They are Not the Same Thing

A goal is a tangible, measurable, attainable objective for which you have developed and implemented a reasonable plan to achieve. Otherwise, it is merely a dream. Dreams are what you hope for, but goals are what you actually achieve. Focus on establishing and achieving goals. Through the years, I have had more than one employee tell me that they had a goal to earn a college degree.  When I have offered to fund it, they have either backpedaled or dropped out after a semester or two. I have had financial advisors declare their goals to make a certain amount of money, but then renege on the plan I helped them develop to get there. These were not goals, these were just dreams. Dreams are nice, but we tend to keep them at a safe distance. Goals are what we fight for, lose sleep over, and skin our knees trying to reach because we can’t imagine living life without having achieved them. Dreams are risk free.  Goals are fraught with fear, setbacks, and potential calamity, because they are real. Dreams occupy idle brain time.  Goals consume us. Dreams require luck. Goals require skill, determination, and sacrifice. Dreams are ethereal. Goals are concrete.

Some Basic Rules

Set only a few. Don’t start the New Year with a long list of hope-tos and want-tos. Choose two or three specific things as goals, develop a plan for each, and then go to work. Words like more, less, better, lower, be, have, want, hope, think, and become, cannot be used to describe a goal. “I want to become a better golfer.” is not a goal. That is a dream. “I have hired a chipping and putting coach and scheduled 8 lessons on Saturday mornings over the next two months with a golf pro to shave 5 strokes off my game.” is a goal, and one that will likely be achieved. Goals have a time limit, a specific quantitative objective, and a reasonable chance of achievement. Write them down and share them with others , especially with those who will hold you accountable and help you stay focused. Review your progress regularly. If you determine halfway through that the goal just isn’t possible, revise it so it is possible, and then keep going.

Everyday you should take steps toward your goals. Take big steps when you can, but keep taking steps.  Never stop progressing. Never stop moving forward. If you work at your goals, you will eventually achieve them. It took me 10 years to complete my undergraduate work in my mid 40s, but I kept enrolling, semester after semester.  Sometimes, I only took one course at a time, trying to balance it all, but I made it. I am in my early 50s now, and I have nearly finished a master’s degree. I will begin a Ph.D. program in the fall of 2015, and by 2018 my friends will have to call me Dr. Noel.

Now, Get Started!

Start turning your dreams into goals. Start right now. Don’t procrastinate. Remember, the longest journey begins with the first step. What are your dreams? How can they be turned into real goals? Which ones should you abandon, and which ones should you pursue? Is it a college education, or a master’s degree? How about getting into shape and losing weight? Maybe you want to get married and need to find the right mate.  Whatever your dream, turn it into a goal by writing it down, setting a schedule, developing a plan, and getting started. What do you have to lose? The satisfaction of accomplishment has few equals in life. I don’t want to look back at the end of mine and see a rough draft or a life that resulted from the sum of my stupid choices, laziness, procrastination, and happenstance.  I want to see a masterpiece. Design and build yours.

The Paperwork Reduction Act

When I launched my practice ten years ago, I lived in a vicious, relentless cycle. It was like the film, Ground Hog Day. Do a little marketing, then win a couple of clients, then do the planning work, then process the business, then work to get paid on it, and then start the process all over again. I was a one-man show, and I was meeting myself coming and going. I was only actually producing new business about every 3 or 4 weeks.  The rest of the time I was either marketing or processing paperwork in one form or other: ordering forms, filling out forms, copying forms, filing forms, mailing forms, tracking forms, etc..  It was madness.  I knew there had to be a better way, but I didn’t want to pay someone else to do something I could do myself.

Over time, I began to realize that I should only have one job: seeing clients. Every moment that I spent outside my conference room was costing me money. Big money. I learned that I needed to pay other people to do anything and everything that took me out of the conference room. My notions about efficiency were simply off base.  Doing work myself so I didn’t have to pay others to do it was a false economy. Since I was the most financially valuable person in the practice (I brought in the accounts), the real economy was in my avoiding anything and everything that took me out of the conference room. It was a tough habit to break, but I have fully recovered. Now, I am like one of those reformed smokers who can’t stand second hand smoke of any kind whatsoever. I can’t stand paperwork of any kind whatsoever. I am allergic to it.  It makes me nauseous. The slightest whiff of it can send me into a panic attack or a stress-induced coma, really.

