Category: Blog

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Why character matters

One of the reasons why so many people chase riches, relationships and reputation to define their value is that they haven’t been coached to understand that they can build a life of worth, value and meaning without relying on other people, positions or possessions to define them.

If we want to know how we add value to the world, we need to know what our values are. Discovering our character strengths is a building block of this journey; they make us who we are and give us a sense of purpose and meaning.

These strengths are positive aspects of our personality that others like, respect, and cherish. They are the qualities that make us unique and valuable and are essential to our well-being and happiness.

Ryan Niemiec and Robert McGrath, researchers in the field of character strengths, emphasise that when we express ourselves using these strengths in our thoughts and actions, we feel happier and more grounded. This is because character strengths help us engage fully in the present moment, connect with others, and find meaning in our lives.

Character strengths are different from our interests, passions, and skills. While these are important aspects of our lives, they are not the same as character strengths. Interests, passions, and skills may change, but character strengths persist across time and cultures. They are central to who we are and how we think of ourselves.

The Values in Action Inventory (VIA) is a popular tool for identifying and measuring character strengths. VIA identifies 24 character strengths that fall under six broad categories of virtues: wisdom, courage, humanity, justice, temperance, and transcendence. These virtues are not unique to any one culture or religion but are universal to human beings.

Wisdom consists of strengths that help us acquire and use knowledge, such as creativity, curiosity, and love of learning. Courage includes strengths that enable us to face challenges and adversity with resilience and determination, such as bravery, perseverance, and honesty. Humanity encompasses strengths that promote social intelligence and connection, such as kindness, empathy, and compassion.

Justice consists of strengths that promote fairness and equity, such as leadership, teamwork, and social responsibility. Temperance includes strengths that help us regulate our impulses and desires, such as self-control, humility, and forgiveness. Finally, Transcendence consists of strengths that help us connect with something larger than ourselves, such as gratitude, spirituality, and appreciation of beauty.

By identifying and cultivating our character strengths, we can enhance and protect our well-being to lead more fulfilling lives. When we use our strengths, we experience a sense of flow and engagement, leading to increased happiness, productivity, and creativity!

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The Incredible Bulk

Saving money doesn’t have to send us on a price-smashing frenzy that leaves broken trolleys and disgruntled shoppers in our wake. In fact, panic buying is probably worse for our budget than doing a daily grocery run.

With the right approach, buying in bulk can be a smart way to save money on everyday items. If not done correctly, it can lead to waste and even overspending. To maximise the benefits of bulk buying and avoid potential pitfalls, you must have a solid plan. In this blog we will explore how lifestyle financial planning can help you make the most of bulk buying.

Evaluate your needs
The first step to successful bulk buying is to evaluate your needs. Identify the items you regularly use, such as toiletries, cleaning supplies, and non-perishable foods. Then determine how often you need to replace them within a set period.

Compare prices
Compare prices between bulk and non-bulk items to see if buying in bulk is really a better deal. Take note of the unit price of each item and compare it to the bulk price. Sometimes, buying in bulk may not be the most cost-effective option, especially if you don’t need a lot of a particular item or if the bulk item is perishable and may go to waste. What might be helpful is to consider buying with a friend or family member; that way, you can cash in on discounted bulk offers without anything going to waste.

Shop smart
Once you’ve identified the items you need and how much you need to buy, it’s time to shop smart. Look for discounts, coupons, and promotions that can help you save even more on your bulk purchases. Many retailers offer discounts on bulk items, so be sure to check for special deals and sales.

Store Properly
Storing your bulk purchases is crucial to avoid waste and spoilage. Store food items in a cool, dry place, away from direct sunlight. Use airtight containers to keep your food fresh and prevent contamination.

Store non-perishable items, such as toiletries and cleaning supplies in a dry, cool place to prevent deterioration. If you don’t have great cupboard storage, keep a list of what you have on the inside of the cupboard door so that you don’t forget things in the back!

Stick to Your Budget
Finally, it’s important to stick to your budget when buying in bulk. While bulk buying can save you money in the long run, overspending can defeat the purpose. Set a budget for your bulk purchases and stick to it. Avoid impulse buying and only purchase what you need and can afford.

