Hero’s Journey


The crisis has given me a lot of time to think and learn. I have embarked on several items that my Silicon Valley brethren taught me at TEDx San Jose. The item I have spent the most time learning was The Hero’s Journey. Sounds daunting, but it has inspired me and caused me to begin my journey. This week I’ll share what I have learned and how it can help you grow as an advisor and personally. I write to remind myself and to encourage you. We all have time. 

Write Book
 
I have always wanted to write a book. My biggest concern is that a  book feels like yesterday’s news unless it is complemented by current social media tools. My book is being written with the support of writers from around the world. I’m meeting them through Seth Godin’s Writing in Community training. We are not hoping for a best seller rather we are writing for our minimum viable audience. My book is for the small group of struggling Independent Wealth Advisors who have escaped Wall Street. There are enough books and White Papers written on how to escape. Hopefully my book can help after we hit the wall. 
 

Trough

When I broke-away, I felt relieved to be out from under my “clueless firm and managers “. After five swings and misses I learned that many of the Wall Street skills I developed are not needed in the Fiduciary World.  Most of the good firms I worked with wanted me to recruit and train the new professionals how to use their solutions. Felt like I was back at my old firm. How can I help us all get out of this Wall Street trough of greed
Independence doesn’t pay as well and isn’t the answer.  


Never Again 

We have all told our parents, spouses and God that if things return to how they were we will never make the same mistakes again. The first stop will be our cash reserves. We advise our clients to keep a rainy date fund of six months. We should walk the talk. Staffing, fees and compensation are our next stop and we don’t need to wait for our government. Others have begun to share ideas on how we can improve after this crisis ends. Improving our business will be our call. Hopefully we make new and different changes. 


This experience has been difficult, but so was The Hero’s Journey 



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