One Exception

Advisors don’t do paperwork. That’s the policy.  Of course there are exceptions to every policy.  As an advisor, I am not above doing the work.  It is a matter of profitability and efficiency.  That said, new advisors are allowed, in fact required, to do their own account and investment paperwork at the beginning of their careers, and for two reasons. First, they need to be able to fill in for the operations staff in a pinch if they have a client emergency, such as a last minute, unexpected drop-in or a late appointment with a client who has an urgent transaction that needs processing. Second, they need to understand the basics of how our operations department works, if for no other reason than to become sympathetic with the struggles and challenges the department faces each day in support of the advisor staff. The more everyone on the team knows how everyone else works, the more efficient we will be. And, this promotes esprit de corps (a team spirit of enthusiasm and camaraderie, for you rednecks). Now, there limits to this exception. New advisors may only do their own paperwork up to a point.  Once they no longer have time to do it, because they are too busy (and valuable) seeing clients in the conference room, their pencil-pushing days are over.  Paperwork is just a part of their initial training, and nothing more.

The Efficient Document

In today’s technological world, there are service providers that can map the data fields (name, address, Social Security number, date of birth, beneficiaries, etc.) from your client resource management (CRM) data base to digital web-based investment, account, and service forms.  These systems are brilliant at pre-populating your client documents from the information in your own database.  Virtually all broker-dealer, clearing firm, investment sponsor, and insurance carrier forms are available through these service providers. LaserApp and Quik! are two such providers. For a nominal fee, you can subscribe to one of these services and virtually eliminate filling out forms by hand. Once populated the forms can be printed or emailed directly from the application. If you are not using one of these services, you simply don’t understand them.

I Owe it All to Others

When I was 20, I was working my way through college at a large printing company. I worked the night shift because it paid 15% more than the day shift. After three years there, I saw what was happening to the older employees.  Once they got five years in, they had three weeks of vacation and a nice annual bonus. They owned company stock and bought new cars. Many of their spouses and adult children got jobs there. One big comfy family. They stayed in their hamster-wheel jobs, content, but oblivious to the future. It wasn’t for me. One night, I was inking up my printing press on the production line, and someone called out to me up the line, “Hey, Noel, isn’t that your cousin coming in the back door?” It was. He worked the day shift, but was transferring to nights for the slower pace and the extra pay. In that moment, I saw myself working there the rest of my life, my dreams reduced to whatever happenstance would bring me on the expedient path of least resistance, the comfy but unimportant blue collar life. I panicked. I shut off my press, hung up my apron, and walked out. My supervisor, Kenny Upton, knew exactly what was going on. He drew up alongside me, and tried to tell me that the only way I would ever make anything of myself was if I invented something, received an inheritance, or won the lottery. I knew deep inside that he couldn’t be right. From that brief exchange, I learned a principle that has continued to grow in my heart and has been proven time and again, I don’t have to invent, inherit, or win anything. I can find out what successful people have done and model it.

Pretty much everything I know about being a good advisor and businessman, at least the technical aspects, I stole from someone else. I didn’t invent any brilliant, new how-tos. I learned them from others. An old colleague and friend, Ernie Koster, used to say, “There isn’t any original thought.” In business, I think he is right.  Yes, you can innovate, you can improve on the ideas of others, and you can even do a better job of implementation, and these you should. But what is tried and true is, well, tried and true.

