A busy schedule/life and procrastination does not have to condemn you to a continued life of frustration, anxiety and never achieving that illusive feeling of financial peace of mind.
I was listening to a podcast yesterday with an interview with a financial therapist. The interviewer (an advisor) noted that clients who don’t get their documents to financial advisors or implement financial advice in a reasonable time frame are known as “bad clients that we fire.” I was struck by his comment. That is not the way we, at Bartley Financial Advisors, look at it. People are busy and are wired differently. Some of us have more time to implement/respond and are wired with high follow-through, take a look at Kolbe Cognitive research Four Action Modes.
The podcast suggested that instead of financial advisors being measured by how much money they manage, which is Wall Street’s measure of success, they should be measured by client outcomes, strategies implemented, and success in helping clients reach their goals. EXACTLY! What a novel idea!
We see it as our job to coach all of our clients to succeed. Our strategy for clients who are very busy and low on follow through is to work with them on one thing at a time to move them into motion towards success. It takes longer – sometimes a lot longer – but is, for me, the most rewarding part of what I do. I talk about this all the time with my team. I tell them to not get upset, the client is busy we have to take baby steps. I/we celebrate together with the client when we knock things off the list! These are my happiest and most rewarding experiences as a planner.
Tracy, one of my business consultants, noted that these incomplete tasks (“incompletes”) add up in your mind and clog it up. Although we may fail to register why we feel this way, these incomplete tasks create a lot of angst. Just a month or so ago I was able to get on the phone with a client and transfer four accounts to Fidelity – three 401(k) accounts from former employers (these went back A LOT of years!) and a brokerage account. Now after many, many years (long before they met us) all the client’s accounts are consolidated and they can view them in one spot – on our award-winning investor portal. I am not sure if the client was as excited as I was, but believe me, they were excited. Imagine worrying about these accounts for a decade or more and getting a pit in your stomach every time you thought about it.
This reminds me of a story I heard from Max, my communications coach, years ago. Max was a wise older man in his late seventies. He knew a thing or two about life. Max moved into a new house and had loads of boxes to unpack. He was very busy, so the boxes remained on the floor in his favorite room in his house. He noted how the view of the boxes all around drained him. One day he counted the boxes, there were thirty-four. He started to despair but thought, “You know what – I can’t unpack thirty-four boxes today, but I can unpack one!” He did unpack one that day. He said he chose the smallest one! Then he continued every day, for thirty-four days to unpack a box a day and he was done!
As stated in Newton’s first law of motion – sometimes referred to as the law of inertia. An object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion. With this in mind, it’s important to try to propel yourself into taking the first steps to secure your financial success. Even if you need to take small steps at first – get your feet wet, so to speak – we’re ready to work at your pace to achieve peace of mind. Let us help you chip away at that daunting pile of financial stress, one success at a time.
I now must go clean up; the basement is still a mess as are the backroom shelves at the office. It has been too long! 🙂