MEN OF VALUE : TOM CANALE   by James Riordan

For an update on Tom: http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/elmhurst/community/chi-ugc-article-elmhursts-canale-honored-for-extraordinary-v-2015-04-20-story.html

Tom Canale is more than just a financial advisor. He is someone who helps people plan for their future. If he does his job well he brings happiness and security into lives where there may have been fear and uncertainty before. Therefore, it is important to many that he is a man of value. “My values are work ethic and family, Canale said. “Those are the two things I value the most and, after that, I value good health. I think with good health, if you take care of yourself, you increase the amount of good opportunities that you have. If you work in your disciplines, have a good work ethic and take advantage of the good health you have to follow your pursuits than you ultimately lead to providing for yourself and, in my line of work, someone else’s family. For me, if I can take advantage of the gifts I’ve been given of good physical health, good mental health, good financial health and some wisdom, I can go to work every day and help people financially have a better life. And, if I help their family, I’m also helping mine. So my income very much lines up with my values.”As with anyone who follows a path of honor, there is a price to pay and sometimes that means passing up money or even losing a client. “My values limit my choices sometimes because I’m only going to do what I believe is right for people. If I didn’t have the values that I have, it might seem that I would have more opportunities to make money sometimes, but not only do I think that’s the wrong thing to do, I also believe that I have better opportunities because I follow my values and they determine my action.”

Canale reads a lot of leadership books, but he also seeks inspiration through prayer, trying to learn and understand what God would have him do. He defines freedom as “having the power to choose – to choose how I spend my time, who I impact and how I do my work every day.”

With freedom comes responsibility of course, and Canale sees the lack of that kind of consideration as one of the major problems in America today. “I think that ultimately there may be a little too much choice in our nation. I think people need a little more clarity up front. Especially when it comes to financial matters, I don’t think our nation is headed in the direction where people are organized financially and save money. People spend too much money. They don’t necessarily keep their priorities in front of them. When I think about faith and finances, I think they are often the same in that your spiritual health can reflect your financial health. I would like to see a better trajectory.”

Canale believes that one important way in which America could solve many of its problems is for people to have a vision and a plan, both for themselves and the country as a whole. “I think people ultimately need to have a vision for their future according to their faith. I think if people were more honest about what their real purpose is, we’d have a better society. I think we’d have less crying. I think we’d have more people involved in church and we’d have more people involved in providing a mentorship for other individuals. I believe people need a plan and need to pay attention to the fundamentals to make things better.   Most people are self-centered because they feel like they are behind. They feel depressed and when people feel they are behind, they don’t worry about other people and for our country to get back to the things that made us great, we need to care more about others. We need to know who we are and where we are going and be willing to help the next person along the way.”

___