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Overwhelm. There, I said it. Very few of my financial advisor clients are less overwhelmed than pre-COVID. Life has changed so much over the past year and even though some things are a memory (commute with ridiculous traffic, choosing clothes to wear to the office, etc.), clutter of all kinds has invaded our lives and destroyed our productivity: mental, time, physical, emotional and brain clutter.
With so much change comes turmoil.
You may not even realize the impact this change has had on your life. If you are running through your days, feeling unhappy with how life is passing you by, invest a few minutes to reflect on what it is that you are missing. Discover what you need and value in your life.
What are needs and values and what do they have to do with productivity? Needs and values are the foundation of not only productivity, but of living the life that you want. Most people think of productivity as planning and time management. It is, but the first step to being productive goes much deeper. If you don’t know what makes your life work and what you stand for, you will get a lot done but feel empty inside. Or you may veer off course regularly and feel cluttered, unfocused and unaccomplished.
Uncover your needs and values
Let's do a little exercise. Yep, I call it the “needs and values” exercise that I work through with my financial advisor clients to help them build and create the life that works for them.
Let's start with the needs part. Needs are personal priorities and principles, and until your needs are met, life doesn’t “work.” From the list below, select your top three needs.
Don’t overthink this. Respond with your heart and soul, not with your head. This is not about what you think someone else wants to hear. And feel free to add words not shown here.
Achievement
Adventure
Aesthetic
Community
Equality
Fame
Family
Freedom
Fellowship
Happiness
Health
Love
Nature
Peace
Pleasure
Power
Self-Worth
Service
Spirituality
Wealth
Wisdom
Next, we'll go to the values section. Values are personal qualities or passions. They are what you stand for or who you are. Select your top three values. Again, feel free to add words not shown here.
Accountability
Affection
Autonomy
Competency
Courage
Courtesy
Creative
Discipline
Drive
Fairness
Flexibility
Forgiveness
Honesty
Humor
Knowledge
Loyalty
Obedience
Order
Reason
Service
Tolerance
Knowing your needs and values allows you to make a correction when needed to bring yourself back into alignment and to hold you steady when things feel off-kilter. It is good to have a sense of what works for you, but it’s great to have the actual, concrete words to define what works for you and be able to fall back on those qualities when you are out of sync with what makes you, you.
My client, Karen, had nature as one of her needs. But when we looked at her schedule and life over the past several months, every waking minute was spent in one “cave” or another (home, car, or office). She was not allowing herself to be outside in nature and she felt an imbalance but didn't know why.
What correction did she make? Every morning, she started with a walk (or at lunchtime if her schedule didn't permit it). She started planning a hike every weekend. She knew that getting outside was what helped her to clear the mental clutter and fight off her sense of overwhelm in the past, but she was not planning for it. Once she did, Karen felt calm and in balance once again.
My other client, Mike valued honesty and was in a situation at his firm where unethical behavior was happening towards his client. The company line was to hide the dishonesty and let it blow over, hoping that the client wouldn't know. Mike was struggling with what to do for months and when we uncovered his values, he knew he had to do something so he could sleep again. He has since left the firm and started his own. Dramatic results but in alignment with his values.
Another client, David, needed family but with the pandemic was feeling isolated. We brainstormed some ways that he could remedy that with Zoom: outdoor visits, regularly scheduled phone calls and gifts that he had delivered to let family know he was thinking of them. David started to feel more connected to his family and aligned with his need for family connection.
Once you've narrowed down your needs and values, don’t stop there. Write them on a sticky note and keep them somewhere you’ll see them every day. When you feel “off,” revisit them to see what need is not being met or what value is not being honored. Make the needed changes to get back in alignment. One thing you don't need in your life is overwhelm.
Patty Kreamer, CPO® helps overwhelmed financial advisors take control of their brain clutter, calendar, to-do list, inbox, interruptions and anything blocking productivity. She is a productivity coach, speaker, Certified Professional Organizer®, author of four books and partner at Productivity Uncorked, LLC, a coaching firm that specializes in helping financial advisors take control of their practice and uncork their referrals. Email Patty at [email protected] or connect with her on LinkedIn.
Read more articles by Patty Kreamer
Advisor Perspectives welcomes guest contributions. The views presented here do not necessarily represent those of Advisor Perspectives.
