Give Your Best, First
This past summer a dear friend, who was also my financial advisor, was killed in an automobile accident. I found out when a letter from the bank arrived announcing that he had passed, and I was shocked, and crushed. Not only is it always hard to hear of the death of a friend, but I had envisioned him and myself having a very long friendship and planning finances together over the years until we both neared retirement. As a person, he will be sincerely missed, but he was also a great financial advisor.
I was looking at our retirement accounts the other day - I check them sometimes to see how they are managing to grow (or not) on their own aside from the money we contribute. There are two that my wife and I are actively contributing to, but there's a third one that we moved on from a while back and have stopped contributing to - but that is still growing on its own, doing its own thing. One of the last things he had advised us about regarding this account, before we decided to let it sit for 30 years, was to put it into a certain investment account that he really liked the look of and thought would be great for us. So we did it. Then we let it sit.
I was looking through that account's history and noted that it had experienced the normal up's and down's that everyone's accounts have the last few years, but if I am reading it correctly (and it is possible I'm not) that account has experienced an average growth of about 20% during the last two years, which is really, really good. When we were making all the changes a few years back, he told us that with conservative growth (10% average growth over 30 years) it would be worth about $500k by the time we retire. But I did a quick calculation based on an average 20% year compound interest growth, and that projected that by the time I'm ready to retire this account would be over $4 million! I was amazed at how much difference 10% would make over that time span, and excited about the possibilities. What if he called it exactly right with that account....?
Now, the point of this article is not my retirement accounts, nor whether or not my math is right, or even about what retirement account percentages are good. All of that is what it is and I'll just have to wait and see. BUT, it got me thinking.... What if he was exactly right about that account? What if this was the best financial advice he could have possibly given to us and one day it makes a huge difference in our lives? Looking at those numbers that day, and remembering my friend and still grieving his too early exit from this life, and wondering about this potential outcome, it got me thinking....
Earlier this year I changed direction and became a coach. I have taken classes, received certifications, had many conversations with peers, practiced coaching, read books, watched videos, attended webinars, and everything else I could think to do in order to try to get up to speed as a competent coach as fast as possible. Now that I'm getting on more with my competency, I'm beginning to explore my raison d'etre as a coach. What is most important to me about the work I do as a coach? Who do I want to BE as a coach?
It's always been about seeing it as a good fit with my skills, but additionally it's about serving others. Coaching isn't about me, it's a gift I can give to other people that can really make a difference in their lives. And I really want to be sure I am giving people my best, first. I have no guarantees that someone will come back for a second coaching session, or that I will be around to give one - so I can't save the "good stuff" for later; can't assume there's plenty of time to get around to the best stuff later. With every coaching conversation I have, when it's over, will I feel confident that I gave them my very best, my all? That is my goal now.
Rich Litvin believes that as coaches we should "Serve people so powerfully that they never forget that conversation for the rest of their lives." I think we can apply this to almost anything: serve people so powerfully that they never forget ____________ (the thing you do professionally) for the rest of their lives. Do this, and not only will you always be fulfilled in your professional role, but you'll be giving your best, first, and making a huge difference in the lives of those around you.
Wanting to doesn't equal ability to though, so now that I know what I want to do, I need to continue learning how to do it.... But I believe this vision will steer me in the right direction as a coach as I move ahead. Not everything we do will be the very best thing we could do for someone - but what if we approached every day and every interaction with a desire that it will be? What difference would that make? Let's find out...