I know what you are thinking, ‘easier said then done’. One of the benefits of coaching individuals in niche markets is that you can see patterns and contrasts emerge as a national or global event unfolds. I want to share my insights from the past two weeks with you in hopes of helping the readers during this interesting time.
I have been asked more times then I can count, how my clients are faring through this market. Given that many of our clients are financial advisors the question is quite appropriate, however my answer may be a little confusing. Although the logical answer would be that they are all ready to jump off a bridge, most of them have been able to maintain a level head. I like to believe that this is a result of all of the fantastic work we’ve done with them and while it is partially true, it is always up to the client to live and act on what we coach. They have taken the reigns to be the catalyst for calm for their clients in a highly emotional time. When asking and analyzing what inspires this calm, we have found that it has been the intense mental work that they have been doing. While there are few things in this world that we can control, our thoughts and perceptions of the events that happen are well within our control.
It is attention getting to speak to one person who is convinced that the world is falling apart then speak to the next person who confidently details his strategic plan on what he’ll do next. Ironically, last week I spoke with the latter gentleman and he too sounded like things were hopeless. So, how then, in just a few short days was he able to completely turn around. Now, without detailing all of the work we had already done together, the thing that made the most difference this week was to stop his mind from ‘catastrophizing’ and instead use his mental energy to create a plan. In any moving object, there is a point in which that object has to stop in order to change the inertia to another direction. If you throw a ball into the air there is a point in which it stops briefly in the air before it begins to move downward again. The real difference between the person who is still reeling and those who are moving forward is that point of stopping and choosing to spend some time responding to the situation instead of reacting to it as a result of the swirling. To illustrate this, imagine you are spinning on a Sit-n-Spin (one of those toys you grew up with). Now, imagine that you try to throw a ball at a target as you are spinning. You will find it difficult, if not nearly impossible to hit your target. Now, stop spinning for a moment and try to hit your target again. Depending on how good of a thrower you are, you will have hit your target or at least come much closer to it.
The difference between Person A and Person B in this example is that Person B took a few moments to stop his reeling and put together an action plan to address the issues, in this case what he was going to do to help his clients. The level of confidence in his voice was invigorating and refreshing to hear – not just for me, but for his clients.
