You’ve explored your purpose. What’s next?

Purpose is your “why,” and exploring it can be a fulfilling pursuit. But to make it an everyday part of your life, you can express it through what you want to accomplish—also known as your wealth objectives.

These objectives might be connected to a specific financial goal, but they can also be tied to how you define success. “Maybe a less financially oriented objective would be that I want to be able to give back to my community,” explained Kristin Beard, regional director of advice and planning at Truist Wealth, on Episode 3: From objectives to priorities of Truist Wealth’s podcast, I’ve Been Meaning To Do That. “So, I want to have the time to do that, but it’s hard to put a number around it.”

To work your purpose into your wealth plan, here are three steps you can take:

1. Develop wealth objectives that are consistent with your purpose.
2. Prioritize these objectives in light of your purpose.
3. Create an action plan.

1. Tie purpose to wealth objectives

In developing wealth objectives, you might find it helpful to start by considering what you want to accomplish by category. Common categories are:

• Retirement
• Health care
• Education
• Home/real estate
• Rainy day fund
• New chapter in life
• Life events
• Travel/recreation
• Major purchase
• Business
• Future generations
• Community impact

You might not have objectives for each of these categories. And you might have objectives that fall into other categories.

But when you understand your purpose and values, it’s easier to define your wealth objectives, said Oscarlyn Elder, Truist Wealth’s co-chief investment officer and host of the podcast. It’s also easier for you to accomplish your objectives because you’ll be naturally driven to work toward them.

Purpose drives a lot of wealth objectives related to real estate, said Bill Lyons, director of governance for Truist Wealth’s Center for Family Legacy. “Maybe you’re part of a larger family that owns a beach cottage or some other piece of real estate that may have incredibly emotional meaning to you and your family.” In this case, a wealth objective tied to purpose might be, “Our family will always have a place to gather for many generations, to come together and to celebrate life events or to enjoy each other’s company.”

2. Prioritize your objectives

After developing your wealth objectives, it’s time to order them by priority. Your purpose will help drive this activity, but you can also ask yourself a series of questions to help sort through your objectives. Questions might include:

• Who are your core family members, and how do you want to take care of them?
• How do you want to be remembered by your family and community?
• How do you share your purpose with your family and learn about their purpose?
• What brings you joy, and what are you worried about?
• What personal goals have you always wanted to pursue?
• Is there anything holding you back from accomplishing your goals?

To help make sure you’re hitting the mark with your wealth objectives and have them prioritized so that you’re accomplishing what matters most to you, talk them over with family and others. For example, one of Lyons’ clients wanted to help his mother, who had lost her job, by sending her money every month. When he asked her how her job search was going, she said she wasn’t looking for a job because he was sending her money.

“He was actually really disappointed,” Lyons said. “He felt like he had pulled her back from life, that she was young and that her work had been meaningful to her and helped her connect with folks. So talking about the decisions you’re making with the folks that you’re planning for can really change the way in which you think about the priority.”

3. Document your action steps

Finally, it’s time to put pen to paper. For each wealth objective, write down the actions you’ll take to accomplish it and when you’ll do them. Putting your objectives in writing will make you more mindful about them. One study indicates that you’re 42% more likely to achieve goals when you write them down.^{Disclosure 1} A worksheet that accompanies Episode 3 can help you get started.

But remember: You’ve put your objectives in writing, not cement. Those objectives, as well as priorities, can change after life events. This might be an unexpected windfall such as a sudden offer to buy your business, a college scholarship for a child, a health situation, or unemployment.

“We can go back to purpose and ask how what’s happening might impact or not impact your purpose,” Beard said. “And that can start to then inform what that means for your objectives and priorities. If your purpose remains steadfast, then you may not have to make as many changes as you first think.”