Don’t Reinvent the Wheel

My first business was investment-related, but focused on retirement plans for employees of school districts, universities, and non-profits. I had no mentors, and it was a lot of trial and error trying to figure out how to build and run a business. I wasted an enormous amount of time learning the basics. It eventually grew to about 70 employees in offices around Texas, and we had 120 independent advisors. We were making it, but it was a high volume, low profit business. I never had the confidence that I was doing things right. My wife came down with a serious illness, and after 15 years in business, I sold it and retired to care for her and our two small children. When the money ran out from the sale of the business a few years later, I had to go back into business. This time, I decided to build a financial planning practice, but keep it relatively small. I started traveling around the country, visiting the offices of successful financial advisors. I would attend financial planning symposiums and conferences where top advisors were speaking. I was a sponge. I copied their filing systems, their financial planning strategies, their marketing programs, and their bedside manor.  Soon, I was out producing most of them. In ten years, we had built one of the most profitable and efficient practices in our market. To this day, I still try visit 2-3 colleagues around the country each year, looking for ways to improve our operations, our investment results, our relationships, and our bottom line.

Adopt and Adapt

Someone once said, “If you want to be successful, find out what unsuccessful people are doing, and don’t do that.” Somewhere, someone else said, “Successful people do what unsuccessful people are unwilling to do.” Both of these adages are fairly accurate, but they are in the pejorative. Focus on what successful people are doing, and find ways to adapt their systems, technologies, procedures, and methods to your own practice. Adopt and adapt. One visit to the office of a colleague in Evansville, Indiana revolutionized our client filing system.  Another visit to a colleague in Hartford, Connecticut changed all my thinking about asset allocation. A visit to a colleague in Memphis, Tennessee put me on the path to buying our first tax practice. In the case of the filing system, it was as simple as using color coordinated file folders.  But, we expanded and improved it. On the asset allocation model, we refined it and perfected its presentation to clients. On the tax practice, we learned to make it more profitable, instead of just a loss-leader.

Get on the road and find out what your colleagues are doing well. Commit yourself to learning from others. Invest in your own training, but learn from the best.  Not the so-called “experts,” who write books and give talks but aren’t in the trenches everyday.  Seek out the best active advisors that you admire and respect, and learn from them. This requires humility and a teachable spirit, but it is the only way to get to the top. You have everything to gain and nothing to lose.

Always be Giving

Don’t be the primary consumer in your relationships. Jesus said, “It is better to give than to receive.” – Acts 20:35. The point here is that it is most important to deliver value in all your relationships. Strive to be the producer rather than the consumer therein.  This is true with employees, clients, vendors, sponsors, your broker dealer, your church, your children, and your spouse.  Produce something of value before you ask for anything from a relationship. Always keep the scales of giving tipped in your direction. It doesn’t mean that others can’t give to you or that you should refuse the generosity of others. But, when you become the primary consumer in a relationship, bitterness can take root in the heart of the producer. Always be the producer and people will love you for it.

Give Happily

Invest in your relationships with generosity and joy. You can’t fake this. Insincerity is a dead giveaway. You have to genuinely love and appreciate people for who they are. “God loves a cheerful giver.” – 2 Corinthians 9:7. Continually strive to add value to your clients’ lives, not just to their portfolios. Don’t begrudge the time a client wants to take showing you pictures of her newest grandbaby or discussing his improving golf handicap. This past Valentine’s Day, we held a special banquet for our clients who had lost their spouses. We didn’t discuss any business. We just loved on them. Given our average client profile, we lose several clients each year to death. Of course, we attend every funeral. I take time to hear my clients’ stories, listen to their problems, and learn about their struggles and triumphs. I ask probing questions and give genuine encouragement and council wherever appropriate. If something is really heavy on their hearts, like a threatening medical diagnosis, and if the moment seems right, I offer to pray with them right there in the meeting. I always take my time, and I am never in a hurry. These kinds of things don’t pay commissions, but they are the right way to love people, and loving people is the right thing to do. Make generous and cheerful giving a way of life.

Giving Pays Dividends

Being the producer in a relationship, rather than the consumer, is the best way to make good will deposits into your relationship accounts. “Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure – pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.” – Luke 6:38. That is a long quote, but it illustrates a basic principle of life: you reap what you sow. Giving produces gratitude and a forgiving heart. If I have built up a high level of good will equity in a client relationship, that relationship will endure errors and foul ups in my operations department, it will withstand poor investment performance, it will put up with long waits in my lobby, and it will still produce quality referrals. But, if I strain a relationship that is already thin on good will, it will break, and I will eventually lose the client to an advisor who knows how to give better than me.

