New Beginnings
My oldest baby girl is starting Kindergarten this fall! Five and a half years have flown by. Sometimes it seems like I was just watching her take her first steps while other times I can’t believe she is only starting kindergarten. I am so excited for her. She will be walking through the big red doors of her new elementary school, meeting new friends, discovering new joys and talents and facing new challenges. There are certainly going to be some emotions (for both of us) along the way. Growth, change and discovery can be hard but also so rewarding. This is the beginning of a whole new world for her.
This fall, we also have the opportunity for growth and new beginnings. In the financial services world, there is a lot of talk about budgeting, saving, investing and protecting. They are very important themes but they are far too often limited to someone’s else definition of success, financial independence or a great life. As parents we stress the importance of education but yet it My oldest baby girl is starting Kindergarten this fall! Five and a half years have flown by. Sometimes it seems like I was just watching her take her first steps while other times I can’t believe she is only starting kindergarten. I am so excited for her. She will be walking through the big red doors of her new elementary school, meeting new friends, discovering new joys and talents and facing new challenges. There are certainly going to be some emotions (for both of us) along the way. Growth, change and discovery can be hard but also so rewarding. This is the beginning of a whole new world for her.
This fall, we also have the opportunity for growth and new beginnings. In the financial services world, there is a lot of talk about budgeting, saving, investing and protecting. They are very important themes but they are far too often limited to someone’s else definition of success, financial independence or a great life. As parents we stress the importance of education but yet it is easy to not take any formal steps to continue our own education after we graduate. We may have the intention but life or our budgets seem to get in the way. Ralph Waldo Emerson says it best, “Money often costs too much.”
Of course, education does still continue even if we are not intending it to. There are continuing education programs for many professions that we can be engaged in. For parents, there is an endless amount of resources to teach and support our development as parents. There are clinics and classes that we can take to become better at a sport or hobby. All of these however are not something that are part of our regular lives throughout the year, every year.
When was the last time that you invested in yourself to be your best self? We spend approximately 18 years in formal education and graduate at a time in our life where we are on the verge of even more growth and change. This growth and change does not end when we graduate or secure our first job or buy our first home. The resources that we have upon graduation, while abundant are not supposed to be the only resources in place to support us for the rest of our lives.
This fall as we see school buses in our neighborhood and find ourselves helping our kids pursue their path forward, consider investing in yourself by taking a formal class (even if it has nothing to do with what your current responsibilities are), hiring a coach, journaling about what you want for yourself and/or joining an organization. Talk to your spouse, your kids and your friends about whatever it is that you decide you pursue. Spending money on yourself to pursue your best self is money not just well spent – it is an investment in a future that you will love. This fall I am going to pick up photography again. It has been 18 years since I last took a class but I loved it. Best wishes to what you opt to center on. Enjoy!
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