Making wise decisions is always easier looking in the rear view mirror. After the fact we can see whether or not the decision bore fresh fruit or something more like sour grapes. But how do we make consistently wise decisions in advance? Generally speaking, by making decisions with forethought (not out of emotion) and that support our values. By making decisions that align with what is important to us, we are more apt to be happy and content with our decisions. Said another way, we advocate using your money to support your lives, rather than using your lives strictly in pursuit of money.

In this context, values are the relative worth, merit, or usefulness of something to somebody. It’s how much something matters to us. The Lennick Aberman Group has developed an “alignment model” that helps make your actions consistent with your goals and values. http://www.lennickaberman.com/the_group/alignment_model.php. You are “living in alignment” when your behavior is consistent with your life goals and your life goals are consistent with what you value most for your life.

First, you have to understand what it is that you most value. Please visit http://www.modern360.com/LAtools/LAValues/demo/mgr_select_values.asp and take a quick quiz to clarify what is most important to you. Once you take the quiz, please email the results to us and we’ll add the information to your file. This will help us help you.

Goals spring from your most important values. What do you want your life to look like? What is your life purpose? By considering your talents and passions, you are off to a good start. What are you doing when time flies by? Financial goals are most satisfying when they are in support of your life purpose. Take time to write out your shorter and longer term goals. Written goals are much more meaningful and have a much better probability of coming to fruition than goals that are kept bottled up in your brain or even just shared with a friend. Write them down and review them regularly.

Actions speak louder than words. You can talk a good game, but are you walking the walk? Is your behavior consistent with your expressed goals? Financial behavior that is in alignment with your values and goals is imperative to financial success, with success being defined as “achievement of something planned or attempted.” Be aware of thoughts and emotions that work against your goals and values. Acting out of emotions is often regretted and shown to be inconsistent with what you are trying to achieve. Think impulse buying or selling a stock simply because the market went down. We’ll have more to say on controlling negative emotions in a future blog.

Have a blessed weekend,