Time is Like Money

Coaching baseball, running a business, earning a Master’s degree, serving in ministry, and being a great husband and father all at the same time can seem like a huge juggling challenge to the causal observer. When my wife asked me to drive her on an errand, while I was trying to complete a reading assignment for school, it was not an interruption, but rather an opportunity to shift my focus from the objective of earning a Master’s degree to the objective of being a good husband. That’s an important distinction and a good lesson in perspective.

Second, driving Stephanie to the mall and getting my school work done were not opposing time demands. They could be easily integrated if I just thought about my time in terms of minutes rather than blocks of hours. We’ve all heard the adage, time is money. True in one context, but time is also like money, in that it is currency, and you are continually spending it, moment by moment. People who get a lot done and seem to “have it all” live an integrated life. They don’t like to waste time, but they see time in minutes. Paying a bit more attention to how those minutes get spent will make you aware of how many of them are wasted. No one can really manage his time. He can only spend it. So, it must be spent well.

A Few Pointers

I read about 50 books a year. But, half of them are audiobooks. I listen in the car traveling to and from the office, on the airplane during flights, while walking the dogs, and so on. Rather than waste all that driving, flying, and walking time on mindless mental wandering and useless cell phone chit-chat, I put it to better use. You can buy audiobooks on CD, or you can download them to your smart phone or tablet and take them everywhere you go. Even some of my school books are available in audio format. It’s the future of publishing.

Here’s another pointer. Use your televisions; don’t let them use you. Turn off the televisions, all of them. Only turn them on for a specific program or movie. Some folks turn the TV on as soon as they come home and it stays on all night until bedtime, then they turn on the TV in the bedroom and watch more worthless “entertainment” until they doze off to sleep. TV, TV, TV. It will suck the life out of your otherwise “free time.” That said, I had a television installed in my bathroom.  I spend a good thirty minutes getting ready every morning. The TV is set for my favorite news channel, and I get prepared for my day both physically and mentally by catching up on the top stories while shaving, showering and getting dressed.

One more pointer. I travel extensively for education, ministry, and business. This could steal a lot of precious time away from my family. But, I bring them along. My son is taking an African mission trip with me this year. My wife routinely comes with me on business travel. A few summers ago, I included my daughter on an archaeological dig in Israel for a course I was taking at seminary. Integrate everywhere. I integrate driving and reading, shaving and news consumption, travel and family time, and so on. Now, how can you start integrating? To get the most out of your time, be flexible and opportunistic, pay attention to where it is going, and start integrating whenever you can.

The Multi-Tasking Myth

I coach baseball. A couple of seasons ago, while coaching the spring season of my son’s elite youth baseball team, I was also carrying a load of 12 hours (6 courses) in my Master’s degree program. In addition, I was running my wealth management practice and pastoring the small community church I had planted 12 years earlier. Needless to say, time was a little tight. One evening, while catching up on my reading assignments for school, and after a full day’s work at the office, my wife asked me to drive her to the mall. I asked if I could wait in the car while she shopped. She said, “Sure.” I asked how long she’d be, and she said, “Maybe 20-30 minutes.” I thought to myself, “I could get a whole chapter of reading done in that time,” then turned to her and said, “You bet. Let’s go. I’ll read in the car while I’m waiting for you. Take your time.” This small slice of daily life offers two useful instructions.

First, I did not see my wife’s request as an interruption because I do not see my educational goals as in competition with my family goals. I want to earn this Master’s and then go on to a PhD. I also want to be an excellent husband and father. To do both, I merely need to be flexible and opportunistic. It is about perspective. Too often we settle for small goals or none at all because we don’t think we can “do it all.” We work, we go home, we go to sleep. Doing it all is for other people who have limitless supplies of energy and otherworldly self control. But, that is really just a perception that does not prove true. There is no such thing as multi-tasking, per se. Rather, there is only flexible and opportunistic tasking. This is the skill of moving easily from one objective to the other and back again without getting flustered or losing momentum. Take “interruptions” in stride, but keep moving forward. If one objective meets a temporary roadblock, then shift to another one. Don’t fall apart or fall off the wagon, just keep making progress. You will eventually get there.  The longest journey begins with the first step.  Keep taking deliberate steps, and you will reach your objective, no matter how many of them you have.

