Robin writes:
I’ll be honest, I’m not a big fan of self-help books generally. But I recently came across one that I’m very happy to recommend. It’s called Find Your Own Path, which was written by a life coach called Fiona Buckland, and it’s just been published by Penguin Books.
As the title suggests, the book explains how to find your own path, or, as some psychologists put it, how to live an authentic life. To explain it simply, authentic living is about living life on your own terms, and not other people’s; it’s about aligning everything you do with the person you are; and it’s about living purposefully, focusing on the things that really matter to you, and not wasting your precious time on things that don’t.
It’s not an easy process, and, refreshingly for a self-help author, Buckland admits she doesn’t have all the answers. But, as she explains in the book, here are some of the things it requires you to do:
— spot and reduce the power of those internalised scripts and beliefs that hold you where you are;
— find space and time to connect with yourself at a deeper level and make more useful, conscious choices;
— align your path with your integral, authentic beliefs, so you feel more energised and motivated;
— gather the inner and outer support you need;
— overcome analysis-paralysis and perfectionism, using your heart and gut as well as your head; and
— recover from difficulties and setbacks and use them as opportunities for growth.
In this, my latest article for rockwealth, I explore in more detail what an authentic life is, the benefits of living an authentic life, and how engaging with a financial planner can help you to find your path.
There’s nothing like a reminder of our own mortality to focus the mind on how we want to spend our lives. And when you reach the life stage that I have, those reminders come thick and fast.
“I had a few health issues last year,” Matt Millard, the founder of rockwealth Cardiff, told me the other day. “It made me realise we’re not going to live forever. We only have so much time, and we have to make the most of it.
I experienced a similar epiphany when my mum died shortly before Christmas, and now every time I look on Facebook it seems that another friend has also lost a parent.
Of course, we all know, on a rational level, that our lives are finite. But, let’s be honest, most of the time it’s something we’d rather not think about.
I don’t know about you, but for me, it’s not death, or the act of dying, that scares me; it’s the thought of coming to the end of my life and having regrets. I don’t want to feel unduly sad, remorseful or annoyed with myself, or to feel that I wasted that most precious resource of all, time.
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