Bigger Picture

The Great Reset

A couple of weeks ago in my newsletter for financial advisors I wrote about our current situation being “The Great Reset”—I know I’m not the first person to use this phrase, although I don’t remember seeing it anywhere before it hit me. In the newsletter I explained how this slow down in life, despite the inconvenience and frustration it might have caused, has given us the opportunity to revisit what is most important in our lives.

We will come out of this with a unique opportunity…an opportunity to reset the way we have been living and bring more purpose to our lives.

Resetting

Three months of sheltering at home have forced us all to give up parts of our lives that we once thought were important, but maybe now are realizing aren’t really THAT important. There are also parts of our lives that we were forced to give up that really were as important as we thought they were. For me, feeling as if I have to always be in the office to be productive and do my best work for my clients has been debunked—I’ve managed to work from home, with less uninterrupted time, while helping the boys with e-learning in fewer hours than pre-COVID. I lived Parkinson’s Law—work will expand to the amount of time allotted to it.

Coming out of this I will head back to the office most days, but it’ll be on a shortened schedule…a new daily routine has been born to allow me to increase my attention to my health (more sleep, meditation, morning cardio, and meal prepping), keep the morning school routine that I love, and not be in a mad dash to the office. I’ll also be heading home earlier to knock out a second workout (weights), spend the evening uninterrupted with Ang and the boys, and then end the evening with tying up the loose ends from the workday. This new schedule will allow me to be healthier, more present, happier, and more energized without sacrificing the planning and service my clients deserve.

This routine represents my mission more than my old ways of doing things.

Weekly haircuts, now that’s something I will be bringing back—it really is THAT important. I’ve managed to cut my own hair without looking foolish, but I love the weekly conversations at the barbershop and the 30 minutes of sitting in that chair with NOTHING to do. This is something from pre-COVID that will be a part of my reset.

Take Inventory

How many times have you said “I wish I didn’t have to…” or “I wish I could…”? You probably had every intention on making a change but then life got in the way…well, life has gotten out of the way and now you can make that change, if it’s that important.

Take 30 minutes, grab a pen and paper, and reflect back on what you were doing, who you were surrounded by, and how you were spending your money before you were confined to your house. One by one decide whether or not you want to carry them forward—if it’s a “no” strike it out. Don’t erase it. Allow you to see what was once there so you can appreciate the new life you are allowing yourself to have.

Visuals of my list:

Your Financial Plan

There is a good chance through this process of reprioritizing your life you will realize parts of your financial plan do not align with your new life. Maybe working from home has greatly increased the happiness in your life—you must not have kids in school 🙂 (just kidding)—and the extra time you now find in your life without your daily commute is something you want to allocate to more important areas of your life. But, your employer is itching to bring everyone back to the office ASAP.

You now have an opportunity to make a change, a change that is in alignment with the life that you want to live.

Do you go back to the grind or make a change—find a new WFH employer or maybe start your own business? If you aim for change, then your financial plan will certainly need to be adjusted. I am so excited about the conversations I will have with clients coming out of COVID-19. I’ve written about George Kinder’s life planning and my interest in helping clients build financial plans that are aligned with their values. “The Great Reset” is allowing me to reset the focus of RLS to make this the foundation of our planning.

I’m not only resetting my personal life, but RLS Wealth is getting a reset. A new logo. A new website. A new financial advisor. A new focus…bringing PURPOSE to our clients’ plans. While I’m excited about the facelift for RLS, I’m stoked to learn about the changes clients want, or don’t, want to see in their lives and helping them to refocus their plans to help them live their lives the way they want to.

The Great Reset

Most will squander this opportunity—they’ll go right back to the life they were living before finding themselves saying “I wish…”.

But, some will not let this go to waste.

They will realign their lives with the people, activities, and things that are most important to them leaving behind anything and anyone who does not feed into their mission or purpose.

And I’m am so excited for them!

Disclaimer: Nothing on this blog should be considered advice, or recommendations. If you have questions pertaining to your individual situation you should consult your financial advisor. For all of the disclaimers, please see my disclaimers page.