anam cara

If you’ve been reading my Daily Notes (if you aren’t, what are you waiting for?!?) you know I’ve been reading Ben Katt’s The Way Back Home; I’ve been enjoying the book as inspiration for my own book that I might write one day, along with the thought-provoking ideas that are relevant for my Pursuit.

Despite the great story that is Ben’s Pursuit, the most impactful takeaway from the book for me has been the introduction to the phrase “anam cara”, which comes from the Irish word “anamchara” and means “spiritual companion.” The second I read the definition of the phrase I had an emotional reaction—I can’t think of any other words or phrases that I’ve read that have moved me the way anam cara did.

For twenty years I’ve been in the business of providing answers and solutions—giving advice, but really telling people what I believed to be best for them and their goals, but lately, I’ve grown more interested in helping people discover their authentic life and the allowing their finances to align with their life plan. Helping someone discover their authentic life does not require me to provide any answers for them. Instead, my responsibility is to help them find their own answers—give them the space, prompt them with some questions and empathetic listening, and let them discover their truths.

With finance, you can’t really just help people find their own answer—at least with the numbers. I have to help determine the numbers, allocation, risk tolerances, insurance needs, etc., and at best provide some options when multiple are available, that will help them move closer to their goals and allow them to have some agency in their financial planning. Rarely is there only one answer—there are usually multiple possibilities to move closer to a financial goal, which is why financial advisors love the answer “it depends”.

So while I may provide opportunities to choose the details of their financial plan, the process still requires a lot of involvement from me.

But in life planning, I can move closer to being someone’s anam cara.

In doing the work of life planning in LifeDesign+, my spin on the Kinder EVOKE process—well not really a spin because I follow the EVOKE process as it has been taught, but my flavor includes the incorporation of aligning spirit, mind, and body with money. The inclusion of “spirit, mind, and body” is what makes me different from other life planners who are serving clients and why I embrace the sentiment of anam cara.

Other adjectives would fit my role as a life planner…“sherpa”, “guide”, or “champion”; interestingly enough champion is an adjective that has been on the RLS Wealth website for years, but, it’s the spiritual connection that calls me to anam cara.

Years ago I sold some hoodies that had “More Than An Advisor” printed on them (inspired by Lebron James’s More Than An Athlete shirts) as I always considered my Self more than just a financial advisor.

A friend.

An extended family member.

A resource.

A supporter.

An advisor.

A confidant.

And now an anam cara.

I doubt I will officially incorporate anam cara into my professional title (I probably won’t), but it will certainly be engrained in my spirit as I approach my work with clients in LifeDesign+ and the continuing “coaching”, which is really where I see “anam cara” coming into play.

Until next time…keep pursuing,

JC