Good morning & happy Monday!
You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.
C.S. Lewis, author
Today is the 101st day of 2022. Amazing how time flies by.
Whenever a new president is sworn into office the media makes a big deal about the 1st 100-days as they often times set the tone for the entire presidency. Since we are at the roughly 100-day point for this year I thought I pause and spend a few moments discussing something that we all want, but most of us have probably not defined … success.
Success. Who defines it? What is it? How is it achieved?
Last month my precious 91-year-old grandmother, Irene Hodges, went to be with the Lord. She was a pillar of our family and lived what I consider to be a very successful life. As a person of tremendous faith, I know she would tell you that the biggest “success” in her life is her devotion to the Lord. Her obituary lists 2 children, 8 grandchildren, 17 great grandchildren & 1 great, great grandchild. Wow! Now that’s a legacy.
Whenever we lose a loved one it gives us an opportunity to not just look back on the life of the loved one who has passed away, but also to reflect on our own lives and the story we are writing. Are we proud of the legacy we are building? Are we living our lives in a manner we would consider to be successful?
Success. There are probably about as many definitions of that word as there are people in the world. Since we all desire to be successful, it is important for us to determine what success means in each of our own lives.
My business coach recently posed the question to me “how do you define success in your life?” I have been pondering that question for weeks and I am still wrestling a bit with the answer.
The more I evaluate my life, my values, my mission the more I conclude that no one else can define success for me. Success for me might look very different than success for you … and that is totally ok. God has wired each of us with unique skills, goals, desires, and dreams. Although I am far for having life figured out, I do know that in order for me to live life to the fullest I must be living out my most genuine self … not the agenda that anyone else sets for me.
In February I had a chance to meet John Maxwell at a conference where he was the keynote speaker. He has written 83 books on leadership and success is a reoccurring theme in his writings. His book “Failing Forward” was a very influential book in my teenage years (yes, I was reading self-help books as a teenager 😊). The premise of that book is that in order to succeed we will most certainly have failures along the way, the key is to make sure that when we fail that we fail ‘forward’ … learning from our mistakes so we can move forward towards success.
What about investing … what does success in investing look like?
Is it beating a benchmark? Achieving a certain rate of return? Having my investments outpace inflation? They are good objectives, but in and of themselves, they are not success. I would submit to you that the only true measure of investment success is if your investments meet your financial objectives.
Every penny of money I manage for you is there to serve you and your goals / objectives. Money is not the end-all, be-all goal… it is simply a tool. The more financially ‘successful’ you are the more freedom you have to purse objectives you are passionate about, the more you can craft your life on your terms.
Money = freedom
Freedom = opportunity to pursue success in your life
Our objective at Intentional Wealth is to manage your financial resources so you can have the freedom to purse success as you define it. As you are writing your story I encourage you to evaluate what true success looks like in your life … and then purse that with all of your heart.
I am beyond grateful for the opportunity to be a part of your journey.
Make it a great week ahead! 😊