We hear a lot of about financial audits and tax audits but have you considered auditing your own life? A strengths audit is a systematic review of the different assets you’ve accumulated over time in your life. It’s looks at more than just your money.
People normally invest the bulk of their time in building financial and material wealth and use the rest of their time to invest in their family, friends, often leaving themselves last on the list. We sometimes forget how important it really is to invest in us and our people but this is absolutely necessary if we want them to grow.
These 4 steps will allow you to conduct a meaningful audit of your strengths, and can help identify the gaps in your life.
Step 1: Find out what you’re working with.
Take the time to ask yourself, What are my assets?
There are 4 main categories of assets for you to consider:
- Material
- Financial
- Personal
- People (or network)
Material assets are the things, properties, and capital investments you currently have. Financial assets broadly speaking are the money you have in the bank and financial investments you’ve made. Personal assets are your personal strengths, knowledge, skills, certifications and degrees, positive personality traits, and emotional strengths you have. People assets are the family, friends, collegues, aquaintances that bring you something positive. They are the network that you’ve built over time and can also be your associations, membership based groups, and virtual communities.
Make a list of the assets you think you already have for each category.
Step 2: What am I missing?
Review your list and ask yourself if anything is missing from it. Are some categories more complete than others? Do you have a strong online support system but know very few people locally? Is your family supportive of your projects but your friends don’t quiet get it? Be brutally honest with yourself.
Create a new list of the assets you’d like to build, add to your life or improve on.
Step 3: What are my priorities?
Assets constantly need to be reviewed, renewed and re-evaluated. Ask yourself what the most important things on your list of assets (the ones you already have, and the ones you’d like to add).
Are you investing in the people around you? Are you investing in yourself?Conduct a short analysis to figure out if these are things, people, personal characteristics, financial contributions that you really want. Ask yourself Do I really need this to accomplish my overall life vision and mission?
If you’re interested in going deeper into the process of figuring out what you want, or if you’re unclear about your life mission and vision, check out this short read on Amazon for only $1.99:
Your next step is to create a list of your asset priorities and think about whether your energy and time are being invested in the right places. Auditing your life and the assets you have can be a great way to understand how you’re using your energy. An asset audit is also a good way to evaluate where you are in life and where you’re going.
Step 4: Consider your 5th asset, Time.
Time is your fifth asset. This asset doesn’t grow. You can’t add a 25th hour to your day and you only have so much time on this earth so make sure you’re efficient with your time.
Material assets can break down over time and lose their value. Investing in their maintenance can help prolong their life but eventually, everything turns to dust. You can tell yourself you’re building a legacy, but will people want it?
Your financial assets are money in the bank. They have the power to improve your lifestyle, create more passive revenue if you invest it in the right places, and change the lives of others, building your legacy. But this requires an initial time investment that most people view as a pre-set hourly rate.
There are a few ways of adding time to your day and amplifying your investments in yourself:
- Automate small tasks
- Create passive income streams
- Offer value instead of time
- Delegate what you can
There are tons of great automation apps out there, the key is to do your research and find the ones that work for you. Can you create an automated response email at work? Can you set up monthly payments through your only banking? Think creatively about how you can automate the small stuff so you can open up your day for the important things.
Truth be told, I’m not an expert on creating passive income streams, I’m still learning to do this myself. But the goal here is to think about ways you can invest your money into things that generate new revenue streams that work for you while you’re sleeping. Maybe you’ve been thinking about having rental income? Or, perhaps you’d be great at writing and publishing a book? Maybe you have an extra parking spot to rent out? Be creative and step outside your comfort zone!
Try delegating the small things that take up a lot of your day. If grocery shopping is takes you an hour, can you have your food delivered? If you hate cleaning or doing laundry, can you pay a cleaner or send your clothes out? This will depend on your current level of income, of course. But over time, your day will open up for you in ways that will allow you to increase your productivity.
These 4 shifts can transform the way you use your time and allow you to focus on your people and person assets more. They can help you invest in what really matters if you’re willing to think outside the box and change your old way of thinking about work and money.
Try the strengths audit today, and let me know below in the comments section if you discovered anything new about yourself!
If you need a sounding board or support, I offer a free introductory coaching session. Check out my coaching packages here.
Copyright Authentic World Inc 2020, Michelle Thompson 2020
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
My name is Michelle. I have over twenty years of experience as a group facilitator and public educator. I’ve helped thousands of people re-imagine their lives and create concrete plans for self-improvement. I’ve facilitated dozens of workshops and support groups on topics like stress management, mental health and wellness, goal setting, grief counselling, safety planning, and confidence building. I’m a former social worker and non-profit consultant, and after years of feeling anxious, confused about who I was and being unsure about what I wanted, I did the work and learned how to get out of my own way. Now I teach others how to find gratitude, balance, and eliminate self-sabotage to create the life they want. I created Authentic World Inc, an international life coaching company that offers a supportive space for life coaching and self-directed courses.
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