Written by: Scott Conroy | Carson Group
Do you remember “Gracie from Boston” from the Peloton ad and the big uproar it caused over the holidays? The whole country got upset because her husband got her an exercise bike. Two years ago I was on the other end of that experience and received a Peloton as a gift from my wife.
For me, exercise is the ultimate stress reliever, and the thing that keeps me balanced. If I go more than a few days without a great workout it impacts how I handle the stressors in my life. My wife and I didn’t expect it to change her life, too.
We have two young kids, ages 8 and 5, and she is a full-time supermom for them and underpaid for what she does each day for our family. Between school activities, different drop-off and pick-up times, sports, and theater she is always on the go with them. She was not making time for herself. It was taking its toll.
I gently encouraged my wife to find something that allows her to take an hour each day for her, to help relieve the stress of being supermom. Not for the kids, our family, or someone else, but just for her.
I get to work with some of the best holistic financial advisory firms in the country, and I see a lot of the same things in them as I do my wife. Advisors need to make time for themselves each day to better serve the people they support.
This is especially true now, in a time of significant market volatility. Investors are concerned, some are panicked. In turn, advisors are slammed, calming their clients’ fears and juggling a significant uptick in their workload.
Advisors and their teams work so hard to do the best they can to serve their clients, to help them achieve their goals and dreams for their families. They design incredible financial plans and work with clients to make sure they can find the best path to retirement, so those clients can enjoy as much “me time” as possible.
But they are not taking the time to do the same for themselves and their teams. They are putting in long hours, are pulled away from their families and friends, and often are not present when they are around them. They are not doing the one thing each day that helps balance them out.
We are a few months into the year and many firms have started working hard on executing on their business plan. I wonder if they have built in time for themselves to find balance in their life and to reset and recharge their battery each day. We all need to make this a priority in our life each day to better serve ourselves, our families and clients.
Right now, you might be tempted to do away with the one thing that relaxes you, thinking there’s no time. But if you make the time, you’ll be better equipped mentally and emotionally to navigate the challenges you’re facing right now.
It doesn’t have to be a Peloton workout. It needs to be the thing that makes you feel good about you that you can control. It might be exercise, it might be reading a non-work-related book, meditation, working on a car – it doesn’t matter. It just has to be the thing that makes you focus on you for one hour and recharges your battery.
As for my wife, it was two years on Feb 24th that we got our bike. As of March 3, she has done 518 cycling classes, 182 strength workouts, 112 stretching classes and visited the New York Peloton studio twice. Most importantly she has made it a priority to find an hour each day to spend on herself. That decision has made everything else more balanced in her life.
As you think about your business and the people you serve, make sure you are making time each day to work on you. By doing that, the people around you will get the best of you each day!
Related: How Investors Can Diversify Their Portfolio During These Volatile Times