This week, I’m proud to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of Concentus Wealth Advisors. Our ten years in business have provided us with a treasure trove of lessons learned, each a stepping stone toward growth and success — not just in business but in life. As I reflect on these past 10 years, I eagerly anticipate the next 10 ahead. Join me as I revisit some of my favorite lessons and insights learned from clients, friends, family, and this great community.
We all want the same things
I’ve worked with clients with a wide range of assets and financial goals, each with unique outlooks on life and journeys lived. One resonant lesson that I’m reminded of day in and day out is that we all strive for the same things. As author and psychologist Abraham Maslow identified in his famous “Hierarchy of Needs,” we all work to progressively fulfill our needs: physiological, safety, love and belonging, esteem, and self-actualization. It’s one of the most universal philosophies on what motivates us.
What-ifs are inevitable
It’s natural to worry about the future, especially when it comes to your finances. When will I retire? Will I have enough money down the road? Am I doing enough to provide for my family?
One of the most rewarding aspects of my practice has been helping clients reframe these What ifs to Why nots, through a strong, personalized financial plan. Helping clients understand the opportunities ahead of them is so rewarding and a constant reminder of all the life there is to live and enjoy.
Do more of what you love
Along with living and enjoying life comes the choice to focus on what you really love. Many clients want to grow their assets and have lots of money. But what they really want is to spend their time doing the things they enjoy most. Whether it’s family vacations, golfing every weekend, or buying a beach house, the most important aspect of increasing their net worth is what it enables them to do. Every week has 168 hours, and a strong financial plan can give you back more hours to do what you love.
Confidence feels good, but it comes at the cost of courage
We all want to feel confident in our decisions, but courage is a far more valuable tool for us to embrace. I’m a strong believer in Dan Sullivan’s 4 Cs formula to achieve confidence: Commitment, Courage, Capability, Confidence. Only by stepping out of our comfort zone and working through the 4 Cs can we truly earn that confidence to live the life we want.
The more we listen, the more we learn
I’ve learned a lot more about my clients and about life by listening to the people and world around me than by talking and preaching the things I know to be true. There is tremendous value in pausing and really paying attention to the things around you. In life, there is no shortage of lessons to learn if only we listen to hear them in our own lives.
Treasure relationships instead of things
When we talk about legacy planning, I often encourage clients to think about the relationships and values they want to pass on to future generations rather than simply the assets and possessions. We could all benefit from prioritizing the people in our lives over our earnings. Money comes and goes, but relationships with the people you really love are constant.
Staying the course helps you better adjust
I don’t have to tell you the financial markets are volatile. To be honest, so is the world beyond the stock market. I’ve found the best way to weather any storm, whether in business, in finances, or in the market, is to stay the course. This allows us the perspective we need to understand larger contexts of what is happening around us — and avoid those What-ifs.
The journey is the destination
We all look forward to certain milestones in our lives, maybe sending the kids to college, a big vacation, or even retirement. It’s easy to be laser-focused on these benchmarks and lose sight of the day-to-day magic of life. But we all need a reminder sometimes that the little things that make up our lives truly are the magic of each day and make it all worth it.
Wealth means so much more than just money
It might sound counterintuitive to hear a financial advisor say that wealth is not just about your financial capital. But beyond money, it’s important to cultivate wealth in all aspects of your life, including relationships, values, and how you spend your time. When you leave this earth, your money won’t go with you, but the legacy and life you lived will live on. I often ask myself and my clients how they want to be remembered. And I can tell you the answer to that question is never about money.
Values should impact every area of your life
Financial freedom doesn’t just mean having lots of money; it comes when you align your life with your values. But to even do that, you need to know where you stand on values and begin incorporating them into your entire life. We strive to create that balance in our clients’ lives to make sure they experience the benefits of their hard work.
Here’s to 10 more years and beyond!
What can I say? It’s been an amazing, educational 10 years of service to our clients. We strive every day to learn and grow for you, to help you achieve your financial goals, and we can’t wait to see what the years ahead bring. Thank you for trusting us!
About VALUABLES
Many financial advisors focus on communicating with clients to provide complex analysis of the investment markets and economies. However, we have learned that most clients are not particularly interested in this complex analysis. Most clients hire an advisor for their knowledge of the markets, not for their ability to explain that knowledge. Most want to know what time it is, not how to build a watch.
Experience has taught us that wealthy families care most about using their wealth as a means to a desirable end, which is to achieve a more satisfying, fulfilled and impactful life, and to fulfill their most important Life Values.
VALUABLES is a periodic article series focused on the concepts, systems, and habits which we have observed among families who have been successful in this quest to use their wealth as a tool to live a life of significance. The most successful families share a set of habits, systems, and insights which enable them to use their wealth as a tool to fulfill their Values and what is most important to them.
We named this article series VALUABLES, because it provides an exploration of those habits, systems, and insights. We hope it will help you to consider your assets and possessions which are most valuable to you, and how you can use your financial wealth to enhance and cultivate your true “Valuables”.
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