A survey by the CDC (Center for Disease Control) showed that Americans with incomes of more than $50,000 were reported to feeling fewer "sad, blue, or depressed " than those with incomes less that amount. The research also reported that people who had the highest number of sad, blue, or depressed days also engaged in unhealthy behaviors, such as smoking and not exercising.
As a Financial Advisor, I found this unfortunately to be true. I had a thriving practice but still took on some lower income clients. I always felt like if they had a desire to work with me, I would be willing to work with them.
But the relationships were not as successful as the ones with wealthier clients. When I would discuss this with associates, we would come to the conclusion that a lot of these types of clients would sabotage their own financial success.
How so? Well, negative attitudes that come from a lack of self-esteem would pop up. A lack of self-confidence and a general feeling that everyone was against them also contributed. Such clients we liked to do some coaching with up front before we started the financial planning process.
Ask yourself now, no matter what income bracket you are in, what stops you from being financially successful?
My husband made a comment to me about an article he read in the paper that said that a lot of the online dating services now are going to screen applicants to make sure that they are really single or married. I thought how sad it is now that so many people lie about their marital status or their looks that it has to go as far as to screen people. Lying about who we are seems to be a preoccupation in America. Everyone wants to look and be like someone other than who they are.
This brings me to wonder who are we really?
I think that is one of the benefits of meditation- getting to know who you really are in a direct experience. One of the quotes I remember most is one by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche (http://www.kagyu.org/karmapa/tea/tea08.html) who said, “Don’t be embarrassed by who you are”.
I was on the way home from Marin to San Francisco with a good friend of mine who was visiting from New York City, when it started to pour down raining. Her rental car spun out into a signpost that seared my right hip. Lucky for her, she was okay, but I was in intensive care for 6 weeks. It was touch and go there for a while, but I managed to stay alive. I suffered massive pelvic fractures to my right hip, and severe nerve damage to my right leg. I also lost my left leg below the knee. It has been quite a journey, first of all making sure all of my clients were taken care of and transferred to a competent fee-only advisor, and secondly taking on this task of healing (which feels like managing a small business in itself).
My blog is a combination of musings on my healing which I don’t feel would have happened without my strong background in meditation and mindfulness practice, financial stuff, and of course, my developing coaching practice.
Enjoy!
"If you see things without realizing the background of buddha nature, everything appears to be in the form of suffering. But if you understand the background of existence, you realize that suffering itself is how we live and how we extend our life." -Shunryu Suzuki Roshi
Finally! What took Chuck so long to force Pottruck out? I was associated with The Schwab Institutional Advisors division when it started in the early 90s. The service and value was excellent. True to Schwab's integrity, it was always what is the best deal and best value to offer the client. Under Pottruck's rule, that evaporated. No one really knows what Charles Schwab & Co does or what it stands for. They have so many hands in so many businesses that it is just one big mess. Will Chuck sell out? Or will he take over and breathe life back into what was once an excellent discount brokerage firm that stood up for the little guy?