Most people plan for their finances — but what about their relationships, community, and passions? It’s time to take a more holistic approach to your future.
In this episode of The Agent of Wealth Podcast, host Marc Bautis is joined by Aliki Samone, author of Conquer Your Summit: How to Build a Five-Year Plan & Live Your Best Life and The Summit Method: A 3-Step Strategy for Success in Self, Wealth, and Community. Aliki shares her transformative “Summit Method,” which guides individuals in creating a values-based five-year plan that goes far beyond financial goals — touching on relationships, community, and personal growth.
In this episode, you will learn:
- How to apply goal-setting strategies to both tangible and intangible life objectives.
- Why community and relationship goals deserve a place in your long-term planning — and how to structure them.
- The importance of visualization, data tracking, and regular check-ins to stay aligned with your plan.
- What to do when you hit a setback or lose momentum — and how to bounce back with clarity and purpose.
- And more!
Whether you’re in a transitional phase or simply seeking more intentionality in life, this episode is packed with practical tools to help you map out and live your vision.
Resources:
www.conqueryoursummit.com | Conquer Your Summit: How to Build a Five-Year Plan & Live Your Best Life | The Summit Method: A 3-Step Strategy for Success in Self, Wealth, and Community | Bautis Financial: 8 Hillside Ave, Suite LL1 Montclair, New Jersey 07042 (862) 205-5000 | Schedule an Introductory Call
Disclosure: The transcript below has been edited for clarity and content. It is not a direct transcription of the full episode, which can be listened to above.
Welcome back to The Agent of Wealth Podcast, this is your host Marc Bautis. Today, we’re diving into something that goes beyond just financial planning – we’re talking about life planning.
Perhaps you have felt stuck in your career, finances, or personal growth, unsure of what your next step should be. That’s where our guest, Aliki Samone comes in. She’s the author of Conquer Your Summit: How to Build a Five-Year Plan & Live Your Best Life and The Summit Method: A 3-Step Strategy for Success in Self, Wealth, and Community. Her work focuses on creating a structured, actionable plan for achieving success in four key areas: personal growth, financial freedom, career success, and community impact.
Today, Aliki will share insights from The Summit Method, and we’ll discuss how to craft a five-year life plan. We’ll also discuss why financial freedom is a crucial part of long-term success, and the mental tools needed to stay on track.
Aliki, welcome to the show.
Hello, hello! Thanks for having me. I’m excited to be here.
Excited to have you. Before we jump into The Summit Method and your approach to life planning, I’d like to hear about your journey. What led you to this work, and why did you feel compelled to develop this framework?
Absolutely. So, I’m a former aerospace engineer. I say “former” because while I studied aerospace engineering, I spent over 10 years working in the industry. But then I decided to make a full life shift. Maybe that resonates with some of you who’ve gone on a different path.
That engineering mindset is still deeply ingrained in everything I do, but I’m also a creative. I’m a musician, a muralist, and I have a strong passion for all the dreams and visions I’ve had for life, which has been with me since I was a little girl.
This internal struggle between the analytical left brain and the creative right brain has shaped my entire life. When I graduated college and started my first “big girl” job in aerospace, I quickly realized that I wanted to do so much more. I wanted to grow, travel, and understand what financial stability really meant. I feel like many of us don’t get financial education growing up, and then you leave college and you’re expected to have life figured out.
On top of that, career goals start to fill your mind — things like, “How do I get promoted? How do I become a manager?” And of course, there’s the need for strong community connections—family, friends, coworkers, sports teams, volunteer groups—whatever is important to you.
I found that I needed a method, a way to organize all of these aspirations into a structured format so I wouldn’t spiral out of control in my twenties, wondering, What am I doing with my life? I’m sure many people can relate to that feeling at any age.
So, the Summit Method really came from my personal journey, and it was developed by myself and my then-boyfriend (now husband). Together, we created this method to help us accelerate through a five-year period. Then it caught on, and I began teaching friends and family how to break down success into four key areas: personal growth, financial freedom, career success, and community impact. I realized that without a plan, we’re just left with wishes and dreams. That’s really how it all came about.
The Life Purpose Statement: A Key Element in Planning for Success
That’s an amazing story, Aliki. Now, in your book Conquer Your Summit, you introduce the concept of a “Life Purpose Statement” in Chapter 1. Can you explain what a Life Purpose Statement is and why it’s so foundational to the five-year planning process?
Absolutely. The Summit Method is a three-step process that includes mental tools, planning techniques, and execution habits. You just touched on the first step — mental tools — and my first chapter focuses on the Life Purpose Statement.
