Let me get a bit biblical and share this story: An evil spirit descended on King Saul while he was sitting at home, spear in hand, listening to David play the lyre—an act of comfort by his mentee. Uncomforted, Saul attempted to impale David to the wall with said spear; however, David eluded the attack and made his escape, ultimately becoming the king of Israel. So how does this apply to financial coaching and advice? If you happen to read the entire passage, David later had the opportunity to have Saul killed, thereby eliminating any future threat, but he did the right thing and chose not to. David maintained his integrity and his honor.
Even though we may be comforting someone with our lyre—a.k.a. financial advice—sometimes things do not go as intended. We may experience betrayals from clients or those close to us, and clients come and go. Regardless, we must maintain our level of integrity. Know that when you maintain your honor and integrity, things will ultimately work out exceptionally well.
In the passage with Saul and David, everything actually unfolds exactly as it was supposed to. At the moment, David no doubt questioned the reason: “Hey, I’m just trying to comfort the guy and he tries to kill me!” With the benefit of hindsight and knowing the entire story, we understand why it did happen.
As you’re going through you day and someone tries to throw a spear at you, it is definitely a huge pattern interrupt. That spear can take on any number of forms, but it is almost always unexpected. Life will always throw curveballs… or spears, if you will. When that invariably happens, do you become a victim or a victor? What matters is your response. Whenever you maintain honor and integrity, you will always be the victor.
Think about Navy SEALs for a moment. They may seem superhuman, making what they do look easy, but they are more simply highly trained at what they do. Think about any highly trained individual. They train for a variety of scenarios, so their minds don’t freeze in the moment. Our minds can freeze in the unexpected (e.g., spear thrown at us), which leave us vulnerable. Back to the story with David: When the spear came at him, as a trained warrior, he did not have to stop and think to get out of the way. He reacted; he’d been trained to do so.
Are you training and practicing? Namely, are you maintaining your core principles in all events? You may have a good client walk away or have a prospect blow you off, sometimes in harsh ways. You must maintain your own professionalism and continue to do what is right and noble. Here’s the crux of that: You are not doing it for your client; you are doing it for yourself. If you stray and head down the path of being unprofessional, it gets easier and easier to continue on that path because what you give attention to you get more of.
The same is true of the concept of forgiveness. Forgiveness is not for the person who may have wronged you in some way. It’s for you; it’s always for you.
It’s in this concept that everything unfolds exactly as it should. Have faith and take comfort in that it is unfolding to serve you. You may not see or understand it in the immediate time or space, but eventually it will be revealed to you. Simply continue to do the right thing.
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