Accelerate Your Legacy
Accelerate Your Legacy
55. Crafting a Rich Life with Core Values
In this episode, Laura Sexton discusses the importance of core values in both business and personal life. Using a personal anecdote about teaching her daughter about honesty at Costco, the host emphasizes the significance of adhering to core values as guiding principles. The episode explores how core values impact decision-making, satisfaction, and overall well-being.
In this episode we’ll learn:
. to define core values
. examples of core values
. how core values serve you
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Hello and welcome to the Accelerate Your Legacy podcast. I'm Laura Sexton, your trusted financial coach and money mindset specialist. Join me as we explore the world of money and money mindset while also paving the way for a lasting legacy that extends far beyond money. Together we'll eliminate stress, amplify freedom, and ensure you stop paying for your past so you can start saving for your future. If you're seeking peace in your finances, more margin in your budget, and a legacy that inspires generations to come, you're in the right place. Hey, accelerators. I hope you are having absolutely lovely Thursday. Today is going to be a great day. Can I just speak that over you? No matter if you're listening to it today or in the future, another day, I just want to speak life over you for a second and say, today is going to be a great day because now that you were listening to this, you were going to be on the lookout. Those little things that make life amazing. I would love to hear what those little things are for you. So if something pops up and you're like, You know, the 1 thing for me is I saw a sparrow and it reminded me of my grandma or whatever it is, guys, it could be sitting down and having an ice cream cone with your kids, which I think would be absolutely silly because it is cold. It is January, but. Maybe a cold ice cream cone with your kids in January is just the ticket to make life grand. Today I wanted to talk with you about core values. A lot of people in business right now are trying to reset things. We're in the season of starting fresh. A lot of businesses focus on their core values, but I think that they're also very important to have in life. We had a situation recently where we were at Costco and my daughter wanted to get some Soda out of the soda machine, and she had a cup. It wasn't a Costco cup. It was one that she brought from home or her water bottle or whatever. And she wanted to go get some ice and a soda. And I said, no, you have to pay for that. And she said, well, I'll just get a little bit. I said, no, that's stealing. And although I know that Costco would be losing less than 20 cents on her getting a splash of soda. It's the principle of the matter. It's the core value. In our family, we don't steal. For me, it was very important to explain that to a 7 year old. She's thinking it's a little bit of soda and some ice. Like, that's not stealing. Yes, it is. It is just the beginning. If I fudge a little bit here on this core value of mine, then I can fudge a little bit over here and I can, decrease the margin over here and I can, it's just a little bit over here. These justifications that we give ourselves are just allowing us to cheat. A justification, all it is, is a chance for us to skirt the rules. I was talking with a new client today, and she and I were talking about how she justifies purchases. If she can find any kind of justification, she'll make it even though she knows it's not an integrity with her budget. Maybe it's something she shouldn't be buying. She knows that maybe it's, you know, she said, I have a budget and I have a diet and this is cheating both. But she can somehow twist it in her mind to justify the purchase. Anytime somebody feels like they can justify something, you have to ask yourself why. Why are you trying to make that fit in? Why are you trying to adjust your life to fit that in? When I talk about core values, Let's 1st, talk about what they are? We did this last week with the sinking funds. What are core values? They are important beliefs and needs that impact all areas of your life. In order to live them out, though, you have to be able to name them. When I say important beliefs and needs that impact all areas of your life, what do you think? Are there words, are there thoughts, are there phrases that pop up in your mind? Because sometimes we have core values that we don't even realize that we have. Sometimes core values, you didn't even choose them. You've just heard them all your life and so you go with it. Things like cleanliness is next to godliness. Some of you have that as a core value. That's not in the Bible, my friends. That is totally made up by man. Cleanliness is next to godliness. There are people that have that in their lives as a core value. So they are constantly cleaning their home and they take a lot of pride in that cleanliness because they have justified it in their mind. Hmm, amazing how that comes back, isn't it? Maybe you have a core value of honesty. Where we are going to be honest to a fault. You are always, always honest, but that can hurt you if you don't sprinkle in some grace and some mercy with your honesty, can't it? In order to live out core values, in order to live out the beliefs and needs that impact you, you need to be able to name them. So I wanted to read out a list. Got on the internet and I did a search of a list of core values. You can find these anywhere. The lists are very long. I'm just going to read some of them to you today most of which resonated with me. Not all of them, some of them I was like, no, that doesn't resonate with me. So I'm not going to say it, but some of them are super referential to my life. And in a little bit, I'm going to tell you what my core values are, but I'm going to read you a list very quickly of some core values and you can decide. Do any of these affect you? Do any of these resonate with you or any of these ones that you want to take moving forward? Accountability? Balance. Community. Consistency. Creativity. Dependability. Discipline. Efficiency. Elegance. Empathy. Faith. Family. Freedom. Fun. Generosity. Grace. Honesty. Humility. Independence. Joy. Justice. Legacy. Loyalty, mastery, perfection, preparedness, quality, resourcefulness, responsibility, risk, security, self