Ending the Year Strong: Gratitude, Reconnection, and Experiences

In this episode of the 'Retire Early Retire Now' podcast, host Hunter Kelly from Palm Valley Wealth Management discusses strategies for closing out the year and reenergizing for 2026. With Thanksgiving and other holidays approaching, it's a good time to focus on essential aspects like gratitude, reconnecting with loved ones, and valuing experiences over material possessions. Hunter emphasizes the importance of reflecting on positive experiences and relationships, highlighting how these elements can provide energy and fulfillment. He encourages listeners to give experiential gifts and spend meaningful time with people they care about. Although guest Danny White could not join due to technical issues, the episode remains timely and relevant.

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Transcript

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And welcome to the retire early retire now podcast. I'm your host hunter Kelly owner of Palm valley wealth management. And today we're going to talk about how to end the year strong. And reenergize yourself for the 2026 year. Uh, this week is Thanksgiving. So, uh, it's good time to start thinking about year end. We're only a few short weeks away from, uh, 2026. And so with the holidays, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, all the things in between. Uh, this year is quickly coming to an end. So. Uh, it was a good time to reset reenergize and get ready for 20, 26. And so, uh, we were supposed to have Danny white on the podcast, but there was a little bit of technical difficulty with our recording. Um, so we're going to do that here in a couple of weeks, but, uh, I think this topic today, Uh, is a good one and appropriate for this week, given, uh, the week of Thanksgiving. And so, uh, let's just hop right into it. So. Um, thinking from not necessarily a money standpoint, but maybe a mindset standpoint. Uh, I want to cover really three things today. Uh, that I think can help you. Kind of end the year, close out the year mentally, um, and get ready for the beginning of next year. And so, uh, those three things, one, we want to focus on gratitude. Focus on reconnecting with people that you care about the most and focus on experience. Right? And so how do we get the most out of life? We do all these things to optimize our financial situation, whether that be. Uh, retirement contributions, tax planning, all, all these nerdy things that I talk about a lot. Uh, but if you are accumulating all this wealth, but you don't know how to use it. Um, what's the point in doing it anyways? So a 100% optimization all the time is not necessarily always the best thing. Uh, usually. What I feel that is the best thing is being able to use that to your advantage, to live the life that you want to use live. Uh, and maximize those dollars toward those goals and values. Right. And so, um, so let's just hop into number one, focusing on gratitude. This is the most appropriate thing I think for this week. It's being thankful and thank you about the things that have happened throughout the year that you have gratitude thankfulness for. Um, so just reflecting on that. Reflect on those positive things that happen throughout the year. Um, and so thinking about the people that you're thankful for, the friends, the family. Um, me myself. I'm thankful for my wife and two kids. Uh, all of our great friends that we have, um, and then professionally. My X, Y P N crew. Uh, that we meet periodically and. And you kind of just do a weekly Dumbo of business and talk about. Casework and, uh, business things and all that. And so without them, uh, Business will be a lot harder. Um, and so very thankful for them as well. And so, uh, thinking about. How, uh, these people have helped you. Uh, focusing on the positive things. Um, can kinda get you. Re-energized get you. Ready to go for this year in and hopping into, to, to next year. And. Just think about those people, that every time that you see them, every time that you talk to them, you feel energized. All right. We don't want. Um, to be hanging around energy killers. We want to, we want to hang around people that give you energy, want, give you a revitalization, want to go do things and accomplish those things that you've always wanted to accomplish. Right. And so be thankful, have gratitude for that. Uh, reflect on the experiences that you've had. So, uh, whether that be hanging out with those people, certain things that you've done, concerts, traveling, uh, vacations, uh, things, professionally, things that you have accomplished, right. What are those experiences that you've had over the last year? Um, that you're most thankful for. Right. And, and how did those things come about? How did you get those opportunities? Um, and be thankful for those opportunities that you were given to have those experiences, right. So for me, it's been, uh, Hanging out, obviously we're friends and family. We, we did a couple of beets, beach vacations, one, one with family. Uh, one with friends, very thankful for that. Right. And uh, doing this podcast has been fun. It's been a learning experience. Um, I'm very thankful. I've been able to stay fairly consistent with it. Um, and it's it's. Grown, uh, to a point where I'm very happy with it. And very thankful for, for you guys listening every week and, and hopefully getting some value out of it so that obviously you can better your situation. Uh, to build, redo the things that we always talk about on the podcast. I'm thankful for the opportunities. That I get to work with the types of clients that have gotten to work with. Uh, this past year, and it's not always glamorous situations. When you, when you start working with clients there's there's death, there's divorce. There's. Just general financial stress about your situation wearing that. Hey, am I going to be able to accomplish the