When people think about improving their financial lives, they frequently focus on strategies, portfolios, budgets or tax planning. Those things matter.

But after years of working with successful individuals and families, I've come to believe that the quality of a financial decision depends on the quality of the thinking behind it: How self-aware you are and how well you handle uncertainty.

My colleagues and I call that mental fitness. At Brighton Jones , we use a framework called Mindful, Emotional and Social Intelligence (MESI) to help clients build both financial capital and the internal capacity to use wealth in service of a meaningful life.

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