Do you know why you do what you do every day? Why you sell a piece of your life nearly every day of the year and likely will for decades to come AND why you spend the fruits of you labor the way you do?

What are you actually working for or towards? We tell ourselves we are working for our future for our family or some other grand and noble thing, but have you ever taken inventory to see if your actions actually are helping you realize your “Why” in life? Is what you’re doing actually putting you on a trajectory to realize what you want?

If right now, your doctor gave you 24 hours to live and you just had time to ponder your life...would you be happy with how you spent it?

If you had 10 more years to live would you stay on your same path or change it radically?

If you would change it, then why not do it now? Why not commit to whatever it is you really want to do, have, and be? Look at how radically and quickly the Covid lockdown changed nearly every aspect of many people’s lives. Change can come at us externally in profound and brutal ways and we have the ability to cope and adapt. Just look at the millions of refugees around the world who have had to pick up and leave their home...forever. Many Americans have a story of some ancestor who came here with nothing to leave some turmoil, unrest or disaster.

We often forget that we can make those changes in our own lives.

Remember, I’m asking you this as someone who had to get knocked to the ground and lose nearly everything to see that I had lost my way. And I want to emphasize this is not about being “done” having a certain amount of money or things, about retirement, or what you do for a living your...how (I’ll talk about that in a future episode) it’s about whether the actions you are taking helping you fulfill whatever you see as your purpose in life. It’s about, as Mr. Nightingale said, the progressive realization, the pursuit of happiness...the Journey!

When the dust settled from the losses I faced in my divorce and the death of my parents I set out to restructure and rebuild virtually every aspect of my life to bring the outcomes I wanted for my Why. I got things out of my personal life that kept from having the time I wanted to spend with my son. I got rid of more and more expenses and responsibilities that absorbed my time and money that kept me from building my financial freedom. I put time and energy into my business to I could earn what I needed to be free. I kept my expenses low so I could pay down debt and build assets.

Now, unlike what we went through with Covid, I’ve done this over a decade of my life. It has required lots of work including therapy, coaching, journaling. Podering, talking to others to get advice, and trying and failing at different things as I go along.

My why wasn’t to quit working. My why was to build a life centered around growth, freedom, time for my family, and to channel my energy into helping others. I had all of that while I was still working in my business. If I hadn’t been able to step away from it, I’d feel in my heart that I was living in alignment with my goals. When I knew clearly what I wanted, I gained focus, discipline and energy I needed to really go after my dreams!

If you don’t know your why, I’d recommend making that your purpose. If you don’t know why you’re here or how you want to spend your life then that should be your dominant focus. Nothing will have a greater impact in your life or in the lives of those around you.

Start journaling every day. Let your mind and imagination wonder as if there were no limits. Dive into therapy, meditation. Find a coach. Find people who have similar dreams!

Learn more at carloblog.com

Thank you and enjoy your Journey.

Episode 57: Thoughts on Financial Planning

It's the JourneyBy Carlo Pietro SanfilippoJul 12, 2022