As many of you know I am a passionate bowhunter. I have been fortunate enough in my life to hunt many species of big game including caribou, moose, mule deer, whitetails, black bears, and elk. I have immediate plans to hunt mountain goats, and am in the planning stages of a dall sheep hunt in the Northwest Territories. Yes, I have high ambitions personally, and my hunting is no exception. In fact, I intend to hunt most species of big game in North America during my lifetime.
I just returned this past Sunday from a mule deer hunt with my good friend Tyson Mackin in Alberta, Canada. I have hunted with Tyson several times, and have become great friends with him and his amazing family over the years. He is the epitome of one who has followed his dream and done an incredible job at it. The picture is of him and I on the last day of our hunt just after we had blown the stalk on a great deer. So, why are we grinning ear to ear if we were unsuccessful, having messed up an opportunity on the last day of my hunt? Simply put, the journey is more important than the destination.
Most driver personalities I know try to make everything happen NOW and I am no exception to that rule. However, in hunting, it is almost impossible to make anything happen. In hunting, you are dealing with weather and conditions you cannot control, and wild animals that know their environment intimately. The most successful hunters I know understand this fact and put themselves in the position for success and simply let it happen.
I have noticed over time in many things in life that the harder I try and the worse I want something, the farther it seems to get from me. Now that doesn't mean that you don't work hard and put yourself in the position for success...but once you are there you need to allow things to happen and not force them. Even more importantly, you have to savor the struggle...the journey is what it is all about. Without exception, it is not the kill that I savor about the hunt, but the hikes, nights spent under the stars, and conversations with friends. Hunting is about the harvest, make no mistake about that, but the process is what makes it a hunt and marks it indelibly on your memory.
What does all of this have to do with money and my role as a financial advisor in my clients lives? Well, you have to have a plan, a financial plan, well thought out. You also need to dream about the outcome...the secure retirement, your child graduating from college debt free, or buying that second home...whatever is your "Why". You need to put that plan into action, and then you know what you need to do? Let it go...go to work everyday, enjoy your home and family, and roll with the punches. Know that now is what it is all about....with an eye on the future. You will not win every time no matter how much you try. But if you have a consistent approach, never give up, and keep smiling...success is all but guaranteed.
I never did draw my bow last week, but you know what...I will in the future, and when I do it will be oh so sweet...but it will be the times before and after that I remember and savor the most. Give me a call and let me help you build a financial plan to accomplish your most important Why...
All the Best,
Mike