Embrace Change

January has proven to be a month of significant change. There have been changes personally and professionally; Maternity leave, the death of a coworker, and a promotion all happening within the daily demands of life. With each change, my husband Neil and I have worked together as a team and adjusted our routine.

Last year, while reflecting upon these changes with a mentor, I said that I was ready for a “normal” January come 2020. While the challenges proved to be growth opportunities, I was ready for something easy, peaceful, and nonstressful. My mentor affectionately laughed and said I needed to work on adjusting my view of “normal”. She told me that no matter what I plan, life will throw the unexpected my way, or changes will occur that at face value appear difficult and challenging.

My mentor told me that while it is okay to desire normal and easy, that isn’t how life works and I should reframe how I view changes that occur in my life. To make the best plan for moving forward after a major change, I needed to rethink my attitude about how this change had affected me. She challenged me to expect the unexpected and be ready to accept new challenges striving to always excel in those circumstances. She also advised that I need to have relationships and support groups around me that will help calm my fears and provide encouragement.

It was an “a-ha” moment for me. It’s exactly the same as the process our team uses with clients. We work to equip them with a plan for the unexpected during times of calm. Sometimes the plan we put together is fairly straightforward and easy to include a contingency here or a contingency there. Sometimes we are working together through difficult times, but in those situations, I get to act as a coach, and together we craft a plan that assists the client through the change.

My team and I find being part of each client’s support group to be a gratifying experience. Our support and encouragement is mostly focused on the financial aspect of a client’s plan. However, through our work together, we get to know our clients’ values and beliefs. As a coach, we get to help clients work through change in a way that incorporates their values and their beliefs. We want to work together to help each client reframe change as an opportunity to evaluate how they incorporate their most important values into their financial lives.

It took coaching from a mentor for me to reframe my attitude about change in my own life. Coaching was one of the best things to happen to me in what turned out to be a wonderful 2019, it gave me a great start during an ever-changing January 2020, and I’m prepared for the future because of it.

Amanda Howerton, CFP® CDFA® is a Senior Advisor with Rather & Kittrell.