MY TWO CENTS:
I have a confession to make: writing something that could be of value to you is hard sometimes! These past few weeks have been a particularly difficult time of gathering and organizing my thoughts. In fact, one of the underlying intentions of my writing this edition of MTC is to get my thoughts to line up succinctly and congruently enough to share more broadly than just rattling around inside my own head.
We provide financial services to our clients. Financial plan development and execution are the recognizable items we provide through our business. While each client we serve has their own unique areas of plan complexity, the concept of financial planning seems pretty basic. That is where my thinking has been challenged recently.
If you’ve read more than two or three editions of MTC, you have almost certainly read my ruminations of leadership, attitude, and other facets of life like love, joy, and peace. That’s why I’ve felt a bit unsettled lately. The simple concept of financial planning is intended to do something…to provide an avenue toward something…to empower those embracing their plan to live to their full potential.
A financial plan well developed and intelligently executed should empower those following that plan to pursue their highest priorities in support of their personal purpose. WOW…what a mouthful to say and more of a mouthful to digest!!
So…have you identified your personal purpose?
If so, have you wrestled with your priorities to ensure they line up in support of that purpose?
If not, what’s holding you back?
This edition IS NOT intended to motivate you to reach out and update your financial plan. It IS intended to nudge us all (me included) to ask whether we’re living out our personal purposes. It’s intended to encourage us to assess whether our priorities are lined up toward our purpose. It’s inviting us into a new reality about which we see very little news reporting, tweet posting, or IG/FB meme sharing.
How exciting would it be if every one of us was willing to set aside our past failures and current insecurities so we could listen to one another? How could our world shift positively if we were open to having our own biases tested and challenged without feeling defensive? How amazing could our backyards, our neighborhoods, our communities become when we embrace each other with compassion and empathy, with support and strength, with advocacy and education?
This has been a tough edition to write because it forces me to be active with my purpose. When I aspire toward those ideals above, I have to get out of my chair and off my couch to stretch, grow, and risk my own ego. My hope is that this MTC edition encourages you to wrestle with your purpose and priorities that nudge you beyond yourself. My hope is that we can align our priorities (and yes…the plan that serves them) so we can encourage each other toward our best selves!!
Make it a great week!!
Scott Cousino, CFP®
President