Busyness delusion
Do you have a philosophy of life? And if so, do you know where money and finances fit in with it?
“Living a meaningful life”, to me, means being able to do the things that are important to me.
Money helps with this. There are dozens of examples, but an easy one, for me, is family holidays and family bike rides.
My friend, Chris Gardener, is a Business Consultant and Coach and wrote a book called The Busyness Delusion. It is all about how being busy does not equal success and doing more does not always lead to greater results; and indeed, without forethought can potentially take us further away from fulfilment.
What struck me upon reading this book is how, when prioritising your life and what’s important to you it’s hard to think clearly if your ‘financial house’ is not stable.
You may not feel that money is all that important to you, however, having your finances in order can remove a lot of stress.
Interestingly, St. James's Place Financial Health research*, conducted annually among adults across the UK, shows how the impact of the increases to the general cost of living extends well beyond straining household finances. Across the nation, 47% have found their mental health has been affected as a result. Having financial clarity can also provide the foundation for confidence in lots of other areas and activities.
Now this doesn’t mean putting off ever having any fun until you’ve paid off your mortgage and have savings and investments overflowing. What it means is: taking inventory, putting a plan in place, and keeping it under review.
This isn’t rocket science and we probably all know this but sometimes it can help to remind ourselves. We are living busier and busier lives and often life can get in the way of staying in control of our finances. That is why I try to take some of the burden away from my clients by providing a clear financial plan.
Financial stability is the bedrock on which we build our lives.
That’s a snippet from my own personal philosophy of life. What’s yours?
Please feel free to reply and let me know by sending me an email or contacting me here.
* Research conducted for St. James's Place by Opinium, among 6,000 UK adults between 16th - 25th October 2023. Quotas and post-weighting were applied to the sample to make the dataset representative of the UK adult population.
Although the content of the article was correct at the time of writing, the accuracy of the information should not be relied upon, as it may have been subject to subsequent tax, legislative or event changes.