Stay tuned for Part II…

Always Be Professional

My version of a popular saying goes like this: “We don’t drink, smoke, swear, or chew, and we never run with those who do.” These vices get in the way of business; they do not facilitate it. They are distractions, they are distasteful, they are ungentlemanly (and, especially unladylike), they are costly, and they are unprofessional. Everything you do in life has either a cost or a payoff, takes you closer to your goals or farther away, or helps or harms you.  Little, if anything, that you do is benign. And, so it is in business. Vices can kill your professionalism, even if you can’t see it. There is a better way to win clients and build business relationships. Always be a professional.

Drugs and Alcohol

I don’t drink alcohol. I am not against it, per se. Nor am I self righteous when others do. It’s legal in most situations. I just can’t see a benefit that outweighs the risks. Alcohol dulls the senses. I want to be in charge of my faculties. Drinking produces drunk drivers. I don’t want to hurt others, especially while driving under the influence. Alcohol lowers inhibitions. I don’t want to do things I might regret later. Alcohol is expensive. I don’t want to be seen as a sycophant in a business relationship. Getting drunk makes you less attractive (I can hardly afford to be any less so). I don’t want clients, co-workers, or business associates to see me in a state of intoxication. There is nothing to be gained and much to be lost. Avoid the practice in any business situation. I maintain a stiff firm policy: No drinking with clients, co-workers, vendors, sponsors, or the home office, whether before or after business hours, whether at home or while traveling, whether on personal or company time. We just don’t go there as a matter of principle.

I don’t use drugs, I AM against it, and I AM self-righteous when others do. It’s illegal. Otherwise, everything else above concerning alcohol applies here.  Don’t do it.  Ever.

Tobacco

Of course, it is harmful to your health. That alone should be reason enough to avoid the practice, but let us stick with the context of business. Smoking makes you smell funny, yellows your teeth, soils your clothing, takes time away from your duties, and reveals a weakness to addiction which is undesirable in any business situation. Most smokers are unaware of the aromatic cloud that follows them around throughout the day. In decades past, smoking was not only considered socially acceptable, but it was cool. All the movie stars did it. Today, smokers are more and more relegated to sidewalks, back alleys, and airport smoking booths. Restaurants, bars, theaters, office buildings, and retail establishments have all but eliminated smoking in urban and suburban areas around the country, and the trend has gone international. It should have no place in your business world. I want to present a professional image in every business context. I do not want time wasted on smoking breaks. I do not want to be seen as susceptible to unsavory appetites. We strive to hire nonsmokers exclusively in our practice.

Foul Language

Foul language is the last resort of a limited vocabulary. People who use foul language, especially in a business context, degrade themselves and those around them. Its use is disrespectful and creates a poor work environment, especially for the ladies. I once was in a meeting with a new client who let an f-bomb fly in earshot of two of my female staffers. The man had a belligerent attitude, and I feared correcting him would cause a scene. But, I felt compelled to stand up for my staff and our principles. All I had to say was, “Please watch your language, there are ladies about.” He immediately lowered his countenance and sheepishly apologized. I was relieved. He conducted himself honorably in every future encounter with me and my staff. In another instance, I was at the mall shopping for a gift for my wife. I was so impressed with the grace and professionalism of the woman who helped me, I hired her to join our staff. Within a month, I was getting complaints from her co-workers that she was using strong foul language in the office. I could hardly believe it.  When I called her on it, she immediately admitted to the practice.  I terminated her on the spot. If cursing and swearing are allowed to exist they will flourish. That is not the kind of environment I want for my clients and staff. Set a zero tolerance policy and set the best example yourself.

One Final Word

Practicing vice (bad habits and immoral behavior) is indiscretion (behavior that displays a lack of good judgment). This quote speaks best to the issue of exercising vice: “Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout, so is a woman who lacks discretion” -Proverbs 11:2. The woman is the small gold ring, the vice is the large pig. Sort of lays it out there, doesn’t it?

