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Money is a powerful motivator for many people. In this week’s episode, I sit down with financial planner and personal finance coach Dominique Broadway to demystify money. Dominique formerly worked at brokerages that focused on clients with wealth in excess of $10 million. She soon realized that many of us don’t make anywhere near that amount, and set out on her own path to help people understand their finances – no matter how much they currently make.
In this week’s episode, we talk about money, why people want it, and what they actually want instead. She gives us some important questions we should ask ourselves about our finances, and even a special discount for listeners (listen to the episode to hear the details!). Let’s get right to the most valuable points she made!
You Need to Understand Your Relationship with Money
The first step in demystifying money and your personal finances is understanding your relationship with money, Dominique says. Take a look at the ways you use money (spending, investing, lotto tickets…), and then ask yourself why you use money in those ways. What purpose is money serving for you in each situation?
Dominique says several times in our conversation that money is a tool or resource you use to bring your dreams to reality (in fact, one of the main financial services she offers is called Dreams2Reality!). If you don’t understand how (or why) you’re currently using the tool in certain ways, you can’t change your behavior.
You Need to Understand Your Goals For Money
Everyone wants to be rich, Dominique says, but the more important question to answer for yourself is: why?
Most people don’t actually want money; they want the freedoms they think that money gives them. They want to lay on the beach six months of the year, not worry about paying the bills, and design a life the way they want that makes them happy and fulfilled. Ironically, money rarely brings people happiness, and science backs this fact up.
Being the architect of your own life doesn’t have to mean being rich. Dominique tells a great story about a woman who buys a big house, only to realize that a bigger house means more windows to clean and cover with curtains. More money, more problems, as the saying goes.
You Need to Answer These Three Big Questions
Dominique lays out three main questions you should answer when attempting to correct your path to financial freedom (as well as a few sub-questions that can help you find the answers). If you don’t ‘get real’ about your present financial situation through these questions, you can’t plan for your future.
What do you want your future – and your present – to look like?
Again, this one’s all about gaining insight into your own needs and motivator: why do you want the life you want? What are your priorities? Start to paint that picture, so you know what you’re aiming for, and how you’ll know when you meet it.
What are your two magic numbers?
Everyone has two magic numbers, but most people don’t actually know them:
1. How much you make each month.
2. How much it costs to run your life each month.
Armed with these two numbers, you can start to figure out how to change your financial future: if you make more than you need, you can save, invest, build your legacy, or give back – but if you need more than you make, you have to look at other changes in your lifestyle.
What do you want your life to look like, later on?
This is a slightly different question than the first one – we’re talking way later on. What are the ten things you want to accomplish in your lifetime? What do you want to be known for? What do you want your legacy to be? Answer these questions, and you’ll start to see what it’s going to take to get there financially.
Dominique shares many other insights in our interview, and I’d love your feedback on the episode – what pearl of wisdom did you learn from her? Share it with me on Facebook! Also, don’t forget to listen for her special discount around the 23-minute mark!
Thanks for Listening!
Thanks for joining me this week. I’d love to hear your thoughts, please leave an honest review for The Art of Personal Growth podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are super helpful to tailoring the content of the show and I read them all! They also matter in the rankings of the show.
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