Last Chance to Get Your New Year’s Resolutions Right

Two thirds of advisors (68%) who responded to our weekly Insta-poll believe this Holiday season has been more stressful than usual from both a business and personal perspective. So, after another difficult and stressful year, don’t beat yourself up for overeating, overspending, over-pouring and oversleeping a little during the Holiday season. Same goes for your clients. You deserve it.

Just know that your ambitious plans to get back into fitness, financial and emotional shape after January 1^st are not likely to stick. Research shows four out of five New Year’s resolutions (81%) will be abandoned by mid-January unless you started test-driving them around Thanksgiving time. The idea is to start making realistic tweaks and adjustments to your resolutions before you post them on your bulletin board and social media accounts for all to see. But in today’s A.D.D. instant gratification society, most people don’t have the patience for that.

Go real with your resolutions

Again, resolutions don’t fail because we lack willpower or discipline; it’s more about bad timing. When we launch resolutions on January 1st, we are making a change based on a calendar date when we think we are prepared to change our lives dramatically. It’s even more difficult to hit the ground running when you’ve gone a month or more without being on our A-Game.

Yet, this mindset has been around for over 4,000 years, ever since the ancient Babylonians used the start of the new calendar year to crown a new king, or to proclaim their loyalty to an existing king. It’s also when they swore to their gods they would pay off debts and promised to return borrowed goods to their neighbor. The penalty for breaking one’s resolutions back then were a lot harsher than they are today. But even then, the “stick rate” wasn’t as a high as you would think.

Harvard Business School professor, Amy Cuddy believes resolutions don’t last because too often we’re setting ourselves up for failure and self-loathing. “We tend to set unreasonable aims for ourselves and then experience negative emotions and a lack of motivation when we don’t reach them,” she observed. “Failing to meet the unreasonable goals we set for ourselves can in turn take a negative toll on our self-worth,” added Cuddy.

Sound familiar?

Researcher and author Richard Wiseman, agrees with Cuddy that we set goals that are too high or too audacious and that we also tend to be too impatient. He believes another big cause of resolution failure is that we tend to sprint out of the gate in search of immediate “returns” rather than taking “baby steps” that will take some time before they move the needle.

If you’ve been a coach potato your entire adult life, don’t resolve to run a marathon within six months. It may work in the movies, but in real life, you’re just setting yourself up for disappointment, injury and an unhealthy relapse. However, if you start with 20 minutes of walking a day with a goal of completing a 5K run in six months, your odds of success go up exponentially. And from there, you can talk about completing a 10K or half-marathon before year end with even more ambitious goals in 2023.

Beating the odds

Trying to get your clients to modify their financial behavior in the new year can be quite challenging, too. But it can be highly rewarding if true changes result, Glenn Freed, Ph. D told me. Freed, chief investment strategist of New York City-based Syntax Advisors told me you’ll further cement your status as a client’s most trusted advisor if you can “frame” your legal, charitable or financial planning discussions around New Year’s resolutions. “You can have discussions in person or through a client newsletter. The key is to use these resolutions as a way to check in with clients throughout the year,” added Freed.

The experts seem to agree on one thing: to make any resolution stick, it has to become an ingrained habit. For example: 

• Resolution: Quit smoking vs. Habit: Stop smoking that one cigarette you have every morning after breakfast.
• Resolution: Eat healthy food vs. Habit: Start substituting that one daily morning pastry for a banana.
• Resolution: Lose weight vs. Habit: Every evening after work, go for a two to three-minute run or walk around the block.
• Resolution: Manage stress vs. Habit: Meditate for two to three minutes every morning after you wake up.
• Resolution: Improve finances vs. Habit: Save an extra 2 percent of each paycheck and put half into my 401(k)s low-cost index fund and the other half into a high-yield savings account at my bank.

By immediately breaking down each resolution and seeing what the smallest habit could be, experts say your chances of succeeding will be 50 percent higher. And if even these incremental habits are hard to stick to, don’t give up. Tweak them so they’re manageable.

Conclusion

High performing advisors help their clients follow up on resolutions not only in December, but throughout the year. Framing the financial planning discussion in this way at the start of the year and then following up consistently can be an effective way to help clients stay on the path to financial resolution success. Make 2022 a great year no matter what COVID, the markets, the economy and geopolitical factors throw at us.

This new year, there’s only one resolution I guarantee you that I’ll keep: It’s to getting better at making resolutions.