…Than You Think You Can

This is going to sound like boasting. Well, it is, I suppose. No way around it (as if this entire blog is not just one shameless self-promotion after another; makes me want to vomit just thinking about it). But, it’s for a good cause. I want to show you something. So, here goes. In addition to running a $100 million wealth management practice (which I built in 10 years with the Lord’s guidance and blessing), owning and managing a stand alone tax and accounting practice, which I am building through acquisitions, and maintaining a top 5 advisor production rank at my broker dealer (where I also serve on its investment committee and travel bi-monthly to its home office in San Diego for 2 days of meetings each time it convenes), I head coach elite level youth baseball two seasons per year (which includes 2 evening practices and 2 evening games each week night), write two blogs (one personal and one business), serve as Associate Director of World Hope Bible Institute (for which I travel internationally more than 60 days per year and keep office hours at its headquarters on Mondays), attend Biola University, a private Christian college in Los Angeles, as a full time student (taking 9-12 hours per semester) where I am about half way through an executive Master’s degree (not an online program, as I have to travel to Biola for lectures 4-5 times per year), homeschool my 9th grader, am an avid bird hunter with my sons and dogs, and am currently restoring two vintage cars, a ’65 Thunderbird and a ’69 Cutlass, both convertibles. Except for travel and baseball, I am home very night. I attend all my kids’ events when I am in town. I vacation with my family 3 or 4 weeks a year, and so on.

No Superman

I heard that Muhammad Ali once refused to fasten his seatbelt on a flight. When the flight attendant insisted he do so, he quipped, “Superman don’t need no seatbelt.” The flight attendant replied dryly, “Superman don’t need no airplane.” I’m no superman. I’m just organized and efficient. True, I hate being idle. But, the more I add to my plate, the less I am involved in trivia, like watching television, mowing the lawn, surfing the Internet, or daydreaming. I once was asked by the Gideon Society (those folks who put the Bibles in hotel rooms) to become a member. When I complained that I already had too much to do, they said that that was why they’d invited me. The man said, “Busy people get things done.” I instantly knew it was true and could not come up with a reasonable defense. I joined and served three years until I stepped down to enroll in seminary (ministers could not be members, and I wanted to be more involved in ministry). Just after our son was born (our daughter was 5 years old at the time), my wife became ill with a serious neurological disorder and was bedridden 24/7 for six years. During this time, I sold my first business (a regional annuity distributor with 200 advisors and staff and offices around Texas), enrolled in seminary where I completed my undergraduate studies (earning two degrees in theology while carrying a 3.8 GPA), planted and grew a community church (acquiring and renovating a small Bingo hall/beer joint for its use), started and built my present wealth management firm, cared for my wife, and raised our two kids. My in laws, and especially my mother-in-law, who lived nearby, were indispensable during this time, and I am very grateful for them. You can do more than you think you can. A lot more.

Ever get down to the end of the day and feel like you didn’t get anything done, or that you didn’t get the most important things done? Ever realize you’re late leaving the office, but the day’s distractions and emergencies hijacked your time and sapped your energy, and so you feel defeated? You’re suffering from  a serious mental disorder known as tyrannus insigificantus (I made this up.). You live under the tyranny of the insignificant. You need to stop this killer dead in its tracks, before it kills you. Every task you elect to undertake in a given day falls into one of four categories:

1. Important and Urgent
2. Unimportant and Urgent
3. Important and Not Urgent
4. Unimportant and Not Urgent

Urgent tasks can’t wait, non urgent ones can. Important tasks are those which produce income. Unimportant ones don’t. Guess which category you should live in? I will give you some time to reflect on this question. While you’re thinking about it, consider these points. First, you should never do anything that is unimportant. If something unimportant must get done, hire someone else to do it. You’re the rainmaker in the practice.  Rainmakers should never do things that are unimportant.