In conclusion, buying in bulk can be a smart financial decision when done right. By evaluating your needs, calculating your consumption rate, comparing prices, shopping smart, storing properly, and sticking to your budget, you can make the most of your bulk purchases and save money in the process. Incorporating these strategies into your lifestyle financial planning can help you achieve your financial goals and improve your overall financial well-being.

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Financing a life you love

When it comes to financial planning, many believe that the ultimate goal is accumulating as much money as possible. However, this approach may only sometimes lead to a fulfilling lifestyle. Instead, it’s important to consider what kind of life you want and then create a financial plan that allows you to achieve that lifestyle.

As Chris Brogan said, “The goal isn’t more money. The goal is living life on your terms.” This means that financial planning should be about creating a life that makes you happy and fulfilled, rather than just accumulating wealth for its own sake. Together, there are a few key steps we can take to help you achieve this goal.

First, take the time to define what “living life on your terms” means to you. This could involve creating a vision board, writing out a list of goals, or simply spending some time reflecting on what brings you joy and fulfilment. In our meetings, we like to work through open-ended questions that help you recognise blind spots and remind you of goals you may have had earlier in life but have long since left behind. Once you have a clear idea of what you want your life to look like, you can create a financial plan supporting those goals.

One important aspect of financial planning is budgeting. It’s helpful to understand your income and expenses to create a budget that aligns with your goals. A budget, or spending plan, allows us to uncover opportunities to increase your income and enhance how you use it. The goal is to create a budget that will enable you to live the life you want without constantly worrying about money.

Another important area of focus for us is investing. Investing can help you grow your wealth over time, giving you increased freedom in the long run. However, investing wisely and choosing investments that align with your values and goals is crucial. This might even incorporate investing in companies that are socially responsible or that align with your personal values.

For all of us, it’s beneficial to be mindful of our spending habits. We can so easily fall into the trap of “keeping up with the Joneses” and spending money on things that don’t actually bring us happiness or fulfillment. By being mindful of spending and focusing on the things that truly matter, we can create a lifestyle financial plan that aligns with our values and allows us to live life on our terms.

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From master to servant: how to take control of your money

Money can be both a master and a servant in our lives, depending on how we choose to approach it. As P.T. Barnum once said, “Money is a terrible master but an excellent servant.” Let’s explore what this means and how we can ensure that money serves us rather than the other way around.

Money as a master can be a daunting prospect. It can feel like we are constantly at its mercy, always struggling to make ends meet and never feeling like we have enough. When money is our master, we may find ourselves paying late fees and overdraft charges, overspending, and feeling constant stress about money. It can be a never-ending cycle of worry and anxiety that leaves us feeling drained and overwhelmed.

On the other hand, when we view money as a servant or tool, we regain our control. We choose what we do with our money and how we feel about it. We are intentional about our spending and saving habits, balancing short-term enjoyment with long-term stability. We make decisions based on our values and goals rather than allowing money to dictate our choices. This can lead to a sense of peace and security around money, which can be incredibly freeing.

So how can we ensure that money serves us rather than becoming our master?

Define your values and goals: Understanding what is important to you and what you want to achieve can help you make intentional decisions about how you use your money. Take time to think about your values and how you want your life to look.

Create a budget: Whilst so many people try to avoid this, a budget can help you take control of your finances and ensure that you are living within your means. By tracking your income and expenses, you can make sure that you are spending money on the most important things to you.

Establish an emergency fund: An emergency fund provides a profound sense of security and peace of mind. This fund can help you cover unexpected expenses without going into debt or costing you your other financial goals.

It’s not a straight road ahead. There will be times when money stress creeps back in, even when we’ve put our plans in place. Life keeps us on our toes, so be kind to yourself if you find yourself slipping away from your budget, or losing sight of your deeper values. Simply knowing that you have a plan to align with, values to guide you and people around you to support and celebrate with empowers you to easily regain your focus so that your money serves you rather than the other way around.

