In a world with so many choices, we’re craving simplicity. That’s the message from a recent survey of American managers and executives. When asked whether they’d like to make life simpler, 77% of the respondents said yes.Disclosure 1
Knowing your purpose can help provide that simplicity. When your aspirations are your top priority when making decisions, you might find it easier to cut the clutter and make more satisfying choices.
“Purpose is your ‘why’—your North Star,” explained Erica Shalhoup, who champions purpose-related initiatives at Truist, in Episode 1: What purpose can do for you of Truist Wealth’s podcast, I’ve Been Meaning To Do That. “It’s what you want to contribute, the legacy you want to leave or be known for by your family and friends and others you interact with.”
Purpose as a guide for financial decisions
When you know your purpose, you can organize your life around it. That, in turn, can simplify decision-making, especially in one area of our lives that’s a complex, decades-long journey: wealth planning.
“This world has so many options,” Shalhoup said. “We have decision fatigue in so many ways.” But using purpose as your guide, you can distill what’s important to you. “Those decisions that were seemingly difficult now become simpler and more discrete.”
Purpose can drive your decisions in many areas of wealth planning. These include choices you have in:
- Estate planning, such as transferring wealth to your family and others you want to take care of
- How you communicate your intentions to your family and involve them in the process
- Investments in your portfolio—do you want them to align with your purpose?
- Charitable donations and ongoing giving plans
“More meaning can be a tool to help you prioritize in a world where time is a constraint, energy is a constraint, and wealth is a constraint,” added Oscarlyn Elder, Truist Wealth co-chief investment officer and host of the podcast.
Your wealth advisor is a key partner in making decisions based on purpose. “Your advisor is in the best position to help guide you down that path once they know the things that are most important to you,” Shalhoup said. “You know you’re setting up your financial plan in a way that you can feel really proud of because you’re doing it in a way that’s intentional and aligns with your broader purpose in life.”
Life decisions through the prism of purpose
Purpose can be a tool for making other choices about your life, said Alex Wagner, who has also worked on purpose-driven programs at Truist. “It’s a great gauge for knowing whether I’m living on track. Are these decisions aligned with what I truly believe in, what my purpose is?”
“If you have your purpose clearly defined, these decisions won’t become that hard,” she added. “They actually become easier by having that articulated.”
Wagner said her purpose, which is “to amplify and accelerate good so that more people can live fulfilled and joyful lives,” informed her career path. She asked herself how she can apply this purpose to what she’s doing every day and realized “banking is a really important part of that journey.”
“It made my decision clear that Truist was a place where I could actually bring my purpose to life pretty easily,” she said.
Your North Star for your priorities
Purpose can be your guide when faced with choices. You can also make course corrections when aspects of your life aren’t aligned with your purpose.
“What I’ve seen with clients is that those that do have that North Star defined, they’re able to prioritize, to be less distracted, to stay on course over a longer period of time,” Elder said.
Listen to Episode 1: What purpose can do for you from our podcast, I’ve Been Meaning To Do That.