|
Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible – the foundation for all success in life. You can chisel out your own existence by the thoughts you consistently project – very much like Michelangelo saw the David he wanted to create when everyone else, seeing Michelangelo sit down to work at it, saw nothing but a slab of marble.
Will you create your own masterpiece, or interpret life through the paintings and sculptures of others? What size of frame or container will you require at the end of your life to collect therein all of your life experiences – a thimble or a thousand gallon tank?
You have already answered these questions by the personal goals you persistently seek in different areas of your life – be they related to your physical, emotional, spiritual or financial needs and objectives.
I have no way of knowing whether you are reading this in your clinic, or in the comfort of your home; whether you are surrounded by fine art or if you have just installed a latest-technology flat screen TV. Wherever you are, there is a massive likelihood that a computer and/or a mobile phone are close by. Each of these objects were once just an idea in someone’s mind. Someone had to create them – and for that to happen, someone had to envision them with clarity.
So a goal must first be visualised and then written down. However, even that on its own does not make anything happen. The next immediate step must be the development of your personal plan, and consistent action towards its achievement – by a specific deadline. A goal has been defined as a dream with a deadline; without the deadline, the goal remains just a dream.
The goal setting process is analogous to how our eyesight works: the closer we get to our destination, the greater clarity we gain – both on the goal itself, and on the details of everything around it. Our intention here is for you, the reader, to make a decision by the end of this article.
A decision about where you and your family, or whoever matters most in your life will be in 5, 10 or more years from now, or at any time thereafter. This requires that you make the time – because you will never find it – to stop, think, plan and decide on who you can work with on – or delegate to – the charting of your Personal Financial Road Map, inserting the deadlines to reach specific signposts along the way. But block off a space in your diary NOW. The “right time” will never come! One quote from a tremendous speaker at a Million Dollar Round Table meeting I attended about 20 years ago has stuck in my mind: “The past is a cancelled cheque. The future is a promissory note and all we have is the present – which is cash on hand”.
At Financial Planning, we see ourselves as your Financial Strategic Coach. We realise that you are a unique individual; the one size fits all philosophy is anathema to us. As I write, there is no way that Matthew, Elaine or I can know whether you are single, married, separated, divorced, living together or a widow or widower. Whether you have children. We cannot know whether your financial priorities relate to retirement, or if you would rather ease into semi-retirement – both to keep yourself less stressfully active, and simultaneously not sacrifice the income your lifestyle requires, or whether tax on inherited property is currently your prime concern.
Allow us to clarify further the concept of a Financial Strategic Coach. A client recently asked: “How is all this product advertising on TV, and all the information available on money channels, like CNBC and Bloomberg – not to mention a universe of information on the internet – affecting you?” Our reply: “Jimmy, information is not knowledge, knowledge is not experience, and experience alone is not insight or applied acumen. When is the last time you browsed the internet to perform a heart by-pass on yourself? Would you go to a website to perform a cataract operation?”
We believe it is presumptuous that manufacturers of financial products insist on peddling a panacea which, they claim, provides the cure to your financial ills. But then, it is not illegal to spend massive amounts of money in prime time TV adverts, that loudly yell the sizzle – but hurriedly only whisper the warning – about the risks involved. That is selling a commodity. It is certainly not giving financial advice. When dealing in commodities, the only factor is price. In peddling commodities, the biggest operators will slash prices until they have squeezed their margins to make their competition extinct. And then?
At Financial Planning we have refused to become commoditised. We were one of the very first to be licensed by the MFSA, which was set up just 10 years ago, 27 years after the origins of our company. We have by choice – and certainly not through lack of opportunity – made a conscious decision. We decided to maintain our total independence from all financial institutions, fund management organisations, which exist by the tens of thousands, (though local banks and other product pushers would not tell you) and the hundreds of life assurance companies.
We use the commodities created by product manufacturers very much like the heart surgeon, the cardiologist or the opthalmologist who, with the hands-on experience gained over decades of professional practice, and the wisdom acquired by staying at the cutting edge of developments in their speciality, become the creative geniuses who treat and heal your illnesses, save your eyesight, and give you back your life.
When we sit together around the table, we first listen to you – not just with our ears, but with our hearts and minds. Then, we bring to the table the intellectual capital we have accumulated in our field, to help you create your Personal Financial Road Map.
We counter commoditisation with creativity. The choice is yours. So is the decision.
Article provided by Joe G.P. Bonello of Financial Planning Services Ltd
|