things that I want to accomplish? Right. And so being able to. To get their trust, um, and being able to work with them and knowing that I can add value and give them peace of mind. I'm a very thankful for that opportunity to do that. And so. Um, So this week as we kind of inch near, uh, Thanksgiving. Go ahead and reflect on those things that, that you have gratitude for that you're thankful for. Um, to, to give you back some energy. Uh, to get through this next couple of weeks and, and carried on into 2026. And the next thing to focus on here in the next six, seven weeks that we have left in the year is. Uh, this is a great time to reconnect with people that one you care about, but two, maybe you haven't seen it in awhile. When you think about. This year. Uh, especially with what's going on. There's so many things that have been polarizing and dividing, right? Whether it's the, the. The conflicts overseas coming over here and people having their opinions on them and the election cycle with, depending on whose party that, that you like or don't like, um, all these different topics, the media. Creating other situations that are polarizing. Right. And so it's easy to kind of go, oh, that person likes like, uh, Israel or this person likes Trump or. Whatever right. And now it's kind of that tension, that divide, right? Forget about all that. Right. Generally speaking, most people want. Everyone to be prosperous around them. Right. We just have different ways of getting to that specific place. Right. So I think back to a conversation that I had with a family member slash client. A few weeks ago and we have very different political views. Um, but that doesn't mean that I don't love him or like him. Um, Uh, I actually generally enjoy his company. Right. And we can still have those differences. I know that he cares about me. I cared about him. He's a good person. Um, I would hope that he thinks I'm a good person, right? Um, we just have different ways of kind of getting to where we want to get. I want him to be prosperous. He wants me to be prosperous. Um, we just, again, have different ideas of how we should get there. Right. And so, Uh, reconnect with those people, that one you care about. And two, maybe you haven't seen in awhile. Um, because at the end of the day, that's what life is about is those relationships. Um, and so a big reason why I'm in this business is because if you trust me with your money, And your financial planning needs. Um, then we probably have a fairly decent relationship. And so, um, that's what I value most about working with the people that I work with. Um, whether that be with work or just outside of work, things of that nature. I love having those relationships. And I think that makes it getting through life a lot easier. Right. And so life is not always easy, but if you have those tight knit relationships, whether it be friends or family members, uh, it can make things a little bit more bearable, right? So the last thing. Uh, to focus on. Is maybe not the material things, but focus on experiences. Right? So whether you celebrate Christmas or Hanukkah or. What have you? Um, there's probably going to be family, get togethers, friends, getting together. Um, and so, uh, in these holidays there there's traditions of gift giving and things of that nature. And so what I challenge you to do is find a way to give an experience, right. And it doesn't necessarily have to be super extravagant. Um, maybe it's something simple as. Uh, if you're given a gift, maybe you give. A gift of a cooking class, right? So that you can go with your spouse or another family member. So you can spend time with that person and have an experience of making some sort of meal or dessert, whatever the cooking classes, but also spending time with that person, getting to know that person more. Um, because at the end of the day, Uh, they aren't necessarily going to remember that toy or that item that you gave them 20 years ago. They're going to remember how you made them feel right. And so. Uh, Getting out and doing those experiences. Maybe. Uh, instead of you giving a bunch of material items to your children for Christmas, maybe you tone it down a little bit and decide to go on a vacation, right? Um, and it's something that they would remember for a lot longer. Um, then some sort of logo Lego toy or, or what have you. And so these are all kind of conversations. My wife and I have had over the last couple of months as well. Um, we certainly want to do. More of the experience things, and maybe it's the millennial and me and her. Um, but. The things that we value or those experience type things. So whether that be vacations or activities, Uh, like for my son's birthday here coming up soon. Uh, we're doing, uh, a more experienced type deal versus a necessarily getting them a present things of that nature. And so, um, these are the things that we just value and we believe in. That we think will make us most fulfilled in. life. And so that's really what I wanted to get across today. Short and sweet. Um, spend time to think about what you're thankful for. Uh, focus on reconnecting with people that maybe you haven't connected with in quite some time, or just, uh, people that you care about. And experience life with them. Right. Uh, this is the most key part to life I feel is connecting and experiencing life with this people that you care about love and being thankful for those experiences. experiences. and opportunities. So, uh, appreciate you guys listening. Did you like this podcast? Go ahead and leave. A five star review on your favorite podcasting app. Um, and we will see you in the next one. This podcast is for educational purposes only. It is not meant to be financial or investment advice, please. CK tax legal or financial professional before making any decisions on your specific situation. Please keep Palm valley wealth management in mind when making those considerations.