Tell me what you think.

 

 

#productivity, #resolutions, #accountability

 

Helping Clients with Chronically Ill Children

Now is the time of year when it’s easy to get distracted with Holiday preparations, travel plans, social events and shopping. But for families with chronically ill children, it’s the farthest thing from their minds. Chances are you work with some of those families.

Our client, Mindy Neira, CFP®, Chartered Special Needs Consultant® at Modera Wealth Advisors in Westwood, New Jersey specializes in helping families with chronically ill children. She’ll be featured in the national media next month and here are some excerpts of her upcoming interviews. Please share this post with clients, friends and relatives who may be caring for a chronically ill child.

Many of you may be asking how families who care for an ill child can prepare themselves for the jaw-dropping costs of diagnosing and treating a child’s chronic disease?

According to Neira, it’s important to utilize the many resources available to you locally and virtually, finding support groups and therapy for your client’s family and allowing loved ones to help along the way. “The journey will be difficult. but you can also find times of joy,” observed Neira. “Ask a lot of questions, follow up on resources, and be proactive about caring for your own mental well-being. One of the first steps may be to join a support group for the child’s particular diagnosis,” Neira added.  

Neira said she often sees parents (and grandparents) in this situation neglect their own personal health while caring for a chronically ill child and their siblings. “Caring for your own mental health should be a top priority for you as well,” she advises.    

Deductible expenses

Neira said it’s also important to keep one’s financial realities in focus, even when caring responsibilities can seem overwhelming. When families incur significant health care expenses there is an opportunity to deduct a portion for their taxes. “Keep diligent receipts on all out of pocket costs, including travel and stay when traveling to a doctor or for an educational conference,” advised Neira. “There are specific tax considerations for families in your situation, so it’s beneficial to work with a tax advisor or accountant. Tax deductions, credits, and some special provisions on retirement plans could be financially impactful,” she added.

It's also important for families caring for chronically ill children to know they’re not alone. There are nearly 10 million children enrolled in Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Neira said this program is through your state and can provide health coverage for children, if they are eligible. Find out more about how to apply in your state here.

Also, The Ronald McDonald House Program is a nationwide organization that helps families that need to travel for their child’s medical care with housing, support, and resources for families. The cost of food and housing is covered by the organization. The Ronald McDonald Care Mobile program provides medical and dental care for many communities as well, Neira added.

Choose the right health insurances

Neira recommends starting with employer benefits. Typically, your client will want a plan that provides the most coverage and lowest out of pocket costs. “This may mean that a high deductible plan is not going to be cost effective for the family. The employer may offer a Flexible Savings Account (FSA), an alternative to a Health Savings Account (HSA) which is only offered with a high deductible plan,” noted Neira. “This account allows you to contribute pre-tax money and can cover an array of out-of-pocket medical expenses, including co-pays and over the counter items at the local drugstore. Ask the health care provider to share a list of eligible expenses, prior to selecting this option. Note that the balance in the account must be spent by year end, or else the remaining value is forfeited.”

If your client’s employer doesn’t provide coverage, or your client is unemployed at present, they should check with their state insurance plans, said Neira. “In many states, there are resources on the website to find local assistance in reviewing the plans. Talking with someone about your options can help you navigate which plan is best for your situation. Your client may be eligible for financial assistance so it’s also beneficial to understand the eligibility within their state.”

In either case, Neira said always check that preferred doctors and prescriptions are covered with any plan you decide on. “Make a list and talk with the provider before signing up. This may take some time, especially when there are so many other competing priorities, but finding the right coverage will be impactful on your financial life.”

Conclusion

Remember you can only help someone else if your own “life vest is on,” said Neira. “Caring for a child with an illness is taxing on your physical and mental health. Take time to appreciate the positive moments when the light peaks through, while also building a community around you early and consistently to guide you through the difficult times.”

Excellent advice. And for clients who aren’t in this situation. Remind them to be thankful for their good fortune.

 

Reach Mindy directly for more.

 

What’s your take? I’d like to hear from you.

Are We in a Bubble?

Last week’s post about the record high “Quit Rate” of American workers generated a fair amount of feedback. Some said “it’s about time” that workers finally gained some leverage over greedy employers, but the majority questioned the wisdom of workers flexing their bargaining muscles at this stage of the economic cycle. They said it was irrational exuberance at best, foolhardy at worst, particularly for younger workers who haven’t been through a full economic cycle before.

