Practice radical self-awareness in financial planning

Another great sketch from Carl Richards:

From Richards’ newsletter accompanying the sketch:

Almost no one is happy with the state of their financial plans, or at least it appears that way based on what we hear in the media. For that to change, we can’t continue to do the same things we did in the past and expect different results.

One powerful way you can make changes in your financial life is to practice what I like to call radical self-awareness. It’s simple enough: start to think about what you’re thinking, feeling, and doing. This is one of the wonderful things about being a human; we can actually observe our own thoughts, feelings, and behavior.

I heard Jim Collins talk about how he likes to carry around a small notebook and observe himself as if he were a research subject. He actually refers to himself as the “Bug Called Jim,” observes his behavior, and takes notes on things that impact how he feels and what he does. Taking a page from Collins’ notebook, I’ve been conducting a “Bug Called Carl” experiment and learned a lot about myself by simply watching and trying to be honest about my feelings and behavior when it comes to money and the future. If you want to try your own experiment, here are a few things to watch for:

[1] Does the way you spend money line up with what you say you believe?

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[2] When it comes to investing, do you buy high and sell low over and over?

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[3] If you have financial goals that are really important to you, what are doing today to get there?

Read the details of each point at Richards’ site.

Sources:

“Practicing Radical Self-Awareness” Carl Richards. Behaviorgap.com. http://us2.campaign-archive1.com/?u=23ce2ac179e8158f7583c4e3f&id=86f42577bc&e=b50e826a9e