“Money cannot buy peace of mind. It cannot heal ruptured relationships, or build meaning into a life that has none.” ~Richard M. DeVos
I have been doing a little reflecting on money.
It seems as though you cannot flinch without seeing some commercial for Bet365, Sportsbook, or DraftKings promising fast, easy money and enticing you to set up an account, deposit $20 and they will give $20 in bonus money, once you burn through your initial deposit. The internet is filled with ads telling you how Betty, the 86-year old Grandmother living in a nursing home is making who makes $10,000 a month on her side-hustle.
Which reminds me of a conversation I had with my then 12 year-old little brother (see Big Brother Big Sisters Organization) who wanted to drop out’ve school and make gaming videos for YouTube, because according to him, you could get rich when people pay you to advertise on your site! That was until I told him that Google takes 40% of your money and the government would take about 20% or more if he was successful.
We as humans have and always been obsessed with money and the underlying belief for so many folks is…there is never enough!
Follow The Money
I will always remember what my father taught me about money many, many years ago. He said if you want to understand or get to the bottom of any situation, “just follow the money. He said that where you spend your money will give you a whole lot of insight into what you value and what is most important to you.
Which begs the question: what were you taught about money? You really have just two choices: money can impact your life in a positive or a negative way.
That said, January is a great time to reflect on this topic. Why? Because you’re close enough to remember last year and you’re at the precipice of looking at a wide-open opportunity to alter, realign, or make changes in the new year.
So I took out my credit card statements, checkbook, and Quicken reports and began reviewing how and what I spent my money on last year. (I have done this in years past and it provides some amazing insight into my life).
How Are You Spending Your Money?
Here’s what I realized: for the most part, 2025 was in alignment with what I value most. The additional expenses outside of ordinary living expenses were spent on our wedding and changing our house for my wife Tracey and I to live together more comfortably.
However, there were still a few areas which needed some realignment, so I decided that I was going to eliminate a few things in order to move even closer to my values and my authentic self!
So how about you?
Hopefully, at this point, you have started thinking about how you spend your money.
A Potential Life-Altering Decision?
With all the distractions in the world telling you you need more or that you could be really happy if you upgraded your iPhone 16 Pro to the iPhone 17 Pro because your camera is 1 mega pixel below the newest and greatest, this could be a life altering decision.
Why? Because regardless of what you discover, you need to know that if you’re not happy with your results after the exercise, it is not the end of the world and it is certainly not too late to realign.
You simply need to decide that you want 2026 or possibly the rest of your life to be different and that you want to move closer to living your values which will always lead you closer to your authentic self!
So what happen if you find you’re not living your values and you want to be move even closer to your authentic self?
Maybe, this will help?
5 Questions to Find Your Way Back to Your Authentic Self
Below are the questions to ask yourself in order to get back on track and move towards your authentic self:
- What do you really love to do? What makes your heart sing? What are the things that you can’t…NOT…DO?
- How much of your time, energy, and financial resources, are you committing to those things that really light you up?
- What actions do you need to take to realign yourself with the things that bring you joy and happiness?
- When will you take action?
- How will you stay on your path?
Getting Back on Track
The world is a crazy place! It makes so many demands on our time and resources and so it is easy to get distracted from the path we walk that leads us to our purpose and our authentic selves.
We get buried at work, lost in a relationship, or maybe we find ourselves in a situation that consistently robs us of our peace and serenity. Maybe we allow ourselves to get overrun by fear, buy into the garbage that the media shoves in our face, or start believing the constant barrage of advertising that tells were not enough and shows us how to be more like somebody else…someone, anyone other than who we truly!
All of these things will lead you to a path away from your authentic self and if you stay on this path, I promise you you will be end up unhappy, dissatisfied, or tolerating that constant numbness because you are not being true to yourself.
My wish and my hope for you this year is that you find peace and happiness and it might just start by examining your credit card statements and your checkbook!
Who knows…it might just be a lighthouse on your path to your true self!
