Begin with what’s Important

5 Principles to Restore Order and keep you well!

Number Two – Begin with what’s Important

In Steven Covey’s book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, he says it this way, “Begin with the end in mind.” What do you want to accomplish and even more important, why?

The ability to envision in your mind what you cannot at present see with your eyes. It is based on the principle that all things are created twice. There is a mental (first) creation and a physical (second) creation. The physical creation follows the mental, just as a building follows a blueprint.

If you planning to retire, what do you want to do and why? Why is your income goal important? Why do you want to reduce risk? Why do you want to set up an estate plan? Is it about your family, your passions, your dreams? Those are the first things to think about.

The financial industry often gets it wrong, they talk about solutions first – this financial plan, this mutual fund, this company… Those things are necessary, but not nearly as important.

Imagine you are planning a vacation. Do you start with hotels and airfares, or do you start with where you want to go, what you want to do, who you want to take, and when you want to go? You start thinking of the end, right? Then you make your plan, and you don’t have to do it alone.

Two of the Bertrams, Becky, and Kim took a trip around the world! They spent 3 months and went to 15 countries. It was incredible. They saw a lot of their dreams become a reality.

Now, you might be asking yourself how a trip like this came to be. And it all started with a dream. My sister, Kim, saw a picture of one of her friends riding an elephant through the jungles of Cambodia and she dreamed about doing it also. So she told my other sister, Becky, and Becky wanted to experience that trip with her but they just didn’t stop there. They had other dreams too. They wanted to see the world. So together, they talked about everywhere they wanted to go.

Kim was excited, she was going to go but planning stresses her out, she gets overwhelmed and when she gets overwhelmed she freezes and doesn’t do anything. Thankfully, Kim had a Becky.

Becky is a planner. She is organized and she planned the entire trip. From where they were staying, what they were going to do and see, and how much money they would need to go. If it wasn’t for Becky they would have never been able to go on the trip.

Without Becky, Kim would’ve never experienced a trip of a lifetime. Stay tuned, next week we will talk about how to find your Becky!