Integrated Financial Training: Westchester NY

When looking at the drivers that produce our ability to consume throughout our lives, most people would find human capital, otherwise known as earnings through employment as the heaviest weight. Most financial planners merely take one’s job as given and request a forecast of potential income. However, every step we take begins with the search for happiness. And as this is the starting point of the analysis we need to introduce what some may see as a novel idea. Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “It is one of the beautiful compensations of this life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself.” Following this reasoning to its natural conclusion we find a well known idea in martial arts training, the pursuit of one’s own happiness is the source of all misery in the world; the pursuit of the happiness of others is the source of all happiness.  

Lastly, a principle of martial arts is often identified as “using one pound of pressure to move one thousand pounds.” Here we need to look at our own unique mental and physical infrastructure. As we experimented with different subjects and sports in school, we ran into areas where we were able to perform exceptionally well and others struggled. We may even have been surprised that we did not think we were working very hard and others complained at being overwhelmed. These are signs that we are on the right track. Then if we find our energy increasing the more we engage in this activity we have another positive sign. 

In addition to the type of work we pursue, some generalized aspects of lifestyle should be considered in how we schedule our work. If you asked someone from Mars how they would define money, most would say a slip of paper with green ink on it. An economist (at least somewhat different from a Martian) would cite its properties as a medium of exchange, a store of value and unit of measure. But most humans would attribute one of three properties: security, freedom or power. When we determine how to pursue our careers, our strategy is best informed by these imprints to manage our lives so we can achieve what we feel we need inside. In this way we are being true to the objectives for which we were placed on this earth.