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Small things achieve big results

Vincent van Gogh is quoted as saying: “Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.” This quote highlights the idea that even the smallest actions or details can contribute to the creation of something significant. Focusing on and taking care of the small things can achieve big results over time.

Essentially, this is about being productive. In the moment, we might think that it’s just a small action or an insignificant choice, but they all add up. Productivity has a direct impact on our health, time and money. By being productive and efficient, we can complete tasks faster, produce more work, and increase the value we create and enjoy in life.

Those of us who are productive and manage our time well are more likely to be able to save money, manage our stress better, and make healthier life and financial decisions.

One of the first ways to prioritise the important ‘small things’ is to avoid multitasking. Multitasking is often seen as a way to increase efficiency and productivity, but in reality, it can have the opposite effect.

When we multitask, we divide our attention between multiple tasks, leading to decreased focus and lower quality of work. And, switching between tasks generally creates more stress and mental fatigue, but it’s incremental, so we don’t always notice it at the time. After a few hours of multitasking, we may simply feel frustrated but not really know why because we’ve felt busy, but haven’t been productive.

It’s better to focus on one task at a time, giving it the necessary attention and effort to complete it effectively before moving on to the next task. This can lead to improved concentration, higher-quality work, and overall greater productivity.

Here are some practical ideas to try out:

  • Identify your goals and priorities: Determine what is most important to you and what you want to achieve.
  • Make a to-do list: Write down all the tasks that need to be done and prioritise them based on their importance and urgency.
  • Use the 80/20 rule: Focus on the 20% of tasks that will produce 80% of the results.
  • Avoid distractions: Eliminate distractions such as emails, social media, and unimportant tasks to focus on what is truly important.
  • Take breaks: Regular breaks can help increase productivity and avoid burnout.
  • Review and adjust regularly: Review your priorities and to-do list, and adjust as needed based on new information and developments.

Remember, consistency and attention to detail in small tasks can lead to significant outcomes. Focusing on the small details and consistently working towards our goals can achieve great results over time, leading to big payoffs in the end.

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Because I want to

It’s easy to feel like our lives are just a series of obligations – choices and decisions made because we have to, not necessarily because we want to. From paying bills and working 9-5 to attending continuous professional development seminars, family events and keeping up with the Joneses. When we view life through the lens of obligatory choices, we can feel frustrated, stuck and hopeless.

On his blog in 2019, Seth Godin wrote: “If it’s an obligation, then you don’t have a choice. Pretending you do is simply a way to create frustration. Free yourself to simply do what you have to do. On the other hand, if you do have a choice (and you probably do) then it doesn’t make sense to treat it as an obligation. Own the choice.”

He’s not actually talking about obligations and choices here; he’s talking about mindset. Whilst acknowledging that some things are as they are and we can’t change them, Godin reminds us that we can choose how we think and feel about our actions. Rather than blaming others, owning our choices empowers us to make different choices.

When we own the choice, we can change the choice. Then, it’s not because we have to, but because we want to.

But – we need to understand what’s happening when we make a choice. With every choice, there is a trade-off (or multiple trade-offs).

Saying yes to something generally means that we’re saying no to something else. When we accept the loss inherent in the choice, we can move forward with peace and clarity.  When we choose something, it is so easy to only think about what we get from that choice. However, by choosing something, we are actually letting go of something else.

Our lives, ultimately, are not merely down to chance but choice. We don’t have to stay stuck in a job we don’t want, or a relationship that’s unhealthy for us. We can change the situation by either changing how we think about it – or trading it for something entirely different. From debt to a dead-end job, from unhealthy eating to sedentary lifestyles, we can change because we want to, not because we have to. 

When we know what’s in the trade-off, it’s so much easier to find the motivation to become unstuck.

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Deeper relationships, not deeper pockets

There are moments in life when we slow down and reflect on where we’ve been, where we are – and where we’re headed. Sometimes this is at the start of a new year, or perhaps it’s at a significant milestone in life when we feel like we’ve crested a hill and can take a rest and enjoy the view.

