“Monetary Identity, part 2″

Greetings and welcome back to the review of our Monetary Identity teleclass series hosted by Mickey Mikeworth of RICH CHICKS (www.richchicks.org) and Sandi Lindgren of ¡Adelante Coaching! (www.adelantecoaching.com). Class #5 of our six series class is entitled “Creating your Monetary Identity, part 2”. This class objective is to recognize the multitude of your monetary relationships and describe how your time, resources and values work together to create your identity. Remember that monetary identity is our relationship to our resources (that’s the simplistic definition). This class delves into our relationships with both our internal and external resources and how they fit (or do not) with our core values, beliefs and personal goals.

I’ve been spending most of this summer training for the 3-day breast cancer walk, raising awareness of and money for a cure for breast cancer. Both my partner and I have family and friends who’ve suffered from breast cancer, and we decided to do this walk. For me (more than my partner, the marathon runner) this was a HUGE challenge and investment of time, energy and money. Although I consider myself to be in good physical condition, I knew I needed to train extensively for this 3-day, which consists of 20 miles a day, for 3 days in a row totally 60 miles! Yikes!

This is my personal example of living out my monetary identity. Here are my 5 core values: relationships (with family and friends), fun, service, self-improvement and spirituality. Then, I added some of my personal goals for the summer: enjoyment, exercise, self-improvement, spending time with family/friends. And decided that my involvement with the 3-day walk is a part of my monetary identity. I needed to rely on family and friends for donations (we had to raise a minimum of $2200.00 each), for rides to and from the walk and for moral support through the training. The training helped me with my self-improvement and physical fitness goals. I had a lot of fun on the training walks and on the actual 3-day walk. And the spirituality fit in so well as the entire experience itself, (including the training) became very spiritual for me.

So as you are thinking about your own monetary identity, and what might it look like; do realized that it is not just one thing or activity or action that will define you. Here are some questions for you to think about, as you continue on this journey:
o Do you have a hobby that brings you joy and that creates positive memories?
o Does your free time attract wealth?
o How many times have you turned away gifts?
o How do you celebrate other people’s successes?
o What are you avoiding?
o What would you have to let go of in order to achieve monetary success?

Remember that your journey is just as important as the destination. Enjoy the ride. Feel free to contact me for coaching information and/or to hear more about our Monetary Identity series. I would also highly recommend contacting Mickey Mikeworth, financial planner extraordinaire, to assist you with your financial goals.

Peace, Sandi

“Monetary Identity, part 1″

Greetings and welcome back to the review of our Monetary Identity teleclass series hosted by Mickey Mikeworth of RICH CHICKS (www.richchicks.org) and Sandi Lindgren of ¡Adelante Coaching! (www.adelantecoaching.com). Class #4 of our six series class is entitled “Creating your Monetary Identity”. This class objective was to recognize the multitude of your monetary relationships and describe how your time, resources and values work together to create your identity. Following up from the last class on ‘life force energy’, this class was more about organization. First, learning how to organize and sift through your knowledge to come up with what is most important for you, leveraging your resources (monetary and other) in order to live those values and looking at what are YOU offering to others in your network. Internal values combined with external resources, create an internal energy that promotes personal growth. Life force energy (class #3) is used to be a conduit for change. When you make monetary decisions based on your values, the energy that flows through touches not only yourself, but those within your network as well.

One of my core values is “relationships” (specifically with family and friends). Another of my core values is “fun”. When it came time for my partner and I to purchase a lake home, we based our decision on our values. We wanted to create a place of gathering for friends and family, where we could enjoy those relationships. It was easier to make that monetary decision while visualizing our proposed use of the property. I used my ‘network’ resources to help clean and paint and furnish the home (friends volunteering to help clean and paint, furniture from friends, family and ‘craigs list’, etc). In the last two months, over 50 people have enjoyed meals there! J One your core values are defined, decisions become easier as you can use those core values as the basis for decision-making.

A common struggle for class participants is narrowing down your 5 core values into one word for each value. If you are struggling with defining your core values, it’ll be more difficult for you to harness your life force energy and create a (new) monetary identity. Take time to go back to your core values, if you are still working on them. This work is different than goal setting; it is more deep and meaningful. It is the pre-work of setting goals. Many of us set goals, only to not follow through with them. Some of these uncompleted goals might actually go against your core values…making it more difficult for you to receive energy to accomplish those goals. This is hard work; it is internal work. You are the only one who can define your core values. Working with a life coach, can provide you with support and assistance as you go through this process.

Here are some thoughts and questions for you to consider:
o How often are you asking for what you really want?
o How much of your income is being spent on your core values? (Remember that you might initially begin with 1-2%, but the goal is that 10% of your income will go towards your values).
o Who do you know in your network that can assist you in meeting the needs of any of your core values?
o What can your network or circle of friends provide for you that you have not been asking?
o What words describe your place in other people’s network?
o Have you talked with a professional about your finances?
o What’s getting in the way?
o What decisions have I been avoiding?

As always, this is a journey, a process. Enjoy the ride. Feel free to contact me for coaching information and/or to hear more about our Monetary Identity series. I would also highly recommend contacting Mickey Mikeworth, financial planner extraordinaire, to assist you with your financial goals.

Be well.
-Sandi

“Life Force Energy”

The 3rd class in our WOW Monetary Identity series is entitled, “Life Force Energy”. The objective of this 3rd class is to identify the importance of your time in relation to your values. In the second class, we had determined our core values. This third class is about putting your values together with how you spend your time in order to maximize your energy within. When we are making value based decisions, our energy increases and flows in a way that renews itself. The key to this is learning how to integrate your values into your lifestyle choices.

We all have multiple lifestyle choices to make and often fall short of needed resources. In order to shift our energy, and find more resources that feed our values, it is important to look at our current use of our time. Are you using up your resources of time that are not being applied to your values? Look at your time spent that consumes four or more hours of time per week; this is a large chunk of valuable time. If you have blocks of time that are NOT feeding your values, it is important to revisit those tasks. Re-allocate your resources as necessary.

Here’s an example: “When I really considered where I spent my time I realized that I was taking 4-5 hours watching TV (reading newspaper, etc). I really enjoy the arts/story telling, which is one of my values. Now instead of plopping down and watching whatever is on TV, I commit 3-4 hours a week for a movie, book, or play. I sometimes do this with friends (combining another value) and find that I’m more energized by this expression of my values than how sleepy/lethargic I’d get from my mindless TV watching.”

One recommendation from this class, is that each person take a minimum of 1% of your income, and apply that towards your values each month. This will require that you begin to look at where your money is spent in relation to your values. It is also a beginning in changing your monetary identity to match your values. In class we went through examples of how to break this down. Another important step is to find alternative resources to feed your values. Those resources might come indirectly through family, friends, bartering, etc. Accepting gifts offered is an alternative resource that many women deny. By learning to not only be giving, but also to graciously accept gifts offered, you will begin to live an even more prosperous life.

Here are some questions for you to consider:
o What are you spending time on each week (each month) that drains your energy? There is a good chance that if the tasks are draining, rather than energizing, that it is not in alignment with your values.
o What gifts are currently in the offering to you, that you have not yet accepted? What are you resisting?
o Who do you know in your circle of people, who has resources to offer in exchange for something?
o What does it feel like for you when your values are in alignment with your lifestyle?

For more detailed information or coaching assistance in working through these steps, please feel free to contact me at: sandi@adelantecoaching.com. I wish for you a safe and delightful 4th of July holiday week!

Be well, Sandi