Take heart! That's an important message for all of us. February is American Heart Month. What a great month to revisit the meaning of the phrase, "Take heart." It means "Find Courage."
I love speaking about how to engage your money personality for mental wealth and prosperity. When you uncover your core drivers, you can steer them to achieve lasting healthy habits with finances and other important decisions. It gets your choices naturally aligned with the heart of your values. And when aligned, your results come more easily and are lasting (instead of fleeting). In other words, "keep it ticking for good."
I'll always remember a poster that hung above my desk when I was in my twenties. Maybe it was the big, lazy, relaxing gorilla that made it stick in my head. But I think it was the sheer truth of the poster's posed question that really did it. It read:
"Just when I knew all the answers, they changed all the questions!"
Leave it to a 20-something to even think for a moment they "knew all the answers." But beyond that, the truth seemed like it would be true forever. And thus far, it has been.
I'd modify the gorilla's wisdom a bit today. "Just when I knew a few answers, they changed all the questions!" The point is, we can never stop adapting to change.
This is true in your money life and in your deep money mindsets that direct important decisions for your life. At the heart of your money personality is the meanings you've assigned to money and its relationship to you.
As you continue maturing, take a peek inside your historic style drivers. Be a little bit brave and a lot honest. Do you have past memories or experiences that have misguided you? Perhaps you misinterpreted the meanings in some of your life experience.
A common one is in the assignment of personal worth to your net worth. Do you feel more valuable when you're making more money? Do you feel less valuable when you're making less money? Stand back and decide it's time to keep these two things separate.
Your human value has nothing to do with money. Yes, money can open opportunities and reduce certain financial stress. But your self worth comes from within. Keep it ticking for good.
Know your human assets and embrace them. These are your:
- natural talents,
- important relationships,
- health and energy,
- values and integrity
Your human assets should guide what you do with your financial assets. When the two are in alignment, you'll be better able to overcome obstacles, achieve goals, and enjoy life. Keep boldly changing the questions. You'll find more of your heart that way. It'll keep you from being like the lazy gorilla. Because your energy will be fresh and fit the true you.
One of the definitions of heart is courage. It takes courage to continually pursue what's in your heart. The rewards are lasting and joyful and well worth the effort. In fact, it's an enjoyable adventure! When you keep it ticking for good, it expands beyond your own life and brings lasting treasures into the lives of others as well. Keep it ticking. For Good!