Speaking of irrational exuberance, several of our clients have been interviewed in the national media

about whether our economy and financial markets are heading into bubble territory.

Dr. Guy Baker, CFP, Ph.D founder of Wealth Teams Alliance (Irvine, CA) said a bubble occurs whenever one sector of the economy is doing much better than would be expected if it were not for a few specific factors in play. “The dot-com boom became hyperextended because more and more dollars were flowing into companies that had no viable economic record,” added Baker a member of the Forbes 250 Top Financial Security Professionals List and author of The Great Wealth Erosion, Manage Markets, Not Stocks and Investment Alchemy. “The gold rush mentality drove the urgency to not lose out. As a result, the value of Internet companies soared and became a bubble,” observed Baker. “When the bubble popped, only the strong survived. When we look at bubble thinking today, the only real bubble driven by economics is cryptocurrency,” he added.

Regulatory bubble

While some readers also pointed to meme stocks like GameStop, non-fungible tokens and the boom in SPACs, Baker said he is more worried about another type of bubble that most folks aren’t paying attention to – the government regulation bubble. “We saw this in 2009-2010 when the government caused disfunction in the mortgage market,” explained Baker. “Homebuyers were able to qualify for mortgages based on nothing more than their signature and a statement of ‘fact.’ The free money came home to roost when the economy slipped, and these homeowners walked away from the houses leaving the lenders with an empty house and an inflated value,” he added.

Baker maintains that economic bubbles are part of the capitalistic system, and usually isolated to the companies affected, but regulatory bubbles are not. “They are dangerous and can cause huge damage to institutions and businesses,” he added.

So, how can investors protect themselves from speculative investments related to economic bubbles?

The best way to protect yourself is through wide diversification, advised Baker, adding that in a “well-balanced, smart portfolio” most of the companies that would be “disasters when a bubble burst” will not be included in the mix. He prefers ETFs and mutual funds that are well diversified. “It’s important not to buy funds that do the same thing,” said Baker. “Also, stay away from funds that say one thing and do another. Low turnover is a key metric to watch. Low turnover means the portfolio managers are making good choices and sticking with them. High turnover suggests the fund is chasing yield.”

Five stages of an economic bubble

In his landmark book Stabilizing an Unstable Economy (1986), economist Hyman Minsky identified five stages in a typical credit cycle which follow the typical stages of an economic bubble:

1. Displacement. Investors get enamored by a new paradigm, such as an innovative new technology or interest rates that are historically low.

2. Boom. The asset in question attracts widespread media coverage. Fear of missing out (FOMO) on what could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity spurs more speculation, drawing an increasing number of investors and traders into the fold.

3. Euphoria. Caution is thrown to the wind, as asset prices skyrocket. Valuations reach extreme levels during this phase as new valuation measures and metrics are touted to justify the relentless rise. The "greater fool" theory plays out—the idea that no matter how prices go, there will always be a market of buyers willing to pay more.

4. Profit-Taking. Believing the bubble is about to burst, the smart money starts selling positions and taking profits. But estimating the exact time when a bubble is due to collapse can be a difficult exercise.

5. Panic. It only takes a relatively minor event to prick a bubble, but once it is pricked, the bubble cannot b reinflated. In the panic stage, asset prices reverse course and descend as rapidly as they had ascended. Investors and speculators, faced with margin calls and plunging values of their holdings, now want to liquidate at any price. As supply overwhelms demand, asset prices slide sharply. Think the early days of COVID or the 2008-09 global financial crisis.

Most think we’re somewhere between Euphoria and Profit-Taking. But, as economist John Maynard Keynes famously said: "the markets can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent."

 

What’s your take? I’d like to hear from you.

 

Conclusion

 

As billionaire value investor, Seth Klarman likes to say: “At the root of all financial bubbles is a good idea carried to excess.” Or as Warren Buffett always says: “Be fearful when people are greedy and be greedy when people are fearful.” I’m not sure whether we’re in a bubble or not, but like most things in life, the truth usually lies somewhere between the extremes.

#economicbubble, #irrationalexuberance, #investing, #diversification

I Quit

With all the talk about inflation, stagflation, higher taxes and lack of affordable housing, I couldn’t help noticing one contrary statistic amid the sea of pessimism—the national “quit rate” is at an all-time high. The quit rate is the number of workers who voluntarily leave their jobs as opposed to being terminated, downsized or furloughed.

