Your M.A.P. How well are you lining-up your day-to-day financial choices with your values and the things that matter most to you in life? How effective are you at balancing the various aspects of your life? You’ll know after responding to these 29 questions which take you about 12 minutes to complete. Aligning your money closely to your values has the effect of reducing stress, increase your confidence about your future and enhancing your overall quality of life. This index will help you discover, or confirm, how are you doing with your financial decisions and, most importantly, what to do as a next step to move your money choices more in alignment with your values.
Life has an expiration date and so it is important to periodically assess, like this, whether you are spending your precious time on those things that are less important, thereby sacrificing doing the things that matter most to you. Since everything is not equally important in life, you will be happier if you have the right balance. Part of achieving the right balance involves connecting with your values and priorities so you can allocate more time to those areas when time is limited. Your quality of life is enhanced if you spend your time doing the things that matter most to you, and making financial choices that allow for this, and set up a probability that you will increasingly be able to spend more time doing the things that matter most. This index will not only create a measurable benchmark to measure against in the future, the questions alone will stimulate you to examine ways to increase the way you better invest your money and precious time.
People often look at work & life as though they should have an equal balance between the two; like a balanced scale. This conception of balance is not the best because it does not take into account an individual’s current goals which can change over time. Much more importantly, though, the “balanced view” ignores the priorities in life. For example, would you say there are things in your life that are more important than money? If so, then you would, if you thought about it, spend more time and money on those things, throwing things “out of balance,” but in a very good way. This tilting of resources to align your money and time with your values leads to an increasingly more fulfilled and happy life. It helps you create and refine a positive vision of your ideal future, but examining the little decisions you make each day (good and bad) when you invest your money and your time.
This assessment provides a comprehensive look at finding a balance between work, family, friends, activities, exercise, and time alone. It takes into account the right balance for you at this point in time. The results will give you an indication of how well you have currently achieved the balance that is right for you right now.
Please complete all items. Rate each item on a scale of 1-5. Please choose one number and do not write a decimal, such as 3.5. Select the answer that best represents your feelings, thoughts, and behaviors regarding your desirable balance. Choose how true each statement is for you.
Since you will get a score, it is recommended that you take this assessment at least three times per year. Take it once a month if you like. Track it on a chart, if you like. This score is more important to track than any investment or career measurement you follow. If you give me your e-mail address at the bottom, I’ll e-mail you the results of your assessment, but will never, ever, divulge your e-mail address to any other organization. This assessment is secure, it’s for you alone and I hope you gain much by investing the 12 minutes it takes, on average, to complete.
Warm Regards,
Mark Little
| 1. I often find that I am focusing a lot more of my time and energy on money than I would like, versus other aspects of my life. |
| Less True - 1 2 3 4 5 - More True |
| 1. Lately I have felt upset because so much of my time has been dedicated to my work that I have had little time for my family or friends. |
| Less True - 1 2 3 4 5 - More True |
| 1. Given my current priorities in life, I feel I am making a sacrifice right now. |
| Less True - 1 2 3 4 5 - More True |
| 1. The fact that I have not been able to focus on my health & fitness by doing exercise or do recreational activities lately has been causing me distress. |
| Less True - 1 2 3 4 5 - More True |
| 1. I am not happy about the huge investment that my career or another aspect of my life has been lately. |
| Less True - 1 2 3 4 5 - More True |
| 1. I know there are some aspects of my ideal life that are definitely missing. |
| Less True - 1 2 3 4 5 - More True |
| 1. I know there are things in my life that I could somehow delegate, which would free-up time to focus on more fulfilling things that matter more to me. |
| Less True - 1 2 3 4 5 - More True |
| 1. I know I spend money on things that, in retrospect, I wish I hadn’t. |
| Less True - 1 2 3 4 5 - More True |
| 1. I want to be “more giving” with my money, but I don’t know if it is financially wise… so I don’t give as generously as I would like. |
| Less True - 1 2 3 4 5 - More True |
| 1. I frequently wonder, when I spend money helping people, if I’m helping them or, perhaps, denying them the opportunity to learn by suffering financially. |
| Less True - 1 2 3 4 5 - More True |
| 1. I’m discontent at times because I am not doing the meaningful things that I feel I’m on earth to do. I’m not making as big of a difference as I could and should. |
| Less True - 1 2 3 4 5 - More True |
| 1. I commonly have thoughts like, “If only I could win the lottery or make it big, I would not be working so hard.” |
| Less True - 1 2 3 4 5 - More True |
| 1. I have always wanted to do several important things, but am not able to do any of them right now because there simply is not time in the day. |
| Less True - 1 2 3 4 5 - More True |
| 1. I find that I get frustrated often because I am not able to spend time with my family/friends or have some time for myself. |
| Less True - 1 2 3 4 5 - More True |
| 1. I know that my day-to-day financial decisions are frequently not well-aligned with my values and those things that matter most to me in life. |
| Less True - 1 2 3 4 5 - More True |
| 1. The fact that my financial life is not as well organized as it should be causes me stress. |
| Less True - 1 2 3 4 5 - More True |
| 1. I often feel like I am missing out on the things that mean the most to me. |
| Less True - 1 2 3 4 5 - More True |
| 1. It is typical for me to think that I have made poor decisions about how to invest my time and energy. |
| Less True - 1 2 3 4 5 - More True |
| 1. I frequently think, “wouldn’t it be amazing if I could do more of the things that bring me the most satisfaction or joy?” |
| Less True - 1 2 3 4 5 - More True |
| 1. When I think about how I spent my money over the past three months, I feel I could and should have made smarter choices about my money. |
| Less True - 1 2 3 4 5 - More True |
| 1. I have no idea how much money I need to do all the things I want to do in my life, things that will take money and planning to achieve. |
| Less True - 1 2 3 4 5 - More True |
| 1. I do not feel in control of my money or future. |
| Less True - 1 2 3 4 5 - More True |
| 1. There are more times than I would like, where unanticipated money “surprises” cause me stress, and I have that “unexpected payment” to make. |
| Less True - 1 2 3 4 5 - More True |
| 1. Significant people in my life have complained that they do not spend enough time with me and this bothers me. |
| Less True - 1 2 3 4 5 - More True |
| 1. I know I could make smarter choices about my money. |
| Less True - 1 2 3 4 5 - More True |
| 1. As I look back, I know there were 168 hours in each of the last four weeks, and I spent many of them doing things that matter less to me, thereby sacrificing doing things that matter most to me. |
| Less True - 1 2 3 4 5 - More True |
| 1. I do not have a current comprehensive written lifetime financial plan, and I know I should. |
| Less True - 1 2 3 4 5 - More True |
| 1. I feel that I am doing many things because I have to, not because I want to. This idea often upsets me. |
| Less True - 1 2 3 4 5 - More True |
| 1. People I respect and care about have told me that I do not seem fulfilled or happy. |
| Less True - 1 2 3 4 5 - More True |
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