At this point, as we identify things we’d like to change and things we’d like to amplify in our lives, we set intentions and goals and share our dreams. When it comes to financial planning, it’s vital that we set our intentions with integrity and authentic values, not superficiality and disconnected values.

There’s a quote by Kevin Heath that goes like this: “In the end, kids won’t remember that fancy toy or game you bought them; they will remember the time you spent with them.”

As you read this and reflect on your own childhood, and perhaps your parenthood, it’s easier to remember the moments – not the monetary value – that defined us and motivate our choices today.

Yes, we can remember times of financial hardship or prosperity, and we can often remember big-ticket purchases, but it’s not always about the money spent, but what the money meant. This topic keeps coming up in our reformed thinking around financial planning: it’s not about how much money we have but how much we can achieve with our money. The two are linked, for sure, but where we place our focus will determine where we find our value.

When money is tight, it’s an opportunity for us to draw together and find creative ways to achieve our goals and dreams with the resources we have. And, when money is plenty, we have an equally challenging responsibility to invest or spend it wisely in ways that will have lasting value.

Ultimately, it’s about deeper relationships, not deeper pockets. As Charles Dickens wrote in his Christmas Carol, there is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humour. Wherever you are in your planning and reflection, may you be encouraged to focus on what you can achieve rather than what you can earn.

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Save on tax, and for life beyond work

In recent years there has been a considerable amount of economic uncertainty. Many people are unsure of their financial future, concerned that they won’t be able to retire because of financial setbacks related to the pandemic and other global events.

Saving for retirement often aligns closely with benefiting from tax advantages, tax-free investing and tax deferment. Life beyond work is a season of life that we can start planning for now and see immediate savings in our tax returns and the long-term wonders of compounding interest.

Retirement planning refers to financial strategies for saving, investing, and ultimately distributing money to sustain oneself during retirement. It’s a very personal journey, and the amount we need to save depends on our age, income, desired retirement income, inflation, and more. But what so many people overlook is that they can reap short-term benefits, too – tax savings being the most obvious, but emotional and mental wellness are also notable benefits.

Life after work is not just a financial conversation – it’s a whole-of-life conversation! Debt is only one challenge; divorce, depression and disenchantment all feature high on the list of struggles that those entering life after work face – and if they’re not prepared, these can be devastating.

Despite all this – we continue to engage with people who are not prepared for retirement. Sometimes it’s due to factors outside of their control, like the economic uncertainty mentioned at the beginning of this blog, but sometimes it’s due to avoidance and poor advice.

There’s room for improvement in retirement planning and saving, and a quarter of non-retirees have no retirement savings. Thankfully, it’s never too late to start saving for life after work, and there are ways to catch up if you feel like you’ve fallen behind.

When tax returns are due, we always find that there’s an increase in questions about retirement savings and how they can reduce tax. These questions don’t always have simple answers, so it’s a good idea to consult a financial advisor to get personalised advice that fits your financial situation and goals. Whether you are looking to save on your tax bill in the immediate future or bolster emotional and mental fitness by securing your financial bearings for life beyond work, the sooner you can engage with your retirement plan, the better.

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How are you choosing your financial products?

For years, people have said that insurance is sold and not bought. The stigma surrounding the industry and those representing it still hangs thick in our social memory, with old stories of brokers peddling policies purely to earn commission instead of seeking the best needs of their clients. However, in the last decade or so, we saw a shift in motivation for sales, with a breed of financial planners and advisors emerging who chose to put their clients first, not the product providers, insurance houses and investment offices.

Coupled with pandemic-influenced buying habits and near-limitless access to information, we are finding that risk products are being requested more and more, shifting it to a product class that is bought and not sold.

From various reports, research and client feedback, the most significant factor prompting consumers to start exploring different life insurance is their concern for the future, most likely heightened by the pandemic and other global issues.

