Last month we introduced the
first Navigator step - “letting go” to clear space for thought and to engineer
a blank sheet of paper on which to build the plan that will achieve our
profound life goals. The second
Navigator step is, unsurprisingly, to explore and discover ourselves.The deeper we can make this self-exploration the better will be the resulting life and financial plan; explore your values, attitudes to money, meaningful purpose, and vision of the future. Consider a personal mission statement. Set goals and financial objectives. Consider the big questions and obstacles in your life. Assess your core strengths.
Discuss these questions with others. It is often in conversation that the real answers to many of these questions emerge. Sometimes we simply forget those old dreams – but they are still there. We forget what we have achieved in the past and we forget the experiences that tell us much about ourselves. Conversation can rekindle these memories.
In conversation we can be challenged to reassess goals because they are seen by others to be over-ambitious – or not ambitious enough and not reflective our true potential for changing the world.
Record your thoughts and conversations. Acquire a good quality notebook; call it The Book of My Life. Keep it with you always. The most profound and deepest insights often come when they are least expected, triggered by the words or actions of others – or simply as you emerge from sleep in the morning. If it pushes buttons for you, have your notebook there, write it down, and incorporate it into your own personal voyage of discovery.
At this point you should also start to develop personal financial statements; list out your assets, liabilities, income and expenditure – and calculate that all-important cash flow.
With clear ideas about what impact you want to have on the world you can start to design a financial architecture to support that vision for you. Begin by identifying what you can control in your life and what you cannot – and assess the implications. We will look at this next month.
At Planning for Life we have published a book of exercises to help you with your self-exploration. Please get in touch by phone (01439 770 105) or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for a free copy.
