Hey there! hope you're doing well. Today we are going to be talking about
gardening and money
and no this isn't a conversation about money growing on trees
When I have a new client that I'm working with
I've talked before about how I become kind of a nosy person in the first meeting
And it's not just being nosy for nosy sake the goal is really to find out two things
the first is
Compartmentalization if you're unfamiliar with that term I've made a video about it
And I will put a link in the description below the other is
What do they want to do with their money? What is driving that person?
Why are they saving?
what I found in this conversation is that
though it looks different for every person,
there is this innate desire within each of us to leave an impression.
It's not just an impression like "I am trying to impress you with how great
I am and how much success I've had!"
Impressions that people want to leave can also just be called a legacy.
We have a legacy that we want to leave. Legacies look different for everyone
For one person it might be your traditional
"I want to leave a large bequest to my alma mater"
But it doesn't always have to be leaving money for someone
it could be someone who simply just wants to be able to take care of themself
Independently without having to rely on their children for care
in thinking about that
innate desire within each of us even though it shows itself differently
I was reminded of a book that I read
Ok - I didn't really read the book I listened to the audiobook
I'm a working mom
What can you expect?
The book is called Fahrenheit 451 - it's a classic
and it's written by Ray Bradbury.
In it, the main character, Guy Montag, is trying to navigate a new society where the people who have come into power are
Amongst some other things, they are burning books.
Guy Montag is trying to escape and
he runs into a group of people who are also escaping. These people are considered "Keepers of the Scripts"
Being a "Keeper of the Script" means that you're memorizing books
and history so that you can relay that on to the next generation
who will not have access to these items because the government has been burning them.
Guy Montag is having a conversation with one of the keepers of the scripts and
In it he's asking essentially "Why are you doing what you're doing?"
The response I thought was applicable to our financial lives, so I'm just gonna read the quote to you
"It doesn't matter what you do. He said so long as you change something from the way
it was before you touched it into something that is like you after your hands are away
The difference between a man who just cuts the lawn and a real gardener is in the touching
The lawn cutter might just as well have never been there at all
The Gardener will be there a lifetime."
I like that quote in the context of our financial lives because if we're not careful because time passes us by so quickly
We can end up being just like this lawn cutter
We make as much money as we can and we spend as much money as we can
and there's not much thought put into it but
We have this opportunity
to take that money that we're earning and
Make a lasting impression
to Garden in this world
We are able to impact the lives of our family and our employees and our community
so for you today as you walk outside and see the grass growing and
Think about the beauty of a garden, how are you gardening in your finances?
how are you making that lasting impression?
It's not always a conversation of just saving as much as we can
That might not make a lasting impression either
But really having some intentionality and cultivating what it is that we want to do with our money is crucial to
having a solid
financial plan and a full and rich life
Happy Gardening to you and take care