Interestingly, people are only sometimes using cost as a motivator for their final choices. As financial advisors, we have found that our role has shifted from being gatekeepers of information to being gatekeepers of value. Where clients would typically ask for information about different products, we’re finding that the conversations are shifting more to understanding which products best suit their lifestyles and future goals. This means that cost is only one consideration, if it even features.

In a world of fake news, value is now found in product providers who can fulfil their promises and offer flexibility, integrated value and robust client engagement. Near-instant communication through online chats, social media and platforms like WhatsApp, means clients expect faster and more comprehensive feedback on claims, adjustments, annual changes and product upgrades.

Value is not only found in the end product; greater accessibility through digital buying platforms and underwriting innovations requiring a less invasive process all contribute to the perception of a company that can understand its customers and deliver on its promises.

At the end of the day, this relates to how we choose our risk cover, who we choose to invest with, and how we build our own reputations in the 21st century. Access to information, improved technology, and a recent history of black swan events have impacted how we consume and contribute to our local and global communities. If you feel like you need to rethink your financial plan, please get in touch soon and let’s see how we can enhance your situation.

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Dealing with stress

With a positive approach, physical and mental stress can both be helpful in moving from a fixed to a growth mindset. Research has found that people who adopt the mindset that “stress is enhancing” experience more exceptional performance and fewer negative health symptoms (Crum & Crum, 2018).

It’s easy to try and avoid stress entirely, especially since we operate in overdrive way too often. Instead of finding the balance, we swing from each end of the spectrum to try and find better ways to cope. This affects our mental, physical and financial health as we find ourselves making decisions that have tradeoffs that sometimes sit in our blindspots.

We see this in our personal choices, but also in the way we interact with others. We might overspend in order to make a partner or child happy, or we might underspend in order to keep ourselves feeling like we’re minimising the impact on our finances. We might avoid certain conversations, or spend an unhealthy amount of time on one activity in order to avoid others.

In their research with athletes and Navy SEALS, Crum and Crum developed a three-step approach to harnessing the positive aspects of stress while reducing negative health impacts.

Step one – “See your stress”

Don’t attempt to ignore stress. Label it. Seeing it as something positive, rather than to be avoided, can change our physical, cognitive, and behavioural response to it.

Say to yourself: “I am stressed because I haven’t discussed our monthly budget with my partner.”

Step two – “Own it”

When you are at risk of being overwhelmed by stress, own it. Say to yourself: “I need to make time to have this conversation and stop avoiding it.”

Step three – “Use it”

Your body and mind have evolved to respond to stress; use that energy, alertness, and heightened concentration to boost your mind. Be open to the opportunity. Use the stress to energise and motivate yourself to have that conversation you’ve been avoiding.

Reframing stress to something positive can enable you to overcome existing and future obstacles.

Another psychiatrist, Professor Steve Peters, specialises in the human mind. His bestseller, The Chimp Paradox, explains the inner workings of the brain using what he describes as the “Chimp Model.” It consists of three elements: the human, the chimp, and the computer, and can help us understand why we behave in certain ways when under stress.

According to Peters, the human element uses a logical and rational approach to solving problems. The chimp element describes the fast-reacting, instinctual parts of the brain. It solves problems emotionally and often reacts impulsively, frequently causing us problems. The final element, the computer, stores previous experiences and uses this information to advise the human and the chimp. It represents your memory and a set of learned, automatic responses.

Ultimately, dealing with stress is a key skill to living a life that we’ve planned and designed. Without coping mechanisms and language to label, own and use our stress, and understand our motivations, we will frequently find ourselves stuck in situations that we could very likely avoid.

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Get more out of your productive time

“A deep life is a good life.” – Cal Newport, Author of “Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World.”

Have you heard of deep work? A term coined by Cal Newport, deep work is a state of distraction-free concentration when your brain works at its maximum potential.