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Inbox zero = energy zero

For years there have been copious books, blogs and articles written on healthy time and energy management, and in today’s digital environment, it’s even more essential for success. Experts suggest a shift in how we approach our daily routines, starting with our emails and social media notifications. While our email inbox or WhatsApp notifications may seem like the most urgent priority, it can often lead to “energy zero” if we are not careful.

After running a quick Google search, some of the following stats became clear:

  • On average, 28% of work time is spent on email
  • We check email on average 11 times per hour
  • 84% keep email open in the background while working

Email Apnea, a phrase coined by Linda Stone around 2014, is the temporary cessation of breath when we’re in front of a screen, especially when texting or doing email. This chronic breath-holding puts us in a state of fight or flight, affecting emotions, physiology and attention.

In the book, Manage Your Day-to-Day: Build Your Routine, Find Your Focus & Sharpen Your Creative Mind, the recurring advice across many of the 20 experts who contributed essays to the book was simple: don’t start the day by dealing with your email.

Instead, start the day by tackling the most challenging task first. This may seem impractical for some work environments, but we can apply it to any situation. For some, arriving at work early to carve out creative time could be beneficial. For others, it may require retraining themselves not to assume that the priorities of their inbox match their own goals and responsibilities.

Best-selling author and founder of The Energy Project, Tony Schwartz, suggests building energy renewal into our workday. Scott Belsky, co-founder of Behance, recommends allowing unstructured time between meetings to recharge and absorb what just happened.

By taking responsibility for our own time and energy, we can avoid letting email, social media or other reactive tasks blunt our focus. James Victore (yourworkisagift.com) writes, “We are losing the distinction between urgent and important—now everything gets heaped in the urgent pile.”

Taking charge of our priorities helps us filter distractions and plan focused time to use our energy and creativity wisely, and it can also make it easier for our family and colleagues to do the same. Before you begin your day with a race to reach inbox zero, take a breath and consider what’s most important for your day.

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The three-legged stool

“Financial security and independence are like a three-legged stool resting on savings, insurance and investments.” – Brian Tracy.

When it comes to financial planning, many people focus on investing as the key to financial security and independence. However, as Brian Tracy points out, financial security and freedom require a three-legged stool resting on savings, insurance, and investments.

Savings are a crucial component of financial security and independence. Without savings, unexpected expenses or emergencies can quickly derail your finances. It’s important to have a savings plan in place that includes an emergency fund, a retirement savings plan, and savings for other long-term goals such as buying a house or starting a business.

Insurance is another important component of financial security and independence. Without insurance, you may be left with significant expenses in the event of an accident, illness, or other unexpected event. It’s important to have insurance coverage for your health, home, car, and other assets. You may also want to consider life insurance to protect your loved ones in the event of your death.

Investments are the third leg of the stool, and they can help you build wealth over time. However, it’s important to invest wisely and to choose investments that align with your goals and values. This might involve investing in stocks, bonds, mutual funds, or other types of investments.

To achieve financial security and independence, it’s important to focus on all three components of the three-legged stool. Here are a few tips to help you get started:

Create a savings plan: Determine how much you need to save each month to achieve your long-term goals, and create a budget that allows you to save that amount. Set up automatic transfers to your savings accounts so that you don’t have to remember to do it each month.

Review your insurance coverage: Make sure you have adequate insurance coverage for your health, home, car, and other assets. Consider getting a quote from multiple insurance providers to ensure you’re getting the best coverage for the best price.

Invest wisely: Choose investments that align with your goals and values, and make sure you’re comfortable with the level of risk involved.

Working with a financial adviser can be incredibly beneficial in helping you achieve financial security and independence when working on all of the above. Together, we can create a comprehensive financial plan that considers your goals, values, and risk tolerance whilst guiding insurance and investment strategies, helping you navigate the complex world of insurance and estate planning.

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Stay motivated and committed to change

Staying motivated to change can be a challenge! It’s too easy to fall into old patterns and habits. 

It can be difficult to remain committed to change because change can be a complex process that requires effort, discipline, and perseverance. Sometimes, people need more motivation to change, and with a clear and compelling reason, it can be easier to stay committed. Negative self-talk, such as negative thoughts and self-doubt, can erode commitment and motivation.

