Coach in real life

For over 16 years, I have professionally coached families through financial decisions. Being a financial advisor is a great joy in my life as I celebrate retirements, births of

grandbabies, college graduations, wedding anniversaries, and goals achieved with clients.

I recently put on a new coaching hat and stepped into the world of 5/6-year-old Parks & Rec soccer. My youngest loves soccer, and I thought this would be a fun experience for us. Of course, I have another story to tell about coaching your own child, but this story is about the team of 10 little girls who call themselves the Blue Star Wolves!

At our first practice, I learned that half of our team had never played soccer, with a few having never touched a soccer ball. So the first rule of practice quickly became “do not touch the ball with your hands during practice, EVER!” (We do practice throw-ins during which hands are allowed, and the excitement over using hands is comical). We have lots of water breaks and drills to learn the basics.

On the day of our first game, excitement was everywhere. We had team pictures; we had a team huddle with team cheers. We had a game plan on who would play in each 8-minute quarter and who would sub in and out. But I told the girls the game’s main goal was to have fun.

No less than 3 minutes in the plan was in jeopardy.

Not even halfway through the quarter, I had one or two players look at me and ask, “when do we get a break?” Their little faces were red, and sweat dripped down their pigtails and braids. Yet, despite their fatigue, they made it through the game, and even though we lost 6-5, there was an enthusiastic “YES” when I asked the girls, “did we have a lot of fun?” Our plan worked, and our goal was achieved.

Reflecting on my professional coaching, I can easily see parallels between this soccer game and the markets this year. We are 9+ months into the year with declining markets, and fatigue may be setting in for some. It has been a while since the markets had a protracted decline.

It is one thing for us to remind ourselves of the 2007-2009 markets and another thing to stay the course and stick with the plan amid the decline. Some of us may be asking, when do we get a break?

If you feel you are falling in that fatigue category, reach out, and let’s talk. We know the game is longer than nine months, but we also are here to talk about your concerns.

We are here to recap your specific game plan. Most importantly, we are here to keep your goals top of mind. We want you to feel confident that despite any fatigue you may be feeling today, we will celebrate big when you say “YES!” I have achieved my goals.