As you read this, you probably realise just how hard it is to find a space of genuinely distraction-free concentration. Even whilst reading this blog, you may be thinking about your next task, hearing the notifications from your mobile device or switching between tabs in your browser. We all have a ton of distractions that we’ve allowed to permeate, and often govern, our days.

So whilst we think we’re making the most of our productive time, there’s a good chance we’re not. Instead of deep work, we’re engaging in shallow work. Newport’s deep work theory suggests that to be truly productive, we should log out of all communication tools and work uninterrupted for long periods every day. So while we might not be able to step away from communication tools fully, we can aim for 60-90 distraction-free minutes at a time.

Deep work is effective for two reasons: it helps us avoid distractions and rewires our brains to help us learn hard things faster—so we can get better work done in less time. The next step to implementing deep work into your schedule is to choose a deep work philosophy.

In his book, Newport outlines four different philosophies to follow as you decide how to schedule your deep work. Depending on your lifestyle, some approaches may work better than others: 

Rhythmic philosophy

With this approach, you establish a regular habit and rhythm for deep work, blocking out between 1-4 hour chunks to focus at the same time every day. For example, schedule time for deep work between 8-10 am every weekday. The key to this strategy is consistency, which you can achieve by committing to a certain amount of deep work daily.

Journalistic philosophy

This method allows you to fit deep work wherever you can into your schedule. You could schedule time for deep work when you have 90 minutes between meetings, and this requires you to switch into deep work mode at will, which can be difficult for beginners. The rhythmic philosophy may be your best bet if you have a predictable meeting schedule.  

Monastic philosophy

This approach eliminates or drastically reduces shallow work across all aspects of your life. For example, science fiction writer Neal Stephenson famously avoids email and speaking engagements to free up his brain space for writing. That means Stephenson is nearly impossible to get a hold of but highly prolific, with over 80 works to his name.

Bimodal philosophy

This method involves dividing your time, with long stretches (at least a full day) set aside for deep work and the rest dedicated to everything else. Bimodal scheduling is a more flexible version of the monastic philosophy—instead of completely eliminating shallow work, you can spend a day or more working deeply and then return to your other obligations.

Again, like so many other skills we’re learning in our current age, it begins with mindfulness. Many of us begin our days by responding to emails, and before we realise, we’ve spent an entire day simply following the needs and requests of other people. Becoming mindful of how we spend our work time is the first step to choosing how to spend our time more productively. A deep life is a good life.

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Reconnecting with your values

When life gets full and busy, it’s hard to remember why we do what we do, and it’s easy to become unhealthily disconnected from who and what we value. As Dr Susan David often says, finding your “why” can be as simple as reconnecting with your values and reframing your everyday activities in relation to those values.

This is not so easy when we’re under pressure to perform and meet the expectations that have been placed on us. But, if we’re cognisant of it, we can learn to be more intentional about seeking out our values, even when feeling the squeeze. This is how we can find and remain connected to our purpose and meaning in life.

As Dr David puts it – perhaps you’re dreading a particular meeting with a client with whom you just don’t see eye to eye. But when you remind yourself of the values you want to bring to work—such as clear communication and collaboration—you begin to evaluate this tricky relationship through a lens of possibility instead of struggle.

It’s not always as tepid as this, sometimes it’s red-hot volatility or significant change that we need to confront in order to find our peace. Engaging with our deeper values may call upon deeper disruption – like leaving a dead-end relationship or choosing to move to a different country. 

The challenging reality is that if we don’t, at some point, try to engage deeply with our motivational values, no amount of money, status, property or relationships will give us the value that we’re desperately seeking. So, whatever it means to you, find it.

Dr David says that walking our why is a surefire way to cut through life’s messy and confusing meanderings to connect with who we really are. We cannot find our meaning at the end of an investment strategy or career path. All of those have little meaning, and equate to ‘just stuff’, if we don’t know who we intrinsically are at heart. 

