On a Scale of 1 to 5….

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Last week I was excited to meet with a successful Austin venture capitalist to talk about Financial Woman. Our meeting prompted me to go back to my office and list everything I was doing in my business, and rate each effort on a scale of 1 to 5 regarding effectiveness of better reaching women seeking to improve their financial health through better money solutions and strategies.

I love analyzing things, so much so, that I often spend so much time analyzing that my business coach gets onto me.  But in the end, analysis is what leads us to make better decisions that lead to the highest ROI, or Return on Investment, whether that involves our time, money, or other resources. This is true for life, business and personal finances.

Here’s a quick and empowering exercise. Take 5 minutes to list everything that you are doing related to your personal finances. Some examples include:

• Salary
• Investing in a retirement plan
• Funding an IRA
• Leasing rental properties (as the landlord)
• Capitalizing on trends in the financial markets
• Generating net income from one or more small businesses
• Monitoring and improving monthly cash flow
• Looking for ways to increase earnings from your career
• Learning for new ways to generate income from investment capital
• Getting a financial team in place to help grow your money
• Monitoring your net worth

You’ll probably have more ideas that relate to your specific situation. Now rate each item you’ve listed on a scale of 1 to 5 with regard to how well each one is working for you; the result can be for any reason. 1 is total avoidance or failure, and an act that sees significant benefit earns a 5.

This kind of quick analysis usually offers loads of insights and ideas on where you should focus next on financial solutions for whatever is ailing you. This can include anything from simply needing to be more involved with your wealth management by meeting with your financial advisor to creating positive monthly cash flow so you can pay off credit card debt. Introspection always reveals answers; the only question is whether or not we’ll take advantage of those financial solutions that are presented to us.