Lewisburg, PA – The common phrase “it’s never a mystery”, should end with, “except for the people involved”.
Is it a mystery why the athlete medals in the Olympics? Not when you consider the coaching, training, years of perfecting technique, and all the pieces that it takes to win. In contrast, most people see a guy living on bench with ragged clothes and dirty long hair; the perception is “it’s not a mystery” often underlined with pity or sympathy. I am not sure if this old adage, “it’s never a mystery”, applies to life, but it does most often apply to financial planning. Why do we see so many planning mistakes made in the area of investments, insurance, and taxes?
Behavioral science tells us we need to be able to step outside of ourselves, observe how we are operating, reflect on improvements, theorize how we could change it, and then test out a solution. The reality, this is very hard for most people, especially when their financial security is at stake. For those of us who are not natural-born scientists of self-analysis, coaching may well be the best possible solution for cultivating the skills needed to make personal decisions.
Coaching is important in life, but today it is vital. We do not have a lack of information today, rather a lack of clarity. Whether it is coaching from a doctor on an aliment we have or to prevent issues, the mechanic about a noise we heard under our car, or maybe a teacher with a suggestion we can use at home to help a child improve academically. We all need coaches, we all need support, we all need encouragement, but I believe more than anything we all need accountability. This has little to do with intelligence or even talent, rather a lot more to do with being one person, in one body.
In my personal journey, if for no other reason coaching has helped me be accountable. Because of it I am a better person, father, husband, and community leader. Only with accountability and striving to improve does one grow in life. That could be growing your relationship base of friends, our financial understanding, growing spiritually, and growing physically. Whatever it is, it’s very rare that we can motivate ourselves to do what really is in our best interest by ourselves. For an example, the 6 billion dollar diet industry. The result is the finance industry has seen an increase in coaching the last several years to fill the void that traditional planning has not been able to address. If we want to improve, we must be willing to accept valid criticism, explore options, and try to embrace change. What do you think?