At the end of 2013, I divided the fees and commissions I generated for the year through my own personal production (I excluded my associate advisors) by the number of actual appointments I had for the year, and then divided that number by 1.5, since that is the number of hours I allow for each client appointment. The result? I earn an average of $2,439.02 per hour when I am in my conference room.

When I take a vacation with my family or travel for missionary work, the real cost is hardly the airfare, hotels, food, and entertainment we spend. The real cost is $2,439.02 for each hour I am not in my conference room. Think about it. If I am out of the office for just four business days (I don’t work Mondays), and I miss 12 appointments, the cost is $43,902.36. Two weeks costs me $87,804.72.  Three weeks is $131,707.08.

I am not going to waste time changing the toner cartridge in the printer, answering the telephone, or paying the bills. Someone recently asked me how much was my average electric bill.  I said I hadn’t a clue because I had not seen one in years. I don’t even want to waste time signing the checks. My controller has a rubber stamp of my signature and uses it to sign the checks. Now, right there, some of you are saying, that’s a good way to get ripped off. I say paying your own bills and signing your own checks costs $2,439.02 an hour. Delegate  these responsibilities.

Delegation requires trust. You have to trust others or you will never grow your business beyond yourself. Now that we have agreed you will no longer do unimportant tasks, we have eliminated options two and four above as candidates for the category in which you should live.

Second, you should never allow an important (that is, income producing) task to become urgent through procrastination, poor planning, or neglect. The best time to do something important is right now. You must guard yourself, and this requires self-discipline. It’s easy to want to be available to everyone, and answer all their questions and make all their decisions, since you’re the boss, and you know everything. Avoid this thinking. There is no efficiency in your being everyone’s almanac or quarterback. New staff members are often taken aback when they ask me trivial questions or want me to weigh in on a decision about some non critical matter, and I respond with, “I’d check with [insert new staff member’s name] on that.” After momentary confusion, it registers that I am telling the inquirer two things: “Don’t ask me to get involved in unimportant matters,” and “Handle it yourself.”

If you are continually focused on performing only important (that is, only income producing) tasks, little, if anything, that is truly important will ever become urgent. Avoid creating urgencies by never performing unimportant tasks. There is always time for the important tasks, if you avoid the unimportant ones. Now that we agreed you will never allow an important task to become urgent, we have eliminated number one above as a candidate for the category in which you should live. This leaves category number three, this is where you live: Important, but Not Urgent.

Who could forget the iconic image of young John F. Kennedy, Jr, on his 3rd birthday, saluting his father’s casket as it was carried from St. Matthew’s Cathedral in Washington, D.C. in November of 1963? John F. Kennedy, Sr., President of the United States, had been cut down by an assassin in the prime of his life.

Or, who could forget how John, Jr. would die, along with his new bride, both so young and beautiful, in a plane crash in the prime of their lives? John, Jr. was the pilot. Expert investigators concluded that he lost his bearings and succumbed to vertigo when his plane crashed near Martha’s Vineyard. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) reported that Kennedy lost control of his aircraft when descending over featureless water with no visible horizon on a hazy night. As a small aircraft pilot, Kennedy was not certified with an instrument rating, meaning he was not trained to fly his aircraft under such conditions.

He should have relied on his instruments to guide his aircraft on that fateful day. Instead, he relied solely on his senses, also known as Visual Flight Rules (VFR), to fly his plane. When he lost his sense of direction and balance, the only thing that could save him was experience and proficiency in flying by his instruments. Had he been trained to use them and rely upon them, he and his wife would have survived. But, because he relied on his natural senses alone, and tried to do what “felt right” in the moment, he crashed. His lack of preparedness resulted in a senseless and preventable national tragedy.

Your principles are your instruments. Identify them, become proficient in them, and use them constantly. And, when the haze, darkness, and confusion of ethical temptations, business misfortune, or personal difficulties cloud your path, you won’t lose your equilibrium and crash like John F. Kennedy, Jr. Instead, you’ll fly straight and true and reach your destination. When you are confused or in the dark, what “feels right” will often be the wrong thing to do. Intuition and experience should never trump your principles. What “feels right” must be checked against your instruments, your principles. If the principles win, your clients win. And, when they win, you win.