The Elephant in the Room: Sharing the Secrets for Pursuing Real Financial Success

Chapter 5. Values

Jennifer and I arrived at the restaurant a few minutes late for our lunch meeting. Aunt Katherine was waiting in the booth, her salad already ordered and on the table in front of her. Jennifer and I ordered, anxious to get down to business.

"It's been a hard week," I admitted, taking a bite. "I've hardly been able to sleep, thinking about all of this."

"But I see it hasn't affected your appetite!"

I laughed. "Very funny."

"What's keeping you up at night, son?"

"I just feel like I've taken a huge step backward since our first meeting."

Aunt Katherine just gazed at me quietly. I took another bite of my cheeseburger. "I went back and reviewed our notes from the last few lunches. So far we've talked about knowledge, attitudes, truths, beliefs, and now values. I just don't feel like we're getting anywhere. I feel like a hamster on a treadmill, just running in place."

"Because you wanted to talk about stocks."

"Well, not just stocks, but annuities, investments, bonds, all that stuff. That's what gets me excited. That's the kind of stuff I'm ready to dive right into to start building wealth."

"Do you feel the same way?" she asked Jennifer.

"No, I like these discussions!"

"If you want to talk specifics about stocks and bonds, Michael, you need to talk to a financial professional. But you asked me about my secret, and I'm telling you that there's no one magic bullet. These elements of behavior that we're talking about are the real secrets to building financial success."

"How do you ...