I love “big ideas”. The way I see it, a big idea is the “why” behind what we do. It’s the idea that sits on top of other ideas.

One of my big ideas is that we shouldn’t wait until someone close to us dies to celebrate life. Life is meant to be celebrated along the way. Fortunately, my wife, Jeané, agrees with this big idea, so we’re always on the lookout for opportunities to enjoy life with others. Sometimes that is a small gathering and other times it’s a big party.

We are celebrating two milestones with our children this spring. I recently mentioned in a video blog that our son graduated from high school this year. In addition, our daughter celebrated her 16th birthday in May. Of course, both occasions were opportunities for us to have a party with family and friends.

I believe big ideas are also extremely useful when creating a financial plan. Before we can determine the strategy and the details of execution, it’s imperative we know why this is the path we are choosing.

I recently had a conversation with a client about their big idea of being debt-free. They wanted to be out from underneath their monthly repayment obligations so they could direct their cash-flow to other goals and opportunities. Their big idea will be motivation for them to work at an aggressive debt payoff plan and discourage them from adding additional debt in the future.

Without a set of big ideas to motivate our actions, we are left making decisions on the whims of emotion and instant gratification. What are some of the big ideas that have motivated your decisions and actions?