reliance, service, teamwork, timeliness, tradition, trust, understanding. All of these are words that can impact any area of your life. All of these words can be important beliefs that you hold to strongly. They can also, if you're not careful, harm you. So let's talk how, about how a core value can serve you. First of all, core value cuts down on decision making. I didn't have to think through, can my daughter go get some soda in her cup? Because to me, that's stealing, and stealing is not something that we do in this family. Cuts down on my decision making. And I've told you this multiple times, my decision fatigue is real. The fewer decisions I have to make, the better my life is. I don't have to wonder whether or not I'm going to cheat on my husband. Nope. Honesty, integrity, loyalty. Those are part of my core values. Decision made. Already. Don't have to worry about it. Core values also serve you because they increase your satisfaction and fulfillment. What? Who doesn't want more satisfaction? You will feel so much more satisfied when you're whole, when you're in integrity with yourself, when you know Where the lines are, and you are coloring within them, you're going to feel great about that. And I don't know about you, but I, I love the idea of being satisfied at the end of the day. Here's a new thing. I'm working really hard at the end of the day to finish the day strong. I write it every day on my planner. Day for finish strong. Day 5 finish strong and I'm going to keep at this because I want to be someone who is finishing just as strong as I start. I want to complete things in my home. My biggest thing right now is that at the end of the day, when I have finally put all of the children to bed, all I want to do is crawl into my own bed, read a book and go to sleep. But there are things I need to do to set myself up to have a good day tomorrow. I need to make sure that all of the dishes are done. I need to make sure that the living room is picked up clean and all of the clutter is put away. I need to make sure that the bathroom has been picked up, you know, the sinks wipe down. I have 4 little kids that don't know how to handle their toothpaste. I need to just wipe it down because I'm going to wake up tomorrow so much more refreshed. I am working on becoming a person that finishes strong. I'm also in the new year working on being a person that wakes up with my alarm. I've been working on this for a while. It is something that I'm putting extra intention towards. And that really, really brings me a lot of satisfaction to wake up in the morning with my alarm to wake up in the morning and see a clean home. I'm not only calm, but I'm so proud of myself and to start the day proud of myself. Wow, I get so much more done because I started proud of myself and I continue being a person that pushes through and finishes strong. Another way that core values can serve you. And this is kind of the opposite of what I just said before. Core values decrease your discomfort and distress. Guess it's kind of a carrot and stick situation, right? What is, what is better for you? Do I want to increase my satisfaction or do I just want to decrease discomfort? Either way, having these core values, being able to name the ones that serve me helps me move forward. I am having an easier time making decisions. I'm feeling more satisfied. I'm feeling less distress. This is why I want you to put core values in your life. I want you to sit down and think about what are the core values for me? What are the core values for my family? And if you run a business, what are the core values for your business? Because you and I are here in this forum, because this is my podcast and financial coaching is my business, this idea of creating an abundant life, an abundant legacy, because that is why we are here, I'm going to tell you what the core values are in my business just to show you kind of how how I've made these. These business and personal core values can be different, but they often relate to one another. I've gone to Ramsey headquarters, so Ramsey solutions is headquartered in Franklin, Tennessee, and I've gotten to go there a few times. And 1 of the things that I think is totally rad about the place is they literally have their core values painted on the walls. Anytime they have a big space of wall, they have it painted up. In their branding in their colors, and it's 1 of their core values right on the wall. And I love that. It's even in the stairwell. So you're going up and down the stairs you have to focus on something. Why not focus on what this core value is? And I think it's really important because the company wants to embody this. It is now a bigger organization. They want to focus in on you. These are how we treat people. These core values are how the company runs. These core values help us make our decisions, right? Go back to that decision fatigue. Our decisions are made because we know what our values are. While I was there, I learned about this idea of core values and I learned about how to create them for my business. And so I want to share this with you right now. I have three core values in my business, the first of which is my favorite. The first of which is that life change happens in relationship. You've heard it said before that we are a summation of the five people we spend the most time with. We've heard bad company corrupts bad morals. We have heard you are who you hang around with. We have heard so many times. These adages that they don't seem real, but they are and I know that when if you had told me when I was a teenager, you know, you are in the people that you hang around with. I'm like, yeah, sure. Mom, whatever. But it's true. If you hang out with a lot of people that are going to pump you up and build you up and build your steam and say, hey, you can do this. I know you can. They're going to bring your temperature up and you are going to start burning through your goals. But if you were hanging around a bunch of people that say there's no way you can do that. That's not even possible. You're never gonna do that. People like you don't do that. And they're gonna cool you off and you're never going to be able to get to the next level because the people around you are constantly dragging you down. Life change happens in relationship. So for me as a financial coach, I want to be