What’s really important to you?

When most people start making decisions about their wealth, or laying out a wealth plan for the future, they typically start by identifying some sort of goal and then acting on the goal. There can be a challenge in that approach. Knowing “what” you want is important, but knowing “why” you want it creates power. So the question is, how do you know what matters to you? One of the starting points is to clarify your values.“Values” is a loaded word and many people have a preconceived idea of what they are. Honesty, integrity, community, hard work, and family are common values, but they are not necessarily the values that really move people – they are social values more than lived values. What do we mean by “lived values?” Think about it this way: there are rules running in the background of your thinking. They tell you what’s important and what’s not, what’s allowed and what’s not. When someone violates one of those fundamental rules, you’ll likely find yourself really upset. When someone honours one of those values, you’ll find yourself feeling proud of them or having respect for them. Values behave like active decision-making rules. Now imagine this – you create a goal and someone develops an action plan that either violates, or at least rubs up against one or more of your values. It might be an excellent plan, but will you follow it? Probably not. The big challenge is that many of us haven’t taken the time to fully articulate our values, so it’s hard to know when they are being rubbed up against.  We might have an “off” feeling, but not necessarily a clear idea of what’s happening. That’s why we start by taking our clients through a process to become laser-clear on what they value. Then we build a plan that honours those values and serves the goals. When you know what’s really important to you and why, you won’t just build a financial plan, you’ll build a legacy.