We are all given a core set of resources: time, talent, treasure, truth, relationships, etc.
How you view, use and deploy each of these has far-reaching effects on the outcomes you find yourself in. Most importantly, how you use your available resources is the largest driver in determining your financial path.
You often hear:
How much time you allot to your interest has a direct impact on your ability to develop talents that lead to deeper relationships and future treasures. Have you taken a moment to stop, and think about what you want and where you want to be? If not, do so. Begin the process of flipping the script of not having enough time. Doing this is the first step to gaining clarity:
Find the truth about what you want, why you want it and how much is it going to take to get there.
You know there are 24 hours in the day, right? How much time do you need to allot to achieve the financial goals you desire? How many dollars will it take to get to your goal? Find these answers and set aside the required time daily. You won’t get to the end tomorrow. It takes baby steps, but the first step… that’s what counts. After that, it’s about always ensuring you are working toward the goals you’ve set. If you aren’t, then it’s time to adjust your resources or your goals.
As we’ve discussed, your time and money are limited resources. Have you ever stopped to think about how you use your time and money? How you value each? How you allocate each?
Guess what, it’s not about the money and focusing solely on a set of financial numbers. It’s about the decision process and intentions behind the allocation of your talents, time and the resource (money) that will allow you to zoom forward in life.
Asking questions about how and why you utilize the resource, money, are very important questions that help you identify what’s important to you vs. what you say is important to you. The reality is, your use of money reflects your goals, your values, your priorities and your spiritual convictions. As the old saying goes, if you want to find out what’s important to someone just look at their checkbook.
Regularly reviewing your spending habits allows you to uncover the truth about how you allocate your financial resources, and it can help you quickly identify mismatches between what you say is important and what you are doing. The mismatches are what ultimately drive you off your intended path.
In all other phases of life, not just your finances, you don’t just show up in a certain place. You get there by a lot of little, seemingly unimportant, decisions. Sometimes, decisions you don’t realize you’re making.
At Arkos, we teach and believe that the first step to gaining financial contentment is obtaining clarity. We practice this by helping you uncover the truth about your financial habits and how those compare to the goals you aspire to obtain. Without knowing where you are it’s hard to determine if you’re on the path to where you want to be.
Ready to see how you stack up? Get started today, by better understanding your risk tolerance level and how that fits with the investments you currently hold.