It is helpful to think about choices not as better or worse but as equal and different and to remember that values are related to quality over quantity. Consumerism puts blinkers on us and keeps us constantly ‘busy’ – so practice social snacking and find opportunities to enhance relationships when life gets busy. For example, prioritise phone calls and coffee dates!

Show up to yourself with courage, curiosity, and self-compassion. This is where we begin to experience authentic, deep, long-lasting value, which we can then lean on to guide our choices.

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And what are the voices saying?

There are times in the year when we see and engage with more people than usual – through end-of-year functions, annual celebrations, birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, funerals and the like.

It can be wonderful – but it can also be stressful. We are quickly reminded that these old friends, colleagues and distant family from far-off shores have opinions that challenge our own, and they’re all too willing to offer unsolicited advice.

All these voices can be exhausting – especially if we’re already feeling a little burnt out or overwhelmed with what we feel we still need to accomplish. This is okay – we don’t have to take their advice too seriously, especially when it comes to managing our money.

You can choose to stick to listening to the voice of your trusted financial adviser and wealth management team. Actually, this is the best choice! When managing our finances, listening to too many voices can be treacherous to our financial plan.

It’s like when you’re buying a car; the more people you speak to, the more confused you’ll become. The same is true of your finances.

Working together, we want to create and follow a plan that helps you avoid common financial planning and investment mistakes in our relationship. This doesn’t happen once a year at a lunch party where the financial conversations tend to be rather superficial. This happens regularly and only after deeper conversations around meaning and purpose have been explored and brought into context by the money that you have.

Some of the high-level principles to keep in mind include the following:

   – Invest with a financial plan in place, don’t run an ad-hoc strategy

   – Invest in the correct products for your plan

   – Always remember the effects of inflation

   – Avoid spending your retirement savings when changing jobs

   – Let your emotions subside, then decide

So – what voices will you be listening to? When someone has skills, experience and qualifications that can help you AND has spent time understanding your needs and helping you put a plan in place that reflects your goals and risk appetite – you listen to their voice. Not only does it begin to echo your own, it will also help you articulate what’s important to you.

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Our emotions tell OUR truth, not THE truth

Did you know that listening to classical music has been proven to lower blood pressure, make us more emotionally available, help us sleep better and relieve anxiety? Ironically, our emotions around money can achieve the exact opposite!

Firstly, if money brings up a lot of emotions for you, you’re not alone. Financial expert Ramit Sethi (on a blog for The Harvard Business Review) reminds his readers that our relationship with money is just as personal and valuable as any other relationship. 

It’s okay to feel emotional about money. We should take our emotions seriously, but we should not always take them literally. This is because our emotions tell OUR truth, not THE truth. As a relational species, we hold many truths. So, one truth does not necessarily tell the whole truth.

In a recent Instagram post, therapist Jake Ernst talks about how we need to use our emotions to help us understand our values, fears, needs, and wants. We need to let these emotions play out whilst being aware that whilst we may be getting an accurate read on a situation as it applies to us, it may be an inaccurate read on how others perceive the same situation.

The triggered emotions may be a valid response, but that doesn’t mean they’re an effective way of dealing with our anxiety, frustration or anger. Ultimately, it’s helpful to remember that our emotions will always hold a paradox. To help us manage these paradoxes, we can educate ourselves about money and open up conversations that allow us to be vulnerable with people we trust. Often, the fear of money comes from a lack of knowledge or awareness about it, or from feeling unsafe and judged.

When we’re able to manage our emotional responses to money, we can choose to become inspired by money. This is a positive attitude, and it’s something we can proactively choose; emotions are not something we can choose, but we can choose our attitude. Instead of focusing on what we don’t have, we can think about what money can buy or help us achieve. Don’t just focus on the materialistic aspects but also the experiences money affords.

And, if you find yourself in an emotional spiral, try to interrupt that by speaking to someone you trust, doing something you love or simply listening to some classical music. It works!

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