“THE ACQUISITION OF MEMORIES”

They say that a checkbook and a calendar never lie. If that's true, and I believe it is, then we should occasionally ask ourselves an important question:

If an impartial observer tallied up how you spend your time and money, what would they say is important to you?

While I'm certainly hopeful they'd say that you spend your time and money in complete alignment with what's most important to you, I'm guessing most of us would feel that we could do a bit better. I know I could. Because - life! expectations! what we think we "should" be doing!

To help bring your time, money, and values into more alignment, let's explore how you might spend your resources more intentionally so that you'll look back with more satisfaction. More gratitude. More awe.

There's a great book titled Die with Zero by Bill Perkins that might help point us in the right direction. While the title 😬 may cause trepidation for many of us, the book is filled with great thoughts that offer a helpful framework for living a fulfilling life.

One such thought Perkins shares comes from the show Downtown Abbey. It says,

"The business of life is the acquisition of memories. In the end, that's all there is."

I like that because, when we lose someone we love, what do we do? Of course, we recount our memories with that person. And since memories are often the result of having landmark experiences together, it should motivate us to pursue experiences that provide more memories with our loved ones.

Every landmark experience produces those memories through three distinct and enjoyable phases: the anticipation of the experience, the experience itself, and the lasting memories (and photos) those experiences create.

Perkins calls these "memory dividends" because each experience adds to the memories that have come before, similar to compounding in investing, but applied to life.

What's interesting about these landmark experiences is that the most common regret is "not having done it sooner." Perhaps you've said those words yourself. And yet, we often delay the next one into the distant future. But why?

Based on my experience and observation, people delay for two reasons: fear of squandering their money and/or what we might call "someday thinking."

Perkins addresses the first concern by saying that we shouldn't "let opportunities pass us by for fear of squandering our money. Squandering our lives should be a much greater worry." Rarely does anyone talk about that latter part, but we should because none of us are promised tomorrow. I know many of you have painful experience which points to this truth. Which brings us to the second reason.

That is: "someday thinking." We tell ourselves that we'll eventually get around to doing this or that as if our time is infinite. As a clarity exercise, ask yourself,

"What if 'someday' never arrives? Will you regret not acting while you had the chance?"

To be clear, there are occasionally good reasons to delay when the time or money isn't quite right. But to paraphrase Zig Ziglar, "If you wait until all the lights are green to head into town, you'll spend your whole life sitting at home."

I don't want that for you! So, as your wheels start turning, please note that the experiences I'm advocating for don't have to be expensive; they just have to be memorable.

Sure, you may want to travel the world. But you may also find novel ways to spend time with family, or help those less fortunate. Or to build a little more joy into the everyday. Or maybe a bit of each.

There is no one, right way. But as we begin exploring what's possible, I want to remind you that the very purpose of planning and working together is to help you live your best life, however you define it.

That being the case, I want to leave you with a question today that I'd love for you to respond to whenever the time is right if this hits home for you. That is,

What are one or two items on your 'bucket list' that you'd most like to check off?

Ponder that, and let's discuss how we might make it happen. I look forward to your response!

RECENT SIGHTINGS

• If tax season has you stressing, our recent podcast episode could help! Mastering Tax Season: Strategies for Preparation, Document Gathering, and Future Planning​
• Janice and I will be attending the SHIFT advisor conference in Orlando, FL next week. We love its focus on "Making Money Human." Watch social media for photos and insights!
• I contributed an article to Investopedia.com on how to help parents who are retiring.

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Let's Connect!

What memories are you planning to create this year? What have you been putting off out of fear of... fear? I would love to hear from you.

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