Some of us fear failure, whilst others may simply resist change, as it requires breaking old habits and routines, which can be uncomfortable. Sticking to the plan isn’t easy, especially when faced with distractions, temptations, or other life challenges. Without support from friends, family, a coach or a support group, it can be challenging to remain committed to change.

It’s helpful to have a positive attitude if we want to persevere through these challenges. Articulating and tracking our goals is also a practical way to measure our success, continuously improve and stay motivated and committed to change.

By regularly monitoring our progress, we can identify areas where we need to make adjustments and course-correct if necessary. This helps increase the chances of achieving the goals and ensures that our efforts are always directed towards the most important tasks.

Tracking goals also provides a sense of accountability, as we are held responsible for our progress towards our goals. It encourages us to take the necessary steps to move forward and maintain momentum.

Moreover, tracking goals gives us the opportunity to celebrate achievements and recognise the progress we have made. Celebrating small milestones boosts motivation and helps keep us on track towards our larger goals. Many coaches believe tracking our goals is essential to ensure progress and staying motivated to change our lives, and make informed decisions.

When you feel the lethargy kick in, and you’re tempted to revert to unhealthy behaviours just remember that staying motivated to change requires effort and perseverance, but by focusing on progress, setting realistic goals, and creating a supportive environment, you can stay committed to the change you want to see in your life!

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Thinking, feeling and acting

Thinking, feeling, and acting are interrelated processes that shape our behaviour, and they often become so habitual in our busy lives that we are no longer mindful of them. We lose control of being intentional about the direction our lives are taking – and this often shows up in our finances.

Therefore, it is important to be aware of our thoughts and feelings and how they influence our actions, especially concerning financial behaviour.

Essentially, thinking refers to the cognitive process of processing information and making decisions. It involves analysing and evaluating information to reach conclusions and make decisions. Feeling refers to the emotional experiences and reactions triggered by events or thoughts. Our actions are shaped by our beliefs, values, and emotions, as well as our thoughts and decisions.

In many cases, our thoughts and feelings can interact in a cycle. For example, a person may have negative thoughts about their financial situation, which can trigger stress and anxiety. These feelings may lead them to act impulsively and make poor financial decisions. On the other hand, a person with a positive mindset and emotions may be more likely to make sound financial decisions. All three of these are shaped by our various intelligences.

Intelligences are the various capacities or abilities we have to process information, understand and interact with the world around us, and solve problems. There are different theories of intelligence, but one of the most widely recognised is Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences, which proposes that there are eight distinct types of intelligence.

  1. Linguistic intelligence: ability to use language effectively.
  2. Logical-mathematical intelligence: ability to solve problems and think logically.
  3. Spatial intelligence: ability to perceive and manipulate visual information.
  4. Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence: ability to control one’s body movements and handle objects skillfully.
  5. Interpersonal intelligence: ability to understand and interact effectively with others.
  6. Intrapersonal intelligence: ability to understand one’s own emotions and motivations.
  7. Musical intelligence: ability to perceive and produce musical sounds.
  8. Naturalistic intelligence: ability to understand and appreciate nature.

Each type of intelligence can impact our financial behaviour in different ways. For example, those with strong linguistic and interpersonal intelligence may be more skilled at negotiating salaries and financial deals.

Those with strong logical-mathematical intelligence may be more likely to make sound financial decisions and manage their finances effectively. On the other hand, those with strong musical intelligence may be more prone to impulsive spending on musical instruments or concerts. Understanding one’s bias in terms of intelligence can help inform and improve financial behaviour.

Not only does this help us understand how we might make, spend or save money in different ways to others in our family or business, but it can also help us see how we could arrive at solutions to problems in more creative, analytical or logical ways. This improves communication and forges stronger relationships with those around us and with our money.

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Are you ready to reduce digital distractions?

Do you often reach the end of your day and feel like, regardless of how busy you’ve been, you still don’t feel productive?

