“How do you do that?”

That was a question posed to me by an advisor at Fiat recently after returning from a vacation with my family.  I was admittedly caught off guard and didn’t quite understand the question.  

Was he asking how we logistically planned out a road trip with four kids and a dog?

Was he asking how we found multiple places to stay?

I didn’t know what the question was aimed at, so an answer was quite difficult to come up with!

It turns out what he meant was ‘how did you go on vacation and not have anxiety about things falling apart at the office?’  The more conversations I have with people, the more I realize just how much anxiety many of us are hauling around with us…especially in a post-COVID shutdown world (let’s hope it stays post-shutdown!).  

The answer is quite simple: TRUST.  I trust my team and know that 99.9% of any issues that arise could and would be handled by them in my absence.  In the world of financial planning, as long as we do OUR job correctly - there really isn’t such thing as an emergency.  Most things we talk through are long term focused and any urgency is of a false nature and imposed as a result of anxiety on the part of the advisor or the client.

I personally value down time very highly.  In fact, it requires a lot of discipline on my part to ensure I plan and schedule time away from my routine and daily responsibilities.  If I don’t, it is obvious to me (and to those around me) that my thinking and decision making suffers.  

This is not to say that I don’t experience anxiety…I believe we all do - to some degree.  However, my habit of pulling myself from the daily routine has allowed me perspective to view the challenges I face from a different lens.  I feel much more creative, energized, and clear on why I do the things I do (or don’t!).

One of the most effective exercises I have recently performed was an inventory of all the things I have been ‘doing’ over the past handful of months.  This drilled down to daily, weekly, and monthly lists.  This allowed me to decide whether those things I have been ‘doing’ are aligned with who I want to ‘be’ or ‘become’.  It was eye opening and has led to a major shift in how I experience my days and weeks, and I feel so much more at peace and inspired.

I would love to share the exercise with anyone interested.  Feel free to reach out to hello@fiatwm.com!