Never judge (or be judged) by the actions of our weakest moment. People make mistakes. We are all human. I wholeheartedly believe that most people are good – and want to do good. But, sometimes, stress or situations out of their control bring out the worst in us. Like the term “Sonder” coined by John Koenig describes: “The realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own – populated with their own ambitions, friends, routines, worries, and inherited craziness…” For that reason, try not to judge. Instead, ask questions and find out why […]

Is anyone else ready for the noise to stop? ‘For the calm to return? I know I am. There’s so much noise surrounding us – and it’s so unclear what is worth listening to and what is not. It’s times like these that make it so difficult to turn down the volume. So here are a few things to consider: If it doesn’t make sense, it probably is not worth spending time on. If there is a radical change in your thoughts or shift in opinion, ask yourself if it’s real and valid or just an overreaction. Remember that things […]

“J.D., it’s not you – but we have decided to go a different direction,” he said. “Jeremy, I just got off the phone with a client and friend of mine,” one of our One Wealth advisors told me. “They said they are going a different direction and not using us. What do you make of that?”   Then, another. Man-o-man – this has been a week! We’ve had clients and prospects choosing to go a different direction – things I have NOT experienced much in my 30+ years (or least that I remember). Then, this morning I wake up to […]

Lately, I have been having a really difficult time defining success. My own success. The success of others. What is the definition of success? For instance, Frank Sinatra made 1,200 songs with 209 hits – a 17% success rate. Babe Ruth had 8,399 at-bats and hit 714 home runs. But that’s only an 8.5% success rate. Pablo Picasso created 150,000 pieces of art in his lifetime with 1,170 hits – 0.7% success rate. Yet many consider these three the best to ever do it! In baseball, if you succeed just 30% of the time in your career, you go to […]

Solo parenting isn’t easy. Even if it was just for one week! This week, while my wife was out of town, I was charged with managing the kids, work, and all the things that go with that. Three meals a day. ✅ Bathed and teeth brushed. ✅ Homework done. ✅ Pets fed.  ✅ In bed on time.  ✅ And, of course, I still need to make sure business is running smoothly, that clients are happy and I’m engaged there as well. Work outs essential also. Those are a must. So, what did I learn from my week as a solo […]

I always park backing my vehicle in – with the tail of my vehicle in and the front facing out. This is symbolic of how I try to live my life: always moving forward, I never want to go backwards. In life, symbols (and how we use them to consciously direct our lives) are as important as the actions we take. It’s about how we set up our day, week, month, and year. For instance, in our business, we have a very strong business plan. That does NOT mean everyday things will always go according to plan. Some days, we […]

“Your abilities might give you potential, but your choices demonstrate your character, courage, or kindness.” That quote exhibits the concept of action over ability. This is something that I try to teach my kids, team members, and those I mentor. You can have all the natural gifts in the world. BUT if you don’t put in the work, those gifts will go to waste. I never had any “real” talent. At least I never felt that I did. I struggled in school. ‘Always had to prove myself in sport. ‘Never the first kid picked or the last. I was just kind of…there. When […]

The definition of true friendship is doing what needs to be done when no one is looking. It entails being the person who checks in every now and again, just to say hello. Like flying to the funeral of a friend’s father and showing up to support them without announcing your visit. Or being a sounding board when things are not always going great. True friendship is knowing when things aren’t going great. And when they aren’t, asking how you can help – even when that friend says they don’t need it or want it. This week, I was reminded […]

Effort and attitude. Those are two of the core fundamentals for success in anything you do. This is something that has served as my North Star my entire life. And I’ve tried to instill the same in my kids. Recently, this has been a real struggle. Both of my kids are very gifted. They are both very different kids, but gifted, nonetheless. So how does one instill these core values? We have done a great job with device management. Both of my kids sit at the dinner table in a restaurant without tablets, phones, etc. They are engaged (most of […]

This week, I had the pleasure of attending an industry conference. I was able to see colleagues, some I had not seen in years. I learned from many and was able to stay in tune with the industry. On the final day, as I was listening to the final speaker, an alert on my phone popped up. Your flight has been delayed 10 minutes. “No big deal. I will still have time to make my connection,” I said to myself. Then another, “Your flight has been delayed 20 minutes.” Then another, “Your flight has been delayed 25 minutes.” Then the […]