Before you can start making a five-year plan or pursuing any major goals, you need the right mindset. If you don’t have the mental tools to overcome obstacles, you’ll likely hit barriers. I know I’ve faced barriers — and I still do. Barriers come for all of us. Without the right mindset, it’s hard to learn from them and grow beyond them.
That’s why I emphasize the importance of a Life Purpose Statement. It’s not something I invented — it’s been around for a while. But in my book, I guide readers to craft their own statement by helping them step outside the pressures of family expectations, peer pressure, or societal norms. This isn’t about what others want you to do. It’s about you.
To help with this process, I use mind mapping — a simple technique where you take a blank sheet of paper and write a prompt or question in the center. For example, What experiences have deeply affected me? or What does my ideal life look like? From there, you spend five minutes writing down any thoughts that come to mind. There’s no right or wrong answer — it’s just you reflecting on what’s important to you.
This exercise helps you tap into your deeper thoughts and passions. Then, from that, you can develop your Life Purpose Statement, which should be a simple but powerful sentence that encapsulates why you do what you do.
The idea is that this statement becomes a touchstone — something you can revisit when times get tough. When you’re overwhelmed with debt or facing relationship problems, your Life Purpose Statement should remind you why you’re pushing forward. It won’t fix everything instantly, but it will keep you grounded and motivated.
The Importance of Defining Your “Why” for Financial Goals
I see a lot of people struggle with this, especially in financial planning. When we sit down to map out financial goals, clients often say things like, “I want to retire,” or “I want to send my kids to school.” But these are often very broad, vague goals. As you described, digging deeper into why someone wants these things helps clarify the process. Once someone identifies their “why” and “what” — their vision for the future — how does that translate into the “how” of achieving financial freedom in five years? How do you break that down into actionable steps?
That’s a perfect lead-in to the second step of the Summit Method: planning techniques. In its simplest form, this is about taking big dreams — those scary, top-of-the-mountain goals — and breaking them down into smaller, bite-sized chunks.
It sounds simple, but you’d be surprised how many people skip this step. If I want to run a marathon, I’m not going to just put on my shoes today and go run 26 miles. I’d need to train. That means starting small — buying running shoes, creating a training plan, walking, then running half a mile, and gradually increasing my distance.
The same applies to financial goals or any personal development goals. You have to break it down into manageable steps. For example, maybe your goal is to buy a house. A lot of people feel overwhelmed by the thought of saving for a down payment. But if you break it down, you might discover it’s not as unattainable as it seems. Start by researching first-time homebuyer programs or talking to a financial coach. Then break down the total cost by five years. From there, you can calculate how much you need to save each year — and then each month.
By looking at the numbers this way, that big, seemingly impossible goal becomes much more manageable. And that’s the beauty of planning techniques: you take the big goal, break it down into smaller tasks, and tackle one thing at a time.
The Importance of Regular Check-Ins
Before we wrap up this question, I want to mention an important point. Planning shouldn’t be a once-a-year activity. While New Year’s resolutions are popular, I focus on quarterly check-ins. Every three months, review your plan. What progress have you made? What needs to change?
If you only check in once a year, you risk procrastinating and not adjusting your course as needed. So, whether you’re doing this alone or with a partner, make it a habit to meet every three months to assess your progress and make necessary adjustments. These regular check-ins are key to staying on track and ensuring you’re always moving toward your goals.
Applying a Planning Mindset to Intangible Goals
When it comes to setting goals, some are clearly quantifiable — like buying a house or achieving financial freedom. You can break them down into specific actions: saving a set amount each month or budgeting toward a down payment. But what about goals that are less tangible? How do you apply the same structure to something like community involvement or social contribution?
This is an important question because you’re right — not every goal can be dropped into a spreadsheet and measured numerically. Community, for example, is a perfect representation of that. Yet it’s a critical part of living a meaningful life.
Building Goals Around Relationships
What often gets overlooked in traditional planning is the focus on personal connections—your relationships with family and friends. That’s where I encourage people to start by writing down names. Identify the individuals in your life who are truly important to you.
Now, I know it might sound strange — aren’t we supposed to love all our family and friends equally? But let’s be honest, that’s not how relationships always work. There are people, whether in your immediate or extended family, who play more meaningful roles in your life than others. The same goes for friends.
Once you’ve identified those people, ask yourself: What are you doing to nurture those relationships?
Have you drifted apart from a close friend due to distance? Are there family members you want to be more intentional about seeing? Relationships take effort. Family reunions, for example, don’t happen magically — they require planning. This is where goal-setting comes into play.
Personally, I make a point of listing the friends and family I want to stay close to. For some, that means planning a trip or a visit every year. Because I don’t live close to most of the important people in my life, I have to be intentional about maintaining those bonds.
