Financial planning is a complex and integrated activity that is often simplified in an attempt to make it more accessible. When we look at it as a lifestyle rather than an annual exercise, it’s easier to begin to engage with our financial plan in a more meaningful level. Saving and investing are two disciplines that are core to the foundations of a solid financial plan, and for simplicity sake, they are often seen as the same […]
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It’s not just about the hustle
“Until you value yourself, you won’t value your time. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it.” M. Scott Peck We work with people who are in various stages of their journey towards financial independence, and we often see how heavily finance influences our mindset – regardless of how much we have. For our clients who are working through debt management strategies, the overwhelming need to generate enough income and manage it […]
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How mindfulness helps our money
How much time do you waste trying to solve problems that haven’t happened yet? Many of us fixate on problems that might happen tomorrow, next week or several years in the future, and this is not what life and financial planning are about. Getting stuck in the future at the cost of living life to its fullest today is precisely what we’re trying to avoid! This is why we talk so much about being mindful. Dr […]
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What are the best money emotions?
“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart.” – Helen Keller If we’ve learned anything in our years of working with clients, the markets, and our own personal lives, it’s that we cannot avoid emotions; they need to be managed. The first approach can be to try and focus on positive emotions (the perception of feeling good) and avoid negative emotions (the […]
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Need a little grounding?
Have you ever gone for a walk in the garden without shoes on? Remember what it felt like, as a kid, to come home from school – slip out of tight school shoes and walk barefoot? Whether it was on comfy rugs, soft sea-sand or lush grass, the sensation often felt so good because we were grounding ourselves. A quick Google search will tell us that there’s a lot more happening when we walk barefoot. The […]
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Become a better networker
As our world becomes increasingly digitised, personal skills will become more valuable. Many salespeople call these the soft-skills and realise that the old-school hard-sell-skills are no longer as effective. People are less likely to be blown away by some widget and far more likely to remember the way that you’ve made them feel. It doesn’t really matter if you’re in sales or not, or even in your own business. Networking is a skill that helps us […]
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Do you have to, or do you want to?
It’s easy for us to build a life that is filled with obligations. At first, new responsibilities can fill us with pride because we feel like we’re making a difference, growing and being dependable. And, in a growth phase, these are all true – but over the long term, if they’re not linked to our aspirations, we will feel heavy, dissatisfied, frustrated and obligated to fulfil commitments that no longer resonate with us. When we’re able […]
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Building wealth, one brick at a time
The root of our wealth is not in our income or our spending; it’s in our behaviour. Our habits make us wealthy, not the markets. Some have said that sound financial management comes down to spending less than we earn – but whilst this adage holds merit, it’s a lot more complicated in practice. It’s complicated because people are complicated. It’s not helpful to tell someone who is already relying on credit to get through the […]
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Planning vs Coaching
Regardless of what words we want to put to our journey with our money, there are a few realities that we need to face. First – everything we do is linked to money, whether we pay for it ourselves or rely on a benefactor. Second – some of our wealth-generation depends on luck and circumstance, but most of it depends on our ability to intentionally earn an income and manage the money we have. Third – […]
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Emotions and our investment choices
“And every day, the world will drag you by the hand, yelling, “This is important! And this is important! And this is important! You need to worry about this! And this! And this!” And each day, it’s up to you to yank your hand back, put it on your heart and say, “No. This is what’s important.” – Iain Thomas It’s helpful to remember that emotions greatly influence our investment choices. Still, it’s even more beneficial to […]
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