It’s all too easy to begin our day in our emails and allow all the interruptions of ‘urgent messages’ to run our entire day. These digital distractions can seriously affect our productivity. The constant notifications and easy access to social media and other websites can lead to procrastination, reduced focus, and decreased efficiency. It’s important to set boundaries and limit distractions in order to be more productive.

Asana, the project management tool, often talks about productivity on their website and in one article they share how digital distractions can be the arch-nemesis of deep work (focussed, uninterrupted work). 

According to them, distraction—especially of the digital variety—is more common than ever in today’s fast-paced work environment. At a time when 80% of knowledge workers report working with their inbox open and nearly three in four employees feel pressure to multitask every day, avoiding digital distractions can seem nearly impossible. 

However, minimising distractions is still doable with a few simple strategies: 

Turn off notifications.

Sounds, banners, and notifications flashing across your screen have a negative impact on focus and can quickly jolt you out of deep work. When you’re trying to focus, use Do Not Disturb mode or snooze notifications for your phone and any communication apps you use. Or to really disconnect, close your email and messaging apps completely. Remember that you can always check notifications during your next focus break.

Make depth your default.

Instead of living in a distracted state and wrangling your brain into focus mode to complete tasks, schedule focus breaks—times when you allow yourself to take a break and give in completely to distractions. You can use this strategy during your workday or in your personal life. For example, you could schedule a focus break after work when you’re allowed to browse the internet and scroll through social media—then turn your undivided attention to cooking dinner, watching a movie, or talking with loved ones.  

Choose your tools wisely.

According to Asana’s research, the average knowledge worker switches between 10 apps 25 times per day to do their work—and employees who switch between apps are also more likely to struggle with effectively prioritising their work. But just because a tool exists doesn’t mean you have to use it.

Lighten your tech stack as much as possible!

And, let’s not forget that one of the reasons all these interruptions exist is because of FOMO. We need to decide if we will let the fear of missing out run our day and leach our productivity, or if we will be ready to reduce digital distractions.

Digital distractions drain our creativity, our energy and our focus and the key to being more productive lies in managing them more wisely.

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Five tips for investing this year

People have a wide range of feelings and perspectives regarding investing. Some view investing as a way to grow wealth and secure a financial future, while others may view it as too risky or complex.

Some of us are confident in our investment knowledge and feel comfortable making decisions independently, while others prefer to seek guidance from financial advisors or investment professionals.

Still, others may feel nervous about the stock market and prefer to put their money in lower-risk investments such as bonds or savings accounts.

Ultimately, our feelings about investing will be influenced by our individual financial goals, risk tolerance, experience, and knowledge. Understanding our attitudes and feelings towards investing is important to make investment decisions that align with our personal financial planning values and goals.

For the next 12 months, here are some great tips to keep you focused and motivated in your investment strategy.

First off – start early! The earlier you start investing, the more time your money has to grow. The “Power of Compounding Interest” drives your investment over time, creating wealth out of your money. It’s why every financial guru recommends starting as soon as you can, even if it’s a small amount. And, apart from the value of compounding over time, it helps us develop healthy saving habits early on.

Second – diversify. Spread your investments across different asset classes and geographies to reduce risk. The proper diversification strategy is a vital step in the investment journey, needed to ensure a balance of growth and stability of the portfolio. In a nutshell, it’s about avoiding putting all our eggs in one basket.

Third – monitor and review: Regularly reviewing investments ensures they are aligned with our goals and enables us to make changes where necessary. It helps us choose and stick with investing approaches that are most suitable for our investment needs.

Fourth – stay disciplined: Stick to your investment strategy and avoid making impulsive decisions based on short-term market fluctuations. This has been one of the most valuable tips in our recent times of market volatility. Fear of missing out or losing everything can cause us to switch too early or too frequently, which erodes our wealth over time.

Fifth – create a budget. Whilst this is normally the first thing anyone does when trying to bring order and structure to their finances, it’s the first thing that we let go of when money gets tight or we start investing on a larger scale. Few people like sticking to budgets, but it remains at the heart of a healthy financial plan. 

Whether you’re starting out on your investment journey, jump starting an investment strategy or simply struggling to stay the course, these tips should hold you in good stead. Otherwise, just reach out and let’s chat!

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