But as 2007-2008 has reminded us, not all change is systemic. Discontinuous change, the true points of upheaval, remind us of two immutable rules:
First, change is disruptive.
Second, the disruption in one area of our lives can and will impact many other areas.
Personal Sustainability as a conceptual framework was derived through the vision and hard work of a colleague of mine, Mr. Mike Haubrich,CFP® from Wisconsin. Quickly, it became a framework that we've applied to our financial life planning initiative.
Here are some concepts that you're likely to hear us recount in our plans, in our work together and in the lives of the people at Barry Capital:
Family and Friendships
Foster the relationships that you cherish in your life and strive to find and connect with more with whom you can build lasting relationships. Cultivating these types of people in our lives give us a "center" and a sense of timelessness.
Lifelong Learning
The more we know, the more we grow! Whether it's formal education, an adult course or reading and traveling, expands our horizons and adds an important historical bias to our view of the world. Understanding that somehow survival is built into the system, helps us appreciate the changes we go through and the anxieties that they breed. Having a true sense of the context in which life takes place helps us to make sense out of a seemingly senseless set of events.
Career
Seldom do we consistently strive to do our best. That's because we tend to stop training for our work, sharpening our skills and pressing on with doing the things that we need to do to bring ever increasing levels of value to our work, to our employers and to the people that we serve. Striving to be the best is taxing. Striving to do your best isn't. And we need to remind ourselves that "our best" is different, day-to-day and hour to hour. Keep your resume up to snuff, make setting yourself apart by the quality of your work the rule rather than the exception.
Finances
Discontinuous change causes stress in our finances because we have no plans for our money and no benchmarks against which to measure our progress. And, without a plan and without measurable benchmarks of progress, change's disruption leaves us tied to nothing, so weighing the implications of that change can't be done and we feel helpless and lost, as if we're always starting over. Work with someone that you trust to develop your goals and your benchmarks. Reconcile in your mind that "having more" doesn't necessarily connote success or progress. Learn also that your life is the center of who you are, that by working on your life and emerging the existence as you see it perfectly for you is the essence of the journey to financial success.