According to data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) last week, 4.3 million Americans quit their jobs in the most recent month measured. That means nearly 3% of the workforce—in in 33 workers—left their jobs voluntarily -- the highest level ever reported by the BLS Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey series. In fact, nearly 20 million U.S. workers have voluntarily resigned from their jobs since the spring, according to the latest federal data

What’s giving workers the confidence to tell their bosses to “take this job and shove it” when so many economic storm clouds seem to be on the horizon?

Extended unemployment insurance, insufficient child-care options, eviction moratoriums and vaccine mandates area playing a role. But I suspect there’s something else at play. Everyone from fast food restaurants and hotels to high tech companies and accounting firms complains they can’t find enough workers to fill their open job positions—even with ever-rising wages.

Hmm.

As The Wall Street Journal reported last week, LinkedIn has seen a 20% jump in searches related to quitting compared with a year earlier. Hashtags such as #greatresignation, #newjob, #jobhunt and #burnout have accrued tens of thousands of followers on LinkedIn. A March analysis by Gallup found that nearly half (48%) of the U.S. working population surveyed was actively job searching or watching for opportunities. The survey included workers in every job category, from hourly consumer-facing roles to high-paid professional positions, who were job hunting at roughly the same rates.

But, it that enough to explain what economists call are calling the “Great Resignation”?

As Yahoo News columnist, Mike Bebernes, reported last weekend, many workers are simply burned-out. He believes the high quit rates in customer-facing jobs and health care suggest that people in these fields have become exhausted after 18 months of extra hours, confrontations over COVID mitigation rules and fear of catching the virus. Meanwhile, wrote Bebernes, “white-collar workers, are eager to maintain some of the elements of pandemic-era work that benefitted them — like remote work and flexible hours — and willing to move on as their employers transition back to the office.”

But I also think we’re seeing the residual effects of a consumer savings glut as Americans showed uncharacteristic restraint on their spending during the darkest days of the pandemic. That massive stockpile of excess cash means they have more of a cushion to absorb a job transition or temporary leave from the workforce. When workers see the excess cash in the bank accounts and start tallying up all the money saved by not going to work -- childcare, dry-cleaning, commuting, deli lunches, etc. – staying home seems to make more and more sense.

The pandemic was like a forced sabbatical for many workers. It gave them time to do some deep soul searching about their whole relationship with work. “The human tragedy — and, in some cases, indifference from their employers — that workers have experienced over the past year and a half has led millions of people to deprioritize work in their lives,” Bebernes wrote.

“The big unanswered question about the Great Resignation is whether it’s a short-term phenomenon brought on by extreme circumstances or a more lasting shift in attitudes toward work?” Bebernes asked.

From where I sit, shift is not going to be “transitory.” Here’s a sampling of smart takes I’ve curated for you:

“We know that when human beings come into contact with death and illness in their lives, it causes them to take a step back and ask existential questions. Like, what gives me purpose and happiness in life, and does that match up with how I'm spending my [life] right now? So, in many cases, those reflections will lead to life pivots.” — Anthony Klotz, psychologist in Business Insider

“People have options. And because they have options, their demands and their interests and their tolerance for things that are not aligned with their values on how they want to live their lives, they're going to leave and they're going to look for it elsewhere.” — Tsedal Neeley, Harvard Business School professor, on PBS NewsHour

 “For at least two generations, workers have been on their back heels. We are now seeing a labor market that is tight, and prospects are becoming increasingly clear that it’s going to remain tight. It’s now going to be a workers’ market, and they’re empowered. I think they are starting to flex their collective muscle.” — Mark Zandi, economist, in Time

“The Great Resignation is not a mad dash away from the office; it’s the culmination of a long march toward freedom. More than a decade ago, psychologists documented a generational shift in the centrality of work in our lives. Millennials were more interested in jobs that provided leisure time and vacation time than Gen Xers and baby boomers. They were less concerned about net worth than net freedom.” — Adam Grant, in Wall Street Journal

"There is no 'labor shortage.' There's a child care shortage, a living-wage shortage, a hazard pay shortage, a paid sick leave shortage, and a healthcare shortage," Robert Reich, UC Berkeley professor of public policy and former U.S. Secretary of Labor, tweeted last week. "Until these shortages are remedied, Americans won't return to work anytime soon."

