Do the People Who Know You Best Love You Most?
Now there's a million-dollar question.
It’s a million-dollar question because if you can genuinely answer “yes”, you won’t sell your position for a million dollars. It’s a million-dollar question because it causes us to think genuinely and deeply about something that is meaningful and valuable to us.
The further into the second half of life I get, the more I think about finishing well. I want to finish well; I want to be successful. But how will I know if I finish well or achieve success? We have the freedom to determine how we define success and work towards it. If we don’t define what it looks like to finish well or be successful, we will not know what steps to take to move in the right direction and/or when we are getting close to our destination. I have studied this topic a great deal and think that if you don’t yet have your own definition of success, a great starting point would be to use the opening question as a launch point. I expect most of us would add some other elements to the definition as well.
An irony of life is we do not know when it will end. Yet we typically live as though it won’t. Don’t assume you have a lot of time to work on the items required to finish well.
We talk to our clients about Return on Life (ROL). As investment advisors, we help our clients achieve a solid Return on their Investment (ROI). The challenge is - interest rates, inflation, the economy, geopolitical factors and markets are all outside our control. As a result, ROI is not something we can control. On the other hand, ROL is something we can have a very strong influence on. We define Return on Life as having the best possible life we can, given our situation. Loving and being loved by those closest to us is a massive ROL. Finishing well is a massive ROL. Making the most of today, regardless of my circumstances, gives me solid gains (ROL).
Another question to help you know what it takes to finish well is “What are my 5 must haves?” If I can only realize five things in life, what are they? From our experience discussing this topic with clients, money and financial resources often don’t make the top 5. Typically, clients prioritize things like the love of a spouse & children, health, meaningful work, etc.
In summary, if we are going to finish well, we need to know what that will look like. Some questions to help paint this picture are:
- Do the people who know me best love me most?
- What are my 5 must haves?
- What one action step do I need to take to move closer to the answers I want?
An irony of life is we do not know when it will end. Yet we typically live as though it won’t. Don’t assume you have a lot of time to work on the items required to finish well. Live to have the best possible life you can today and position yourself so that if you finish today, you will finish well!