A well organized closet serves as a surprisingly good metaphor for your investment portfolio. It may sound silly at first, but sorting out the different components is a crucial step in ensuring you feel confident in your financial life.
It’s ok to feel good about your investments. Money success is nothing to feel guilty about. In fact, one of the best things you can do for yourself is lay a firm outline in place to ensure your money sparks joy in all areas of your financial decision making.
So let’s talk about your closet. What does it look like? Let me give you a window into mine. Since I have already confessed my love of shoes, we can start there.
These Boots Were Made for Financial Literacy
Do you own a great pair of boots? Boots are reliable. Boots work in all different seasons and complement many different outfits. They have an enormous utilitarian function in rain, snow or cold weather. My best boots are plain brown and just a bit boring, but they go with everything. I wear them with a summer dress or with jeans. They just work. I have had them for years.
I also have some amazing heels, which I love for going out. My favorite is a pair of navy high heels. They make me look taller and make my legs look longer. They can sometimes be painful to wear and are difficult to walk in for a long time. But they also boost my confidence and give me an upright posture.
What in the world does this have to do with investing? Boots are like the bonds of my wardrobe. Dependable. Constant. Stable. High heels are like the stocks. Riskier. More precarious. Tricky. But powerful (and great at a party). So what’s a girl to wear? It depends on my goal for the day. And really, I need both to dress for success. Let’s call this “wardrobe diversification”.
How to Ensure Your Money Sparks Joy
Is your current portfolio thoughtful and well designed? Or do you need a Marie Kondo type makeover? The KonMari Method™ encourages tidying by category, keeping only those things that speak to the heart, and discarding items that no longer spark joy. Thank them for their service – then let them go.
This is a wonderful way to review your investment portfolio, and ensure that you feel good about everything you are putting your money into. Building a solid awareness of how you are using your money for financial growth is especially important for women, who all too often are led to believe that they are not good at investing. This is a long-held myth that needs to be dispelled, as this in fact could not be further from the truth.
If These Walls Could Talk
There are many tools and lessons we can implement to help us feel more confident about our financial decisions. A simple scan of your closet can be revealing. I learned this from my dear friend and life coach Michelle Gauthier, who specializes in simplifying life for over-achievers (like you) so they feel more calm.
So how can you take your own wardrobe as inspiration for curating a successful and meaningful investment portfolio? It’s quite simple really. You just need to get organized, and take time to consider what works for you and what doesn’t.
A well managed wardrobe should be pleasing to the eye. The colors are coordinated and there is a variety of them. The shoes are appropriate for the season and outfit. In short, it works for you, and you feel good every time you open the closet door. In short, you have fantastic diversification.
The same should go for your investment portfolio. The things you choose to invest your money in should coordinate with your values. They should be appropriate to your life choices and the things that are important to you and your loved ones. If you have something that is not really “working” for you, you need to sell it off to make space for options that spark joy.
A Little Organization Goes a Long Way
I find great joy in helping my clients build an intentional portfolio. It feels so good to help them piece together a beautifully designed collection of diversified investments that gives them the greatest chance, based on history, of achieving their life goals. It’s a real portfolio, built on purpose.
Maybe you need help in KonMaring your investments. I would love to help you discover how investments can spark joy and start making investing magically simple for you. Schedule some time on my calendar for a complimentary discovery meeting and let’s have a good old wardrobe clearout!