What’s your take? I’d like to hear from you.

Whether you’re an employee, a business owner, a manager or a managing partner, it’s been a long time since the demand for labor has outstripped supply. Workers have never been in better position to find work that’s meaningful to them and to perform it wherever and whenever it suits them to. By 2025, nearly a quarter of the American work force (36 million workers), are expected to be remote.

What’s more, the Millennials and GenZ’ers who are replacing the 3 million retiring boomers every year are more inclined to work smarter not harder. They’re far less likely than boomers to put up with hour-long commutes, abusive bosses and co-workers and to perform demeaning office chores traditionally associated with “paying your dues.”

Conclusion

To compete for talent in today’s market, employers will have to do more to show workers what that they do matters, whether they’re flipping burgers or performing open heart surgery. It’s not just a problem you can throw money at, and since they’re not in the office, you’ll have to find better perks than a foosball table, casual Fridays and bring your pet to work day.

As with every crisis, innovation on the hiring front will eventually prevail. Just don’t make the mistake of thinking worker (or independent contractor) leverage is transitory.

 

“You better not try to stand in my way
As I'm a-walkin' out the door
Take this job and shove it
I ain't workin' here no more.”

-- Johnny Paycheck, Take this job and shove it

 

#hiring, #quitrate, #practicedevelopment

When Life Forces You to Slow Down

The problem with Coach K’s “Next Play” philosophy

I've never been the type to slow down and smell the roses. But after 30+ years of triathlons, marathons, tennis, kayaking, open-water swimming and coaching baseball, the wear and tear on my body finally caught up. Step 1: Shoulder surgery to repair a torn rotator, labrum and biceps tendon.

The physical therapy is going pretty well, but wearing a bulky sling 24/7, especially while sleeping, is pretty uncomfortable. Worse, it’s a constant reminder that I’m sitting on the sidelines, not in the game. Not only is there a big hole in my calendar, but with no scheduled workouts or competitions to prep for, goal setting has to be reconfigured—big time—and I have to find a new outlet for all the extra energy.

At first it took four times as long to shower, shave, get dressed and eat, let alone type a simple email or blog post. I’ve gotten that down to 3x normal and am shooting for 2x normal within next two weeks. Range of motion and the number of reps improves with each physical therapy session, so I jot that incremental progress down in my training log. At least it fills in the blanks where workouts and race results normally go and fools my brain into thinking I’m still training.

More on fooling your brain in a minute.

My wife’s been incredibly patient during this time. She’s always better at handling adversity than I am, and she’s certainly not doting on me. Her philosophy is basically: Suck it up, take your meds, do your PT and get on with your life. “At times like these, you can’t worry about what you can’t do. Just be thankful for what you can do,” she reminds me before going out for a run or hitting the tennis court.

Most of you on this distribution list are competitive Type A achievers. When life forces you to slow down, it can be a shock to the system. It makes you realize the lengths we go to every day to try to squeeze in one more assignment, one more Zoom call, one more client meeting or one more hour of work into an already overstuffed schedule.

I can't tell you how many of you highly compensated professionals complain to me about “time famine” more than any other work issue. Being overscheduled may make you feel productive and valuable, but does it make you happy?

The problem with Coach K’s “Next Play” philosophy

Legendary Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski, is a highly sought-after motivational speaker and business advisor. If you’ve ever watched a Duke game, you’ll hear him shouting “Next Play!” to his players throughout the game.

By that Coach K means you can’t spend your time dwelling on mistakes that you or a teammate just made. You have to shake them off and be 100% focused for the next play as your opponent brings the ball up the court.

“Next Play!” is a popular rallying cry in the business, sports and military worlds. I should know. I drank the (Gatorade-flavored) Kool-Aid for most of my adult life. But in the inevitable chase for NEXT PLAY, do we forget to celebrate our successes? Worse, do we forget to notice how much we've improved from earlier in the season? It's hard to measure progress when you're constantly obsessed about looking ahead.

 

Next time you read an obituary or visit a cemetery, tell me how many times you see the dearly departed eulogized as follows: “A wonderful and caring husband and father, who was always in the top 2% for billable hours”? Or “A generous and caring soul who always checked every item off his to-do list” or “A loving wife and grandmother who always answered every email in her inbox”? That’s right, never!

