Aligning Your Money with Your Values: A Journey to Financial Clarity

Let's dive into an important topic: values, and how they play a crucial role in our personal and business finances.

As women, especially as business owners, it's essential to have a solid foundation for understanding our core values. Values are not something we are typically taught, and many of us only discover their importance when we embark on a journey of personal development. I recall my own experience of spending an entire day delving into my values. The process was eye-opening as I looked back on my life, seeing how certain things worked while others didn’t.

When I had finished university (the first time), I applied for at least fifty jobs in the Marketing space. It was crickets - not a single interview.  So, I went back to uni and studied accounting - clearly that was the path I was meant to take as I got 2 offers for graduate programs at the end of that study!  Fast forward 8 years, and I was offered a marketing manager role for a small consultancy that I was working at.  Timing and alignment matter, and that’s why understanding your values is the foundation for everything.

As a business owner, it's also important to distinguish between your personal values and your business values. Even if you are the face of your brand, your business has its own identity and set of values. Your personal values and business values should complement each other, but they aren't identical. For example, in my business, Connection, Integrity, and Trust are key values, which is essential when working with clients on such a personal topic like money.

Understanding your core values means looking beyond the superficial answers we often give, like valuing family or peace. The real core values go deeper—they’re the drivers of what makes us tick. For instance, I initially thought Freedom was my core value, but after digging deeper, I discovered that Creativity was at the heart of it, and freedom was the outcome. When I feel creative, I feel free. This realisation changed the way I approached both my personal life and business decisions.

So, how do you align your values with your money? Start by examining your personal and business values separately. Then, look at how you manage your finances and whether your values are truly reflected in your money systems. If they’re not aligned, things will feel heavy or difficult. It’s about making choices that resonate with who you are at your core, allowing money to flow more effortlessly.

Another example - my Core Values are Creativity, Discernment and Control.  When I had some money to invest, I hired a Financial Planner, not realising that what I was essentially doing was outsourcing the process of investing.  Once I knew my values it made perfect sense why it didn't work out with the Financial Planner - there was no ability for me to make decisions, and he couldn't explain things, or give me the information I wanted.  None of his clients had ever asked for what I asked for.  So, I became educated and took everything over.  I could have saved myself a lot of time and money if I'd known by core values sooner!

If you’re ready to discover your values and align them with your finances, reach out and let’s take this journey together. It’s a transformative process that will bring clarity and alignment to both your life and your business.