Calling All Control Freaks Adjust Your Focus

What Can You Really Control?

“I will invest in stock XYZ when it gets down to $5 and then sell when it reaches $40 all the while if I see the market is going to go down, I will sell ahead of it.”  This is a paraphrased quote I recently heard… Good luck with that plan!!  I wish I had that person’s “crystal ball”.  Many of us though, have attempted similar plans about something in our lives that we think we can control.  Can you really control the stock market, traffic, an upcoming election, other people…?  Nope, you just can’t.  And if you try, you will be a frustrated mess.  As a sometimes “control freak”, this can freak me out! 

Change your Focus

As tough as it is to admit, I can sometimes be a control freak.  However, I am learning to let go.  What is needed I have found, is a change of focus.  The little details we plan out step by step sound great but the reality is those details will need to regularly change with the many variables surrounding every relationship, a deadline at work and even the stock market’s impact on your financial plan.  If you can take a step back, “zoom out” so to speak, you will see the big picture.  You will then see what really matters to you, your family, profession and the legacy you want to imprint on others.  

What Really Matters

Control tendencies are often birthed from emotional fears.  If you can release these fears, you will find freedom.  Then you are able to focus on what really matters…. the things you value and which really are your goals.  How you spend your time, what you think about, who you spend time with all become a lot easier when you know what really matters, the big picture- where you should focus your energy, time and money on.  This is real financial planning.

Allow me the honor to Build for you or Revise your “current” Financial Plan.

Let’s Focus Together on What Really Matters,

Luke Fields, CFP®