Sure. You can fake the questions and pretend that you're altruistic all of the time. However, you'll gain less from the exercise as a whole. As such, I strongly recommend that you answer the Karma calculator honestly. This will allow you to discover where you're at on the Karma path.

The involvement of TrustTwo

The creator of the Karma calculator is a debt provider called TrustTwo.

"How can that be good Karma!" I hear you screaming at your screens.

Calm. TrustTwo offers a special type of debt. They offer guarantor loans. This means that you may be able to borrow from them even if you have a poor credit history. All you need is a close family or friend to guarantee the loan. If you cannot pay the debt then they will step in to cover the repayments.

What's this got to do with Karma?

In order for someone to be willing to step in as your guarantor then they need to trust you. How do you build trust? By doing good things for them and other people. By demonstrating to your guarantor that you are a responsible individual who cares for others. If you can show that you are caring and responsible then you build up trust in your potential guarantor.

Good things can happen to good people. Karma. Especially if you're on the right Karma path. If you are always striving to do the right thing, then you may find that there are people out there willing to do good things for you.

The strategy is simple. You have a poor credit history from past mistakes but need a loan. Perhaps it's to start a new business, or to pay for a new boiler, or to pay some medical fees. Be good to all those people around you. You never know when one of them may be willing to step in as your guarantor.