 

I don't think I'll ever adapt to a sedentary lifestyle, but I notice my concentration's been a little sharper since the surgery since I'm no longer shoehorning workouts, meetings and competitions into an already packed work and family schedule.

In many ways the surgery has forced me to forget about multitasking since it’s so much more challenging to complete even the simplest tasks of daily life. And for those of you still slaves to the billable hour business model I encourage you to read our client Kyle Walters’ recent columns in Accounting Today: The 64/4 Rule and Can You Earn $10K Per Hour? I also recommend Robb Zbierski’s book: Master Your Mind, which will teach you how to slow down your runaway brain, so you can accomplish a lot more in less time.

Conclusion

The big takeaway from Walters and Zbierski: It’s not about how many hours you put in; it's about what you put into those hours.

What’s your take? I’d like to hear from you.

#productivity, #resilience, #CoachK, #timefamine

Busting Through Writer’s Block (and Procrastination)

There’s no magic formula or pill to take, but these (mostly) old-school techniques still work

As the famous line from Alice in Wonderland goes: “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will take you there.”

Not to be your high school English teacher, but trying to write something without an outline is like trying to build a house without blueprints. You might be able to throw up a wall or two, but sooner or later you’ll get painted into a corner or the whole structure will come tumbling down on itself. That only leads to wasted time, money and frustration.

Outlines for real-world business people

With all due respect to my superb high school English teach Mr. Hallowell (see Stop Clearing Your Throat When You Write) I hated the academic outline protocol: Roman numeral I., subtheme A. and supporting point 1. That doesn’t work for many people who aren’t in academia and I won’t subject you to it. Instead think about how you’re going to “sell” your content to your target audience. I know you know how to sell!

1. Identifying the problem. Start out be clearly stating the problem you’re trying to solve for the reader. Even better, assure them they’re not the only one facing this problem. Sharing stats from a reliable source, quotes from a recent article/broadcast clip or a client example are great ways to draw readers in and convince them why they need to read your words right now!

2. Explain what happens to the reader if they continue to ignore the problem. Life gets worse, they lose money, the leave big opportunities on the table, they have a less than satisfying life. Maybe explain why skeptics don’t want you to address this problem. You get the picture.

3. Briefly explain the solution, i.e. “there’s got to be a better way.”

4. Show the reader how much better their life will be by following you the solution. Include compelling stats or anonymous examples of clients who followed the advice and are much happier for it.

VERY IMPORTANT! Don’t give away the whole solution here. It doesn’t matter if you’re writing a short post or a feature-length book. Just give them a taste….not the whole meal. Show readers you know what you’re talking about, but if they want the full solution, they must book a discovery meeting with you to learn more. Make sure your Contact Me link is working on all of your digital points of presence and make sure it’s not too salesy.

5. Conclusion. Summarize the argument you just made and inviting them to contact you for a more detailed conversation about the topic. Share links to related resources on your website if possible.

Your finished outline should look something like this:
1. Intro: Identify the problem
2. Find common ground. Show readers they are not alone with this problem.
3. Explain dangers of ignoring the problem.
4. Introduce the solution.
5. Show reader how much better life is with solution in place.
6. Conclusion (with calls to action).

Outline complete: Now sell the Content
Now that you’ve completed the outline, don’t start fleshing out your piece yet. First think about how you’re going to sell it. You need to think about your headline (or book title) and Key Takeaways.

Headline
Start noodling around with some catchy headlines to hook in your busy readers. I’m not suggesting you engage in click bait or search engine optimization. Just ask yourself what will make a super-busy person you’re targeting take time out of their busy day to read what you have to say.

TIP: See what the headlines you’re considering look like in the subject line of an email. Do a few test-emails to yourself or better yet, send to unsuspecting colleagues and see which one gets the most (or quickest) reaction.

Key Takeaways
What are the three key things that you’d like the reader to take away from your article, post, white paper or e-book? Many of you follow our Key Takeaways protocol at the top of your writing. Trust me, in this attention-starved mobile age, there’s no better way to make your content skim-able and worth reading (and saving).

Now that you’ve got the outline and sales pitch for your content, you’re almost ready to start fleshing it out. But first, think about how this content will fit into your overall content schedule for the weeks and months ahead. Will it be duplicative or overkill? Should it be standalone or part of a series? Should it be the intro 101 version of your expertise, or is it more of your “advanced course”?

