In full disclosure, I am finding it very difficult to narrow down one of the many thoughts swirling around in my head right now.

It has become very clear that some things are just not okay in our society.  Some of the events we have witnessed over the past handful of weeks and months have uncovered some unpleasant truths that can not be unseen.  If you don’t agree with that statement, we will just have to agree to disagree.  One thing we know for sure - as a country, we have some work ahead of us.

The power that we have as humans is in our choice to choose a response.  One of my favorite quotes of all time is courtesy of Viktor Frankl:

“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”

If you have not read any of Frankl’s work, then now would be an excellent time to check it out.  I know this has been a rough year for many of us.  But I would like to issue a challenge:

What if 2020 isn’t the ‘worst year ever’?  Maybe 2020 is the year that finally forces us out of our comfort zones to take some action.  That may mean different things for all of us - whether committing time to listening, learning, or giving our time in other ways.  Ask yourself - what role do I want to play in my response now - to my friends, family, or co-workers?

I know what it means for me - to take a stand as an individual, and also a voice for this company, that we stand for equal rights for all.  Our team all come from different backgrounds - but all share one core value:  To do what is right…always…no excuses.  As a company, we will settle for nothing less.  This will carry over in the advice we deliver and our interaction with the communities we serve as a whole.  

I believe many of us have had a choice to make in the past few months; to stand idle (or worse, retreat) or step up to the challenge and do everything we can to serve those around us, including; clients, family, friends and communities.  I am extremely proud of reflecting on the way those around me have chosen to accept the challenge with enthusiasm.

Another favorite quote of mine is courtesy of Yvon Chouinard:  “The cure for depression is action.”

Stand by and feel frustrated or depressed, or take action.

This isn’t directly related to financial planning quite yet, but I’m getting there.  

We all have some goals we want to achieve, and a majority of those we end up discussing in our office happen to involve some financial aspect - not all goals, but many.

As I have mentioned before - whether you like it or not - we all participate in a currency system.   If we want to be a member of modern society, then we will all participate in some sort of exchange for value.  The exchange for the vast majority of us is money.  We are all going to deal with it, and we have the choice whether to choose to have a positive relationship with money, or negative (or somewhere on that spectrum).  

As with most necessities of life (food, exercise, relationships, sunlight, water) - I personally make the choice to have a positive relationship with those necessities first, before moving on to other things (car, toys, etc).  I suspect most people want the same.  We all have to eat - so why not choose to embrace this and enjoy our food.  Perhaps we learn how to cook for ourself and others and pay some attention in how to truly nourish ourselves with nutrient dense food that tastes delicious (it does exist).  The same goes for money - it is a necessity in some fashion for a vast majority of people that will read this.  So, let’s make the choice today to have a positive relationship with our money.

I often ask business owners that I coach whether they run their business or if their business runs them.  I have certainly been guilty of the latter in the past.  I have found the same holds true for money.  We run into so many people in our public workshop programs that won’t possibly spend all of their money in their lifetime.  To that point, most people have reached an optimal set point of spending that brings them true happiness, and most realize that more money isn’t going to push the needle any further.  However, they are in the grips of worry about the Monday morning headlines involving the latest drama in the news.

Now would be a good time to make peace with our money and remind us again what it can do for us, and also what it cannot do for us.  We are all only here in this life for a finite period of time (as I write this in 2020).  Do we really want to choose to carry around the burden of worrying about money constantly?  After all, we can’t take it with us.

So the challenge I issue to you:  Stand up for the things that mean something to you - whether that is equality, the environment, or just passing along your values to your children and grandchildren.  Make peace with your money and focus your energy on those things that mean the most.