No, no, no – really how’s life? We’re not saying this just as a polite greeting, but instead are asking this as many people have become a bit more reflective after the pandemic, as we’ve all seen how our lives can be totally upended by something completely from left field. Unfortunately, a small number of our clients were (and one or two continue to be) quite sick from covid and we know people who also suffered bereavement because of the wretched virus. These people have unsurprisingly been reflecting on their new circumstances.
The more fortunate among us may simply be looking forward to our next outing to a pub or restaurant not requiring a booking and socialising almost as we used to! And imagine masks becoming a thing of the past in many settings… But as we enjoy these rediscovered freedoms, now is a really good time to take stock of what’s important in life today and identify new directions in our future plans.
Taking stock is always a good exercise. It’s too easy to get caught up on the treadmill of life in general and in your career, rushing from task to task and always looking to move forwards and climb higher. You’ll get enormous value from stopping, taking a breath, and enjoying the view, reflecting on the road already travelled. In the rush for more, we can forget to celebrate and can deny ourselves the hard-earned contentment and pride in all we’ve achieved so far. This quiet satisfaction will give you the impetus to look again at the road ahead and what you want to achieve.
Because priorities may have changed. We’ve learned many things in the last 18 months – we can work from home, and we can spend more time with the family without killing each other! We can find new ways to amuse ourselves within small geographic limits and many people have discovered new pastimes, whether they are hiking, sea swimming, cycling, or picking up a golf club again.
And from our conversations with some of you, your priorities around work have changed. Many of you no longer want to be in the office five days a week, and working from home will always be part of how you work in future. Many of you are examining how practical and affordable it is to work only three of four days a week now, giving yourself more free time to do the things you enjoy. Some of you have really missed travelling and have developed exciting bucket lists of the places you want to visit.
Others among you really want to leave the world of work behind as soon as possible and get out and enjoy the wider world while you have the health and time to do so.
This is not just an exercise in dreaming, this is about identifying the future life that you want. We want to be part of the journey with you, because when you’ve done the dreaming, we just ask that you bring your hopes and ambitions into our next meeting with you. Then we can help you to make sense of them from a financial perspective, identify how achievable they are today or what needs to be done to bring those dreams to fruition. We can effectively put a financial price on your dreams and will show you what needs to be done to live the life that you want to live.
Life is not a rehearsal, we all get one spin around in this crazy world. Take a step back, think about what the best life possible looks like for you, and then let us help you make it happen.
Bluechip Financial Consultants Ltd, Dec 2021