Is this how you feel when you think about money?
Money is critical in all our lives, but it is an emotionally charged and sensitive topic, so many of us never discuss our financial journey with another soul. Perhaps when we’re 45-50 years old, we meet with a financial advisor once we’ve already let many of our prime earning, saving, and investing years behind us. Financial advisors are great, but they aren’t the CEO of your life….. you are. To succeed as a CEO, understanding the game of money is probably a good idea.
Often, our feelings around money have nothing to do with what’s actually in our bank account. They have to do with how well we understand the game of money we are playing. If we feel in control of our money and have a game plan that we are following and measuring, we feel good. If our money is in control of us and we are living year-to-year without a game plan or clear end-goal, we often don’t feel as good.
What do I mean by game of money, game plan and end goal? I’ll start with the “end goal” and you can use your creative side to envision what you want your life to look like.
End Goal
This is the place to start your planning process. The fun part is that this is ENTIRELY up to you. As the CEO of your life, you are in charge. What do you want? Have you ever asked yourself that? What do you really want in 10-15-20 years? How do you want to spend your days? How much money will your desired lifestyle cost? How will you support those lifestyle costs (ie: using savings, passive income, continue working and earning income actively?)
Game of Money
The truth is that we are all playing pretty much the same game and it’s the same game as the company you work for. It’s called business. Our lives are like a mini-business. With financial statements and everything.
Game Plan
Successful businesses need a plan. Since you are a business, you might want one of these too as a guiding force in your life.
-First, a business creates a “business plan” to outline the big picture, long-term view of what they do, how they do it, and what their overall goals are.
-Next, a successful business creates a more detailed plan called a “strategic plan” that looks more closely at the upcoming 3-5 years. They begin to set goals around many areas of the business, including money. Your “business of life” has many areas as well. What do you want to be spending your time doing? What do you want to experience? In what ways do you want to grow and evolve as a person? What new skills do you want to learn?
-Finally, a successful business boils their plan down to explore the upcoming month and year ahead. THIS is where we can make changes that matter and this is where I can help you to clarify what you should be measuring and managing in the near term to empower you. From a money standpoint, there are just a few important metrics that will empower you to understand both the near and long term.
If you don’t feel like you have a grasp on your money game, you are in the majority. Our schools never taught this stuff properly and it actually benefits our consumer society if you remain confused and unclear about your financial journey. The more powerless you feel, the more you’ll rely on outside sources to solve your problems for you.
As a financial coach, I help clients to understand their personal game of money (aka financial literacy) and to feel more clarify around their financial future. When a client trusts me to explore this topic with them, they are allowing me into a part of their lives that few, if any people see. This can be scary, but also liberating and empowering for you to realize that you aren’t alone and that no matter where you currently sit from a financial perspective, you can find clarity and confidence by creating a plan for your future.
I teach people how to see themselves as a business and to use some of the same simple tools that businesses use to stay on track and succeed. We each need a plan for our financial future and ways to measure our progress. I help people to do this and more.