For most of our clients, entering the field of financial planning is a calling, not terribly unlike a calling into the ministry. There is a desire to help others achieve the financial goals they desire and appreciating that those goals may look different for each individual client.
Perhaps you’ve been called and now find yourself struggling. There is a normal course of progress in this field as there is in most fields for that matter. You’ve been called and then you find yourself at the edge of an abyss. Then there’s a boom, followed by a plateau, a spike, and another dip. The cycle continues. The subsequent dips may not be as deep and the plateaus may not be as large, but they occur as part of the ongoing cycle.
If you find yourself struggling, I want you to know that this cycle is completely normal. You will never avoid future plateaus and dips. Without those, you will never appreciate the spikes and the booms. It’s a matter of perspective.
The calling to help people with their financial goals may be the start, but that calling can be overshadowed by the other pieces in the process – repapering, administration, and operations that will wear you down to the point of questioning why you got into this business in the first place – the abyss. Standing at the edge of the abyss is exactly when you have to bring to mind the calling.
For example, one of our clients shared that after spending time at our Peerage event, it was back to the office on Monday, facing an inbox full of emails and “catching up” as well as another meeting that evening with his aviation club. He was tired and regretted scheduling that meeting as he did. However, once there, he met a 70-something-year-old gentleman who loved aviation and had also been diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. He wanted to spend whatever time he had left with his passion and left the meeting with the date of the next one written on his hand in ink. He shared, “My abyss moment was feeling tired and not wanting to go to that meeting, but the calling and the boom occurred in meeting this new member with his incredible perspective, and I left feeling fully energized.”
This comes right back to the concept that structure sets you free. Our client had out-tricked himself since if he were not responsible for running the meeting, he would not have attended. But, since he had structure and responsibility, he forced his future self to show up and experience an incredible impact.
You can always accept the short-term gratification of your present self or you can delay that gratification and bring your future self into being faster. If you continue to defer to your current self, taking the immediate gratification, you may never achieve what you want. You need your future self to accomplish it.
To whom much is given, much is expected. Honor your calling. What is it that you are drawn to do?
Coach Ken
www.gettingresultsinc.com at the website under resources are the latest podcasts. If you would like to enhance your path or explore reach out.
