2020: The Year of Connection

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I hope you’ve had time to relax, rejuvenate yourself, and remember why you live out this so-called life. It’s been a great month off for me, and I’m back ready to go. Last year, we lived out a theme - Embracing Change - that I hope resonated with you as you pursued your wealth journey. Read here if you missed the ways in which embracing change manifested itself in 2019. 

As I reflected on the aspects of my life that bring me joy and propel me forward, I kept coming back to the ways in which I had deep connection with family, friends, colleagues, and you, my Charisse Says community.  The connections that have left a lasting impression upon me are ones that have been authentic, mutually valuable, and energizing. I feed on the ways in which our lives are interconnected and shaped by shared pursuits and lived experiences. 

As such, I’m claiming 2020 as the year of: 

CONNECTION

This year, I want to have a deeper connection with you, and hopefully you with me. The ways in which connection will show up are multi-faced. I will: 

    • Nudge you to make connection with (and to) your wealth pursuits, and the people and things that help contribute to your wealth

    • Release more video content, and try new mediums to establish connection with you. If you have other ideas, let me know. 

    • Ask you to share and participate in ways that help me get more of a sense of you. Some of you are really good at this, and I want that energy to spread to others. So, I’m sure that many of you have a financial goal that you’ve put forth. Share it with me and we can help you be accountable! 

    • Find ways that I can connect you to other experts and resources that complement my own thoughts and provide you with additional points of intersectionality. 

Why does this matter? 

Well, for me, connection is sometimes the opposite of what society tries to force us to do. Society wants us to be more connected, but true connection is missed. As you very well know,  connection is a noun and connected is a verb. So, my intent is to go deeper by way of connection, and not simply be connected on a more surface level. I want us to have connection to ideas and trends that matter as you pursue wealth. While I am always responsive to what’s happening around us, I want to bring new ideas and thoughts I’m having about wealth and drawing parallels and observations. As an example, I can’t help it - I think Megan Markle and Prince Harry’s decision for financial independence from the royal family, is quite frankly, a hard pill to swallow. From what we know, these two were already on financially strong footing before their marriage. Instead of so much air time here, let’s start lifting up the people who do not have celebrity status, and celebrate their choices and pursuits to try and live a life of financial independence. It will be a lot more accessible and relevant for us! You can count on me for this. Do you have a story to share? Drop me a line. Did I strike a nerve? Leave a comment on my blog. 

Many of you love the recommended books, articles, and resources, and thus these will stay. Over the break, for example, here are a few books whose content will influence my thinking this year:

    • Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World. Relevancy for you? In addition to the strategies and tips offered for work productivity, it’s clear that the mantra of deep work is applicable to finding time to get your money in order. It will take work, but you can establish new habits to help you concentrate, take time away from your gadgets, and focus on deepening your connection to your financial goals.  

    • The Color of Money: Black Banks and the Racial Wealth Gap. Relevancy for you? The color of money is an American story that gives us a historical account of how our financial institutions have failed the black community. Living in this country, it’s important to understand how systems and structures play into how wealth gets created, and what you might do to keep disparities from happening and build wealth. 

    • FAKE: Fake Money, Fake Teachers, Fake Assets: How Lies Are Making the Poor and Middle Class Poorer. Relevancy for you? I talked briefly about this book at the end of last year. Now that I’ve gotten time to really digest it, I can see how some people might latch onto Kiyosaki’s desire to hold gold and silver assets, kick the stock market to the curb, and invest in real estate. One of the best things about this book is that it gives a historical account of the money system in the U.S., but I disagree with Kiyosaki’s poo poo of the stock market and other liquid assets.  

So, I hope I’ve given a little taste of connection in 2020. I leave you with one of my favorite quotes from Martin Luther King, Jr. ahead of this MLK holiday: 

“We are prone to judge success by the index of our salaries or the size of our automobiles rather than by the quality of our service and relationship to mankind.”

Connection matters - it’s a core component of true wealth building! I look forward to journeying with you at the start of this new decade!