The Growth Mindset

Chapter 22What's Your Number?

“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.”

—Lao Tzu

Everyone has a number and that number for many people, including the advisor, can control one's ability to live a balanced life. In this case, I'm referring to your client's number. What's your number? Wall Street spends hundreds of millions of dollars helping clients answer that question. Fintech firms with retirement‐planning software can produce a document informing clients how much money they will need for retirement or what their shortfall may be. All these financial tools are terrific, except these plans are stagnant, and life is anything but. Life happens and circumstances change. The right plan needs to be developed with the advisor navigating the journey and with the client's complete collaboration.

The best way to answer the question, “What's your number?,” is to look back at some of the great thinkers like Plato, Aristotle, and Seneca. Some advisors say the first step starts with a financial plan, but that's really the second step in the process. The first step is to follow this simple formula: Be + Do = Have. The first time I heard this was in 1989 when I attended a two‐day workshop on growing my business. As a young advisor, everything that came out of Bob Dunwoody's mouth I made sure to write down. Bob's workshop was by far the most impactful workshop in my life. We became friends and he went on to mentor me. So, the first step is to answer the question: Whom do you ...