When I graduated from Wharton, my first job was Assistant Town Manager in a Connecticut suburb. Before I reported for work, the Town Manager called to tell me there had been an election and the “other” party won. He explained he was sure he would be replaced but he was not sure about me.
I asked myself "why would I want to live my life with a career (job) that, no matter how well I performed, was to be determined by an election?" I made a very quick decision and resigned before I showed for work.
It helped teach me to be mindful and not personalize the events in my life that had absolutely nothing to do with me. When things do not go your way, always remember it may have more to do with events beyond your control. While it does not exonerate us from being responsible, it helps make us understand (for the purposes of this example) a rude and mean person is just that – rude and mean. It has nothing to do with you or me. So don’t personalize it.
Another example, inflation. I know I’ve spoken about this topic quite often lately, but I want to remind you we control where we place our energy.
Back to being proactive instead of reactive. To be successful at investing, very little of the day-to-day action has anything to do with you. If you take it personally, you are very likely to take on the view that you’re a victim. Never forget the market cares not at all about you or what you think but we at Curran do. That's our job!
For the past 25 years, I have driven about 250 miles one way every week. You see much of the time I was working in Albany, NY, Philadelphia, PA and Cape May, NJ but each Friday I would be driving from those places to be with my wife and family. They are my pride and joy.
Early on I was becoming a “mad man” driving. I told myself the only thing that could change was me and to stop thinking anyone was purposely “cutting me off” etc. You see I was personalizing behaviors by others I had convinced myself were directed at me. I was excited to come home to my wife and family so prolonging that moment caused me frustration.
When you personalize market actions, it means the market wins and you are not in control! To be a successful investor, you must be in control!
For anyone of you reading this that may feel out of control, we are here for you! Remain the course alongside us. Step by step we will get through this. Call your Private Wealth Manager to ask questions and allow us to guide you. That's our job!
Sincerely,
At Curran we value service over sales and believe quality service yields happy clients. Below is our 4-step process (the first three steps at no cost to you).
A short introductory call for us to get to know one other. During this call we will discuss your financial goals, concerns and hopes for the future.
In this meeting we will go over your current financial situation, take a deeper look at your goals, discuss your risk tolerances, and collect the data necessary to build a formal proposal.
Based on our data gathering session, our Private Wealth Managers will present you with a custom proposal tailored to your needs. We encourage individuals to take the time to evaluate this proposal.
If you are comfortable with the proposal and choose to invest with Curran, our team will be there every step of the way assisting in opening the recommended accounts and facilitating all necessary parts of your onboarding process.
