By Matt Stahl

This is going to be my favorite kind of writing….I have been given free rein to talk about whatever I would like, with the assumption that it will give some sort of final farewell to the year 2020.

That may sound like quite the feat…but I have been thinking a lot about this year, and what it means for me, my family and friends, and our family at Fiat Wealth Management.  I would guess that many of you have been thinking about the same.

As I reflect back over the year, I recall many conversations hearing about where people were and what they were doing when the world ‘shut down’.  Similar to myself, many people had ideas about what they wanted the year to look like. As I share my personal experience, I hope it leads you to some reflection about what the year 2020 can mean for you…

I was on a ski/snowboard trip in Park City, Utah when we began to see the writing on the wall …and couldn’t have chosen more interesting timing.  A group of my close friends from our community - which all also happen to be married with 3 kids or more at home - had been planning this getaway to spend some time together and breathe in the fresh mountain air (and avoid any major injuries as a bunch of 40ish guys likely pushing their limits a bit too much).  Being that we were in ‘vacation mode’, it was easier for us to tune out the current events.  Initially, our biggest concerns were how much vertical slope we could cover in a day or where we were planning to have dinner.

Things began to get real when we started to see notifications about the kids’ sports season being cancelled and my wife informing me that we would likely be shutting down the gym that our family owns with another family.

We were then informed that the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in Summit County, Utah happened to be the doorman at the local pub that we visited several times during our stay!  It began to set in that the pandemic, and everything that came with it, was hitting closer to home than we ever imagined when we set out for the trip.

Aside from figuring out how to get back quickly to our families in Minnesota, this set off a cascade of decisions to be handled at home (with 3 elementary school children), for the gym that we own, and at Fiat Wealth Management.

At Fiat, we had recently rolled out an expansion, added some new advisors to the team, a marketing director, and a case manager that just joined us in February.  On top of all of this, our primary means of finding potential clients for our new advisors was in-person workshops throughout the Twin Cities.  It became clear this would no longer be an option, and we would be working to bring together a new team over screens.  

If you have read my ‘WHY’ story on our blog, you will know that I see a handful of very pivotal events in my history (and Fiat’s history) that I believe have happened for a reason to test me (and us) and to learn valuable lessons.  The WHY story is one of those moments and the ‘great pivot of 2020’ is right up there with significant events.

I don’t know about you, but March 2020 feels like it was 5 years ago at this point.  I know it sounds crazy, but what a wild ride it has been and how challenging and fun this has been to navigate!  I say that knowing full well that we have been fortunate at home, and at Fiat - and recognize that many others have faced much more serious challenges than we have and we keep those in our thoughts and prayers.  

Now that I have the opportunity to reflect back on the year, the most valuable lesson I have gleaned from 2020 is a quote I referenced at the beginning of all of this:  

“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” ― Viktor E. Frankl

Looking at our mini world at Fiat and the world as a whole from this perspective, I can’t help but feel grateful and proud of the way those close to me have chosen their response….

….I am proud of some of our closest friends who have faced more challenges than us this year and kept their heads up the whole time;

….I am proud of my kids for adapting to on again/off again in-person vs. distance learning and rolling with the punches;

….I am proud of my wife for being a parent, teacher, business owner, and making time for our marriage at the same time;

….I am proud of our kids’ teachers for continuing to care and put forth the effort to teach them;

….I am proud of my family and friends, who despite disagreeing, made an effort to have civil conversations with one another in potentially tense situations;

….I am proud of our clients for placing their trust in us to help navigate the uncertainty and keeping their confidence in the plans we created for them;

….I am proud of our team at Fiat, who responded in a big way amidst the ‘great pivot of 2020’;

….I am proud of those that chose to love one another and truly show they care amidst conflict;

….and I am proud of myself for the way I chose to respond to 2020, and will continue to respond, with my best effort to do so with grit, grace, and love.

If you take anything away from this, which I truly hope that you do, I hope you choose to frame any difficult scenario you are faced with by making decisions that you can be proud of in your future.

Farewell 2020.