I have spent my university years and building my 20s through the financial planning sector. Although it has given me great knowledge and awareness about the significance of financial responsibility, it has also provided other important aspects to life in general and the outlook of it.

Working with families of substantial wealth and handling their financial affairs has provided an insight to their mental make-up and what has driven them to reach their levels of success in their respective businesses and industries. Having worked in this arena throughout the last several years, Families have mentioned several factors that stood out which are driving them:

1. Ambition

They simply have laid out visions early on during their time in the workforce to ensure that they have established a better way of doing business. They have learned their industries inside and out and thought out plans to compete against the norm. This sounds simplistic but it usually starts with having that drive to begin with.

2. A “Producer”

They have realized to truly reach the “financial” level of success that many dream to have achieved, adopting the producer’s mentality is vital. To truly win in this economy, you must think of yourself as a producer vs. a consumer. When you are an employee, you are in the consumer space; however, if you are a founder/owner it is you who is the producer. You are the service provider; you are the job creator and to make “millions”, you must impact millions by providing something to them.

3. Legacy

Something you rarely hear, but heard only after the fact. Believe it or not, individuals and successful families think about the type of legacy they would want to leave after they leave this world and through upcoming generations. Especially working with couples in handling their financial affairs, having something to leave their next generation is an aspect that they think about when looking at the big picture and that is what provides the frame in the decisions they make.

4. Mission

A husband and his wife had established an incredibly successful educational company over the course of their marriage. When asked how it all got started? His wife (the visionary CEO) responded with a mission statement. They had literally had crafted their mission statement word for word together 25 years ago, early on in their marriage (at 22 years old).

#4 astounded me the most, personally. It almost has that “Bonnie and Clyde” mentality in a grandiose type of light. Having been extremely curious about their mission statement, I pressed them a little more for more information. Teachers at heart, working for their respective school districts initially, the couple asked themselves a very important single question:

What kind of value feels like the most important value we could create?

The question was followed by their response - a mission statement that was 1 or 2 sentences long, provided the framework in impacting millions of kids’ lives all over the world. This question, along with their mission statement was printed and framed around their home and their personal work offices. This serves as a reminder to them each and every single day, the mission that they are out to complete day in and day out to bring smiles across kids’ faces as they engage in the learning process.

As we grow in our careers, our goals and passions — always remember to define and find your mission.

What's your mission?