Hi, I'm Derek

I'm drawn to questions people tend to avoid, not because they're not important, but because they're uncomfortable, ambiguous, and don't fit neatly into a spreadsheet.I write and teach about mindfulness, behavior, and money. These are tools: ways into deeper conversations about meaning, identity, values, and the stories we tell ourselves about what a "good life" looks like. My work is grounded in the belief that values matter more than tactics, and that listening matters more than advice.This site brings together my writing, teaching, and ongoing experiments in what it means to live with intention in a complicated world.Learn more about me at DerekHagen.me

Why I Draw

I draw to make sense of things.For years, I've used simple sketches to slow conversations down and make complex ideas easier to see. These aren't diagrams meant to impress anyone. They are just hand-drawn images that help people notice what's actually happening beneath the surface.A sketch can hold tension without resolving it. It can surface trade-offs, contradictions, and questions we usually rush past. In that way, drawing becomes a way of listening... and a way of thinking out loud.

Where This Shows Up

This way of thinking shows up in a few places.I write articles and draw sketches that explore how people make decisions, especially around meaningful living, behavior change, and the quiet stories that shape our lives. I teach and facilitate conversations for financial professionals who want to move beyond tactics and into work that actually helps people live better lives. And I spend a lot of time listening - trying to understand what gets in the way of doing what matters.Sometimes this work looks like an article.
Sometimes it looks like a sketch during a presentation.
Sometimes it looks like a pause in a conversation where something finally clicks.If you're curious, there are a few ways to explore further.

My Writing

I write to explore how people actually make decisions, especially when money, identity, and emotion are involved.Some of my writing is for individuals trying to live more intentionally. Some of it is for financial professionals who want to have better conversations with the people they serve.Different audiences. Same questions underneath.

Writing for Individuals

Meaningful Money(for individuals exploring the inner life of money)Articles about mindfulness, resilience, behavior, and money written for people who care less about optimization and more about alignment.This is where I explore meaning, values, and the stories we tell ourselves about what a good life looks like.Visit: Meaning.blog

Writing for Financial Professionals

Life Planning Weekly(for financial professionals helping clients live meaningful lives.)Writing for advisors who want to move beyond tactics and tools and into better listening, better questions, and more meaningful client conversations.This work sits at the intersection of behavioral finance, communication, financial psychology, and human motivation.Visit: LifePlanning.blog

Selected Guest Writing

From time to time, I write for other platforms that share an interest in the inner side of money and decision-making.• Kitces' Nerd's Eye View - Guest contributor
• eMoney Advisor's Heart of Advice - Guest contributor

Different audiences. Same work: slowing things down enough to see what actually matters.

My Work

My work shows up in a few different places: sometimes through organizations, sometimes through writing, teaching, or speaking, sometimes through projects that don't yet have a clear label.What connects it all is a focus on the human side of decision-making: how people make meaning, navigate uncertainty, and live with intention in complex systems.

Money Quotient

(for financial professionals who care about better client conversations)I work for Money Quotient, where we train and develop financial professionals in the human skills that sit beneath effective advice, listening, motivation, emotional awareness, and behavior change.This includes:
• Advisor education and training
• Communication and listening skills
• Motivational Interviewing-informed approaches
• Helping advisors bridge the gap between knowing and doingThe work is grounded in the belief that technical competence is necessary but not sufficient, and that better outcomes come from better conversations.Visit: MoneyQuotient.com

Meaningful Money (Professional Use)

(for financial professionals helping clients explore meaning and values)In addition to my work through Money Quotient, I also work with advisors through Meaningful Money who want their clients to engage more thoughtfully with decisions about money, values, and trade-offs.One way this shows up is through a white-labeled version of Meaningful Money used by advisory firms to support better client conversations. This writing isn't designed to persuade or optimize. It's designed to slow things down, surface values, and create space for reflection.This work sits quietly alongside an advisor's process.It's not content marketing, it's conversation support.Visit: White-Label.blog

Speaking and Facilitation

(for organizations and audiences exploring meaning, behavior, and motivation)Much of my speaking and facilitation work happens through Money Quotient, where I work with organizations, firms, and conference audiences interested in the human side of money and decision-making.These sessions are less about providing answers and more about helping people wrestle with better questions, especially around meaning, values, behaviors, and the trade-offs that shape real lives.Topics often include:
• Meaning and purpose
• Behavioral patterns around money and work
• Money scripts and financial psychology
• Values, trade-offs, and identityThis work shows up at conferences, retreats, client events, and professional gatherings.Visit: MoneyQuotient.com

Writing, Teaching, and Ongoing Projects

Some of my work doesn't fit neatly into a single category.That includes:
• Writing and curriculum development
• Educational courses and workshops
• Long-form projects and experiments
• Ideas that may one day become a book, a keynote, or something else entirelyThese projects tend to evolve slowly, intentionally, and often in public.If you're curious where ideas start before they turn into something more formal, this is where much of that work lives.

If you're trying to do meaningful work in a complex system, with money, people, or both, there's a good chance our paths overlap.

Meaningful Money Weekly

(a short note on meaning, behavior, and money... once a week)This is where I share a weekly reflection, usually sparked by something I'm thinking about teaching, drawing, or noticing in real life.Sometimes it starts with a sketch.
Sometimes it starts with a question.
Often with something unfinished.It's not meant to be comprehensive or optimized.It's meant to be useful in the way good conversations are useful.

What You'll Find Here

Each week, I explore a small idea related to:
• Meaning and values
• Behavior and decision-making
• Money is a tool, not a goal
• Motivation
• Life planning
• The tension between what we know and what we actually doEach Weekly includes a handful of simple hand-drawn sketches, used the same way I use them everywhere else: to slow things down and make what's happening beneath the surface easier to see.The writing is intentionally brief and reflective.No hype, no funnel. No "5 things you must do..."Just one idea worth sitting with.

Who It's For

The Weekly tends to resonate most with people who:• Are curious about the psychology behind financial decisions
• See money as a tool for life, not the point of it
• Want to live in closer alignment with their values
• Are interested in what it actually means to live a meaningful lifeIt's probably not a fit if you're looking for quick tips, market commentary, or productivity hacks.

The Weekly Often becomes the starting point for other things:
• Articles that get expanded elsewhere
• Sketches that turn into teaching tools
• Ideas that show up in workshops, talks, or longer projectsIf you're curious where ideas begin before they turn into something more formal, this is usually where they start.

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