How to Have Meaningful Conversations with Loved Ones Over the Holidays
Dear Clients & Community,
The holidays are a time of gathering.
For many of us, these are people we only see once in a while, either due to distance or stage of life, and so there’s a desire to make the most of that precious time together. What if there was a fun and easy way to meaningfully connect with your loved ones this holiday season?
The key is to learn more about what’s most important to the people you care about. In other words, understanding someone’s core values.
A great first step is to consider your own:
What are some ways of being (qualities, traits, characteristics) that are really important to you?
What do you need in order to feel free and fulfilled?
Not sure of your answers? We created (no pun intended) the Created Wealth Deck of Values cards for this very reason. You can use it either solo to clarify your own values, or with others close to you as a meaningful conversation tool over the holidays.
For example: you may think that you and Uncle Milton have little in common. But when you both pull the “curiosity” card, you may end up in an extended conversation learning about one another’s unexpected interests.
At Created, our mission is helping people like you design your finances to bring your vision of freedom and fulfillment to life. That starts with clarifying your values.
Sometimes, certain values can mean different things to different people, even within couples or families. A parent may say that they value freedom most, and their child may agree. But for the parent, “freedom” looks like managing funds in a way such that they can provide for future generations independently, while for the child, “freedom” means using said funds to do what they want in life now and express themselves authentically.
When you share your values with someone and get theirs in return it can lead to a stronger connection and opens the door for meaningful conversations.
It is useful to identify what’s most important to you in order to align your resources with those values. Why? Because when you align your resources with your values it creates a stronger sense of purpose, meaning, integrity, and satisfaction with your money, and with your life.
How to Use The Values Deck:
- Grab a cup of tea or a treat. Get cozy and comfortable.
- Go through the deck and pick the top 3 values that resonate the most with you. More than 3 will resonate with you, so ask yourself: which ones are essential?
- If you’re having a hard time choosing, try to make a short list of people you admire or respect. Think about what you admire or respect about them, and find the corresponding value in the deck.
- Solo: Once you’ve chosen your 3 top values, you can either ask yourself or journal about why you choose them. Is there a specific memory you have that solidified that value for you? Can you share that story with someone? If you were going to make new choices in your life based on this value, what would that look like?
- With others: Each person participating in the exercise gets their own deck and performs the steps above (choose the 3 top values that resonate most with you). 1 by 1, take turns sharing which values you chose and why. Share any memories or stories that informed why you chose these cards. As a listener, see if you can summarize what the other person shared as their top values and why those values are so important to them. You can even ask them: what does it look like to live in alignment with those values? Help one another brainstorm ways you can each use your time and money to live your values.
We would love to know: what did you learn about yourself and the people closest to you after using this values deck? Where were you surprised at your differences or similarities? Share with us!
In good wealth,
Anne B. Johnston
Founder & Managing Director at Created