you choose what success looks like
Last night I had the opportunity to speak to the NextGen group in the Michigan FPA (Financial Planning Association), shoutout to all of my friends up north, about my career as a financial advisor, sharing advice from my experience, and my evolution to a life planner. The group had great questions, and their energy was contagious–they had me going, and we went over by nearly twenty minutes.
I tried to balance giving the group advice that might help them as they pursue their careers as financial advisors, which I have learned from my experience and giving them advice that I believe will help them no matter where they end up in their careers.
I encouraged the group to start to really begin to examine who they are–despite being twenty years younger than me, they could still begin to gain a better understanding of who they are today and look to align their career path to allow them to show up as much as possible authentically; I tried to help them avoid falling into the trap of trying to become someone they know they are not.
I also encouraged them not to worry about finding the perfect company immediately. Early in our careers, we don’t know what we don’t know, and in some cases, experience is the only way to learn what we truly like and don’t like, what we’re strong at and what we’re not, and who we are and who we aren’t. The most important thing they can do early in their career is experience as much of the business as possible, find people who will help them learn and grow, and experience more of the business—doing is the best teacher, not a textbook or instructor.
One of my final pieces of advice is still on my mind this morning, and I didn’t even know it would come up last night. I encouraged the group to design their own definition of “success” for their lives. In the world of finance, particularly the financial advisor community, there are a lot of people who want to determine what “success” looks like for an advisor—what business model is best, how big of a business to have, what type of clients to serve, how much to charge, and all of the other details that really are dependent on the individual advisor’s goals and preferences. I cautioned the group that many of these individuals defining “success” are very confident in their definition and influential, and it becomes easy to pursue a path for a definition of success that does not align with your authentic life.
This is true for you as well, even if you are not a financial advisor.
No one knows what success will look like for you, except for you. When you find your authentic definition of success, hold on to it—only update what it is when you feel like it needs to be updated, and it will be updated throughout your life.
Chasing someone else’s definition of success will keep you from walking the path of your authentic life–your definition of success will differ from everyone else’s. There might be similarities and overlap with other people’s success, but your “success” in life is as unique as your authentic life.
See you tomorrow and keep pursuing,
JC