the easiest relationship that you have. I want to build you up. I want to help you change your life. And we do that by focusing on your money, I'm going to help you change your life because of the relationship that we have with 1 another. And I hope that you are getting some of that out of this podcast, but I would love to go deeper with you. So, if you ever would like to set up a time for us to just chat for me to get to know you to get to know your frustrations and to help you make a change. Or you just want to have a virtual cup of coffee. I'll have a conversation with an adult any day. Let me know. All you have to do is scroll down on my show notes, click the money mastery button, and it will send you to my calendar so you can schedule a complimentary call where we can help you get clarity and confidence in your finances. Hey, accelerators, would you mind doing me a little favor? Could you take five seconds, pop on over to your podcast player and leave me a five star review? Then if you have an extra 25 seconds, would you write a little something to let other people know that this is the place to be to grow your wealth and increase your legacy? I would really appreciate the help boosting the ratings this year. By doing this, you're really making a difference. The second core value I have for my business is that being debt free is the fastest way to peace. Why is this a core value in my business? Obviously I live my life debt free. It is a core value in my family. We are debt free. We, debt is not an option. You need to buy a new car. Guess what? Save up for it. So why is it a core value in my business? Because not all financial coaches believe that being debt free is the best way to go. And also you do not have to be debt free or even want to be debt free to be my client. I am happy to work with you and to help you feel confident and clear, no matter where you are. No matter what you want with your finances, my job is to help you feel good about your decisions. However, I'm going to always have a bent towards being debt free because that's where I found peace. If you want to know a little bit more about the piece that I found, you can go back into some of my earlier podcasts where I talk about the time that my son had emergency surgery at five weeks old and I didn't have to worry about the money. There was peace. I had an emergency where I got to ride in an ambulance. I don't know if I've told you guys about that. I, um, I choked. Was literally choking, had to call 911 to get help and support, and I had something stuck in my throat. It would not come out. I have four little kids. I didn't have to worry about whether or not to take the ambulance ride because it did not matter how much it cost. I have the money to cover it. It's fine. That's peace with my finances. And that peace with my finances came because I chose in 2016 to be debt free. And my business runs debt free, and I know that that is where peace where peace in my finances comes from. I want you to have peace and I think that living debt free is the fastest way to that financial peace, but you don't have to believe that to work with me. The third core value that I have in my business Is that legacy is more than money. You knew legacy was coming up. You knew that was something I was going to talk about, right? Legacy is more than money. Yes, I am a financial coach. Yes, I want you to build wealth. Yes, I want you to build wealth and leave it to the next generation and the generation after that. A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children. That man can also mean woman. It's a human word, not a gender thing. A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children. That word inheritance Does not just mean money. It's a good reputation. It's good habits. It's good tools. And yes, it's money. There's so many things that you can pass on, and I want to make sure that your legacy is rich. I want to make sure it's abundant. I want to make sure that you are passing on some of those good core values. Not made up things that don't matter, but things that are really heartfelt and thoughtful. Maybe you grew up and you heard people say things like money doesn't grow on trees. Yeah, I heard that too, and I've said it to my children. That's not a core value of mine. But I do know people that are so afraid they're going to run out of money, they're never going to have enough, because money doesn't grow on trees. I have to work really hard to get it. It's really difficult. No, money doesn't grow on trees, but we work hard. And as long as we spend less than we make, we're going to be okay. Whether we make 60, 000 a year or 60, 000 a month, if you spend all of it, you'll have nothing. But if you spend wisely, you will have plenty at the end of the year or at the end of your life or at the time when you're ready to leave your legacy. Friends, I would love to know if any of the core values we talked about today resonated with you. I want to know. What are your core values? What are your core values in life? What are your core values in your business? What did this spark for you today? Did you think of some things that you've been holding on to that don't actually serve you, that have been a core value, but they are hurting you? Let's get rid of those. Let's work through those. Let's have those conversations. Again, all you have to do is scroll down, click on money mastery. Let's have a conversation. I look forward to talking to you again next week, but another week seems like, seems like it's just too long. Would you jump over to Instagram and, let's have a conversation. I want to be in relationship with you. So reach out. Let's talk. What are your core values? Have a great week, my friends. Go out and make a difference. Thank you for investing your time with us today on the Accelerate Your Legacy podcast. Remember, your legacy isn't just measured in dollars and cents, but in the tools, habits, mindset, and reputation you leave behind. Don't just listen to the show, but take action on what you've learned. Share this wisdom with a friend who can benefit and help us spread the word by rating and reviewing the podcast. For questions or encouragement, reach out to me on Instagram at Accelerate Your Legacy or explore the resources listed in the show notes. I will be back with you next week. Until then, build your legacy with intention.