It doesn’t always have to be a grand gesture or a big trip. Simple actions can be powerful. One example I often share is starting a group chat or digital check-in. In my circle, we do a weekly Wednesday video update — just a quick two-minute clip saying hi, sharing the good and the bad. It’s amazing how connected you can feel with just a few minutes of real, consistent communication.
This kind of intentional communication keeps relationships alive and strong. You don’t have to wait seven months to catch up with someone when you’re building in regular touchpoints.
Of course, there’s also a harder side to this. Sometimes, being intentional about relationships means reevaluating the ones that are no longer healthy.
There may be people in your life — family or friends — whose presence is more draining than uplifting. It’s okay to acknowledge that. I guide people through examining those relationships and identifying where they may need to set boundaries or step away entirely.
Dragging along toxic dynamics can seriously weigh down your ability to grow. So, just like you make plans to maintain meaningful relationships, you should also make plans to manage or release the ones that no longer serve you.
When it comes to less tangible goals like community or connection, think of it as a continuous journey rather than a one-time achievement. It’s not like checking off “buying a house” or “running a marathon.” These goals are more about ongoing effort.
For example, I have a standing goal to organize a family camping trip with my father and sister every year — for as long as we’re able. That’s a lifelong commitment, not a milestone with an endpoint. And I plan for it accordingly. I track it in my five-year plan and actively work toward making it happen, just like I would for any other priority.
Tools to Stay On Track
So how do you manage these types of goals and ensure you’re following through?
That brings us to the third step of the Summit Method: execution habits. It’s not enough to just have the mindset and the plan — you need to follow through with action.
Execution starts with data. And by “data,” I mean anything that helps you visualize your goals. Our minds can be amazing spaces for creativity, but they’re also great at making excuses or distorting reality. So, visualization becomes key.
One simple yet powerful tool is a vision board. It might include images of your dream vacation, your ideal career, or pictures of friends and family — anything that keeps you connected to your goals. Whether it’s digital or hanging on your wall, a vision board provides daily inspiration and keeps your intentions top of mind.
Beyond visualization, I recommend structured tools like a spreadsheet or a workbook. For people who love data and detail, spreadsheets are a great way to track progress — check off tasks, analyze results, and see what’s working.
But if you prefer something more freeform, a journal-style workbook can be just as effective. Either way, the goal is the same: check in regularly, ideally every three months. Review your plan, assess your accomplishments, and ask yourself where adjustments might be needed.
Document both your wins and your setbacks. If something didn’t go as planned, reflect on why. Use that insight to revise your strategy for the next three months.
Because here’s the truth: if you create a beautiful plan and then never look at it again, you’ll forget it. You’ll get distracted by life and end up going in the wrong direction.
Bouncing Back From Setbacks
No journey is without obstacles. Setbacks are inevitable — but they don’t have to derail your progress.
My advice? Let yourself feel the emotions. If you’re frustrated or disappointed, give yourself five minutes — or even a day or two — to sit with that feeling. But don’t stay stuck.
What often happens is that people spiral. One setback leads to imagining worst-case scenarios and assumptions that aren’t based on fact. Instead, I suggest conducting what I call an “emergency summit.” Sit down, take a hard look at the problem, and start creating a plan.
Bring in a mentor, an accountability partner, or someone who’s experienced in navigating similar situations. You don’t have to do this alone. In fact, trying to push through in isolation is one of the worst things you can do. Talk it out, get perspective, and then act.
Use your existing plan, your tools, and your support system to course-correct. Life is a road trip. Sometimes you take a wrong turn, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get back on track.
Where to Learn More
Thanks for joining us for today’s conversation. Aliki, before we wrap up, can you share where listeners can learn more about your work?
Absolutely! I’m Aliki Simone, author of Conquer Your Summit: How to Build a Five-Year Plan and Live Your Best Life. You can find the book on Amazon, or head over to www.conqueryoursummit.com, where you’ll find links to my books, a video/audio course if that’s your preferred learning style, and lots of templates and tools to help you put the Summit Method into action.
Great. We’ll include all that in the resources section of the show notes. Thanks again, Aliki, and thank you to everyone who tuned into today’s episode. Don’t forget to follow The Agent of Wealth on the platform you listen from and leave us a review of the show. We are currently accepting new clients, if you’d like to schedule a 1-on-1 consultation with our advisors, please do so below.
Bautis Financial LLC is a registered investment advisor. Information presented is for educational purposes only and does not intend to make an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of any specific securities, investments, or investment strategies. Investments involve risk and unless otherwise stated, are not guaranteed. Be sure to first consult with a qualified financial advisor and/or tax professional before implementing any strategy discussed herein. Past performance is not indicative of future performance.