May is a time of renewal and growth—a fresh start.
It always holds a special place in my heart. It’s now that I’m reminded of my grandparents with whom I was lucky to spend much of my childhood. They immigrated to this country during the 1950’s from a small farming village in Messina, Sicily. First my grandfather and then my grandmother with my mom, aunt and uncle, traveling half way across the world in the belly of a luxury cruise ship to New York City. They were farmers, cultivating the land, growing organic food for our family and beautiful flowers that they wholesaled in Boston’s North End. Why did they make this journey, leaving their homeland, family and friends like so many others did during that time in history? They had a plan for a better life; the pursuit of health, wealth and happiness.
Many decades later, generations of individuals are still pursuing that very same dream except the bar has gotten much higher in our fast-paced technology-driven world. Fortunately, growing health, wealth and happiness comes down to the same basic idea no matter what point you are in time or what point you are in your life—just starting a family or just settling into retirement. You start with a plan, set it into action and watch it grow.
As personal financial advisors, we call this “Living Your Life on Purpose”.
Literally, take the time to sit down and map out what is most important to you. You owe that to yourself. Starting with the end game in mind, ask yourself what does your journey look like?
- What is your motivation for getting up in the morning?
- Who do you want to spend time with?
- What gets you excited?
- What makes you happy?
A personal financial plan.
Whether you do it on your own or hire a professional –should be driven by your personal goals. Having a solid financial plan in place allows you to focus on health and happiness and the other things that are most important in your life. It creates a space to control the things that you can and to not sweat the things that you can’t.
Growing health and happiness starts with the person or people that surround you.
Researchers at Harvard conducted a seventy-five year study on a group of men representing all socio-economic groups and found that there is no quick fix to happiness. Shocking! Their conclusion was that money or fame doesn’t create health and happiness. Instead, what matters is tending to relationships with family, friends and community.
Grow your own health and happiness today by fostering the relationships you have.
Think about having playmates – replace screen time with people time, pick up the phone instead of having mega text-a-thons, take long walks with people important to you, have date nights with your spouse/mate, go out on a limb and reach out to someone you haven’t spoken to in years. Being vulnerable is difficult but it’s what makes us human, makes us feel alive and linked to one another. Think about how your actions today will affect your life going forward.
Attaining health, wealth and happiness is possible.
Take care of yourself, take the time to grow quality relationships with others, do the things that you want to do, live on purpose because we only have one life to live.
I think my grandparents had the right idea. Unfortunately they are not alive for me to ask the questions that I would like to ask them today. They did tell me that they accomplished what they set out to accomplish. They chose a different life for themselves — farming and flower growing—surrounded by nature and the people they loved the most and left a legacy filled with love that lives on today even though they are gone.
I will leave you with one of my grandfather’s favorite quotes—“Nothing is impossible !” That includes financial security and peace of mind.