The first time I meet with a new or prospective client, they say at some point in the meeting that they’re not where they thought they would be when they started their financial lives. They’re concerned about reaching their goals, or maybe they’re just too far behind to ever reach them.
My response is nearly always the same. “You may not like the choices you have, but you do have choices.”
My goal in working with clients is to help them get the most out of the one pass through this world that they have. In order to do that, you’ve got to come to terms with your past. The decisions that you’ve made brought you to this point today, where you can begin to make new choices and take new steps directly towards your goals.
You can choose to spend less, save more, or some combination of these two actions. The more clarity you have around your financial goals, the easier this becomes. You can’t say ’no’ until you have a bigger ’yes’.
You can choose to deliberately spend more time with the people that matter to you. Our closest relationships provide us with the greatest return on investment when we consider how little we need to spend in order to have a great time with them.
You can choose to leave a job that you’re staying in because the money is good, and move to a job that is fulfilling in ways that are more lasting than a paycheck.
You can choose to live life on your terms. You just have to change your definition of what success is. Make it your definition, not one that your parents or society gave to you.