Map out your content schedule

Just as we never recommend writing anything without an outline, we don’t recommend writing anything in a vacuum, i.e. without thinking about how it fits into your overall content cycle. Think of yourself as sharing a body of work—not a series of random one-off takes about a subject. We recommend laying out your planned topics 12 to 24 weeks in advance. You don’t have to stick to the schedule as real-world conditions make certain topics more urgent than others. But following these tips will ensure you have solid “blueprints” in place and you’ll never be up late at night staring at a blank screen wondering: “What should do I have to write about next?”

Even better, once you have your content calendar laid out in advance, it’s amazing how many nuggets of great information you’ll start accumulating weeks, if not months, before you have to write your piece. It’s like having a “rainy day fund” for your content ideas.

Conclusion

You wouldn’t have clients invest their money without a plan. You wouldn’t hire an architect to build your dream house if he or she didn’t use blue prints. So, why would you start pushing out content to your universe of followers without a plan? Familiarize yourself with the 1-7-30-4-2-1 principle. My post The Power of Content Calendars has more.

#betterwriting, #outline, #writersblock, #productivity

Clearly, We’re Being Tested

At times like these, your clients need you more than ever. Are you anti fragile?

I’m not the most devout guy in the world. But on the eve of Rosh Hashana (Jewish New Year) and the 20^th anniversary of 9/11, it’s clear to me our resolved is being tested by a higher authority.

The COVID Delta variant continues to spread relentlessly. We’ve had horrific wildfires on the West Coast and record-setting flooding and continued power outages in the South and Northeast courtesy of Hurricane Ida. We finally admitted defeat in the 20-year Afghanistan conflict, the eviction moratorium has been lifted, women have been stripped of reproductive rights in Texas, inflation is resurfacing and the economy can’t get out of first gear due to a chronic shortage of workers and raw materials.

Whew!

Many of your clients (and employees) may be losing faith in the world and prone to reckless emotional decisions. And then there are there’s the Biden tax plan that’s likely to put a boa constrictor squeeze on affluent and successful people like your clients starting in 2022.

Bottom line: Your clients and team members need you more than ever.

Nietzsche famously said: "That which does not kill us makes us stronger." To that end, our client @KyleWalters (L&H CPAs) wrote a great piece in Accounting Today about becoming anti-fragile. According to Walters, there are three types of financial advisors:

1. Fragile advisors: You are fragile if you avoid disorder and disruption for fear of the mess they might make of your life. You think you are keeping safe, but really you are making yourself vulnerable to the shock that will tear everything apart.

2. Robust advisors: You are robust if you can stand up to shocks without flinching and without changing who you are.

3. Anti-fragile advisors: You are anti-fragile if shocks and disruptions make you stronger and more creative, better able to adapt to each new challenge you face.

Which one would you rather be?

First, make sure you’re communicating with clients consistently and frequently. Our annual CPA/Wealth Advisor Confidence Survey™ shows that firms expecting double-digit or greater growth over the next 12 months, are twice as likely as firms expecting flat growth to contact their clients multiple times per month.

During these difficult and unsettling times, why not shine the spotlight on the positive things in life?
COVID vaccines—developed in record time--have proven undeniably effective at preventing the spread of the virus. The financial markets continue to set all time highs. Those who listened to their advisors and stayed fully invested during the dark early days of COVID are up roughly 100% since mid-March 2020. And real GDP growth in the U.S. is poised to grow at a very robust 7% annualized clip in Q3. But wait, there’s more.

As bad as the California wildfires have been, drones and other advanced technology have made tremendous strides in predictive modeling which have snuffed out numerous potential fires before they started. Re: flooding and hurricanes, the Post-Katrina levee system in New Orleans held throughout Ida and at least where I live in the Northeast, utility crews have been showing up several days BEFORE major storms hit to cut down vulnerable trees and limbs.

Conclusion

Whether you’re on the way to the beach, barbecue, ballgame or synagogue this weekend, let’s take a break from the gloom and doom headlines and celebrate our progress during a time of tremendous adversity and uncertainty. Your clients need you. Your team needs you. Your family needs you. Your community needs you.

As former heavyweight boxing champ, Mike Tyson, liked to say, “everyone has a plan till they get a punch in the mouth.” We’ve taken a few to the face to be sure. It’s up to you how quickly you get off the canvas and get back into the ring.

What’s your take? I’d like to hear from you.