Transcript

Hi, Everyone. Welcome to the Wiser Financial Advisor with Josh Nelson, where we get real, we get honest, and we get clear about the financial world and your money.        

This is Josh Nelson, Certified Financial Planner and founder and CEO of Keystone Financial Services. We love feedback and we’d love it if you would pass it on to me directly: josh@keystonefinancial.com . Also please stay plugged in with us, get updates on episodes and help us promote the podcast. You can subscribe to us at Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favorite podcast service. 

This show is brought to you by Keystone Financial Services, a wealth management firm based in the land of Love, Loveland, Colorado. At Keystone Financial Services, our mission is to bridge the gap between knowing and doing in the financial lives of our clients. We are here to provide unbiased advice and guidance. We are an independent fiduciary and all of our wealth advisors are Certified Financial Planners, the gold standard in the financial planning industry. Our goal is to replace uncertainty with confidence and clarity in your financial life by planning with somebody who has experience and has your best interests at heart. That is hard to come by these days with so much information out there and so much uncertainty in today’s world. Take the guesswork out of your financial future and contact us today by visiting www.keystonefinancial.com .

Let the financial fun begin!

So, this is the time of year where we’re all thinking about what we want the coming year to look like and what changes we want to make. New Year’s resolutions, right?

The funny thing about New Year’s resolutions is that most people don’t actually resolve to do anything. We know this because numerous studies have shown that the vast majority of people that make New Year’s resolutions have given up within a few weeks and after a couple of months have a hard time remembering what those New Year’s resolutions even were. Going down that road isn’t what any of us want, but it’s very easy to get caught up being busy, distracted, and discouraged. Then the default is that nothing changes.

I’ve titled my talk today: Create the financial life you want for 2022. See, I hear about a lot of the things that people want to change:

Get out of debt.
Pay off the mortgage early.
Start saving for college for kids or grandkids.
Get financially free. I’ll point out here that gaining financial freedom is a little different than retirement. We want our clients to be financially free as soon as possible. That means they get to retire or stop working when they want to. But people also want to enjoy their life now, which means vacations, experiences, buying cars, going to shows, helping other people, and things like that. There’s nothing wrong with any of this, but we need to have a plan and the proper guidance or all of your financial success or failure will just be left to chance.

The quickest, simplest, most impactful way I’ve used to make a change in anything that I want, either in my personal life or in my business is by following the Ultimate Success Formula, which I learned from one of my mentors, business strategist Tony Robbins.

Step number one in the Ultimate Success Formula is to know your outcome. Clarity is power. Don’t be vague here. So if we’re saying, “I want to lose weight this year; I want to exercise more; I want to add more to my 401K,” how about getting specific? It’s more powerful to say things like, “I will raise my 401K contribution to 15% by March 31st 2022.” “I will be debt free by December 31st, 2022.” “I will double the amount I’m paying on my mortgage each month so it is paid off by the time I turn 50.” Those are very specific goals. If you have something you truly want to accomplish, you need to be specific about what that is, and when you want it to be accomplished.

In the Bible it says, “Without a vision the people perish,” so it’s crucial that you spend time getting clear with yourself. And if you’re married, getting on the same page with your spouse about what you really want is so important. I can tell you from experience and from studies that finances are one of the biggest sources of conflict in a marriage. So please make sure that you’re on the same page in your financial life.

If you’re not sure what you want or what you want to change, you might consider that your first financial decision might be to hire a fiduciary, ideally a Certified Financial Planner that really has your best interest at heart. Here at Keystone Financial Services, we have the training and the experience to walk you through that process, so everyone involved is crystal clear on what the outcome is that we want to see.

Step two of the Ultimate Success Formula is to get yourself to take action. Basically, that means making a decision and following through. The plain truth is that you and I won’t take action on anything until we have a strong enough reason to do so. If you’re not happy with where you are, that’s great because it means you’re ready to make a change. When you’re in winter, which I think a lot of us feel right now—whether that’s the winter of your finances, the winter of a relationship or the winter of your health and fitness, you must create a vision of what spring looks like and then take action and create something new.

Step three of the Ultimate Success Formula is to notice the results you’re getting from your actions. It’s important to pay attention. Is what you’re doing working, or not? Have you given it enough time to work? Notice what you’re getting from your actions and just be curious and ask lots of questions so you understand where you actually are.

Step four of the Ultimate Success Formula is to change your approach if you’re not getting what you want. If you aren’t seeing the results you want, then try something else. If what you want is important enough to you, you won’t give up until you get your outcome. Be resilient here and push through.

I’ve been doing financial consulting for over 22 years and I can tell you now, after thousands, even tens of thousands of financial conversations I’ve had with people, this stuff is so important. Many people out there are just unhappy with where they’re at financially. So, I hope you really take this to heart today and also pass this on to other people you think it would be helpful to as well.

Something I will throw out as a resource: I’m a big fan of Dave Ramsey and we teach a lot of our stuff based off Dave Ramsey’ s book Total Money Makeover. It’s an excellent book, especially if you’re talking to somebody in your life about how to create a better financial future. Maybe you’re talking with a kid, a neighbor or co-worker, somebody who’s really not happy with where they are; someone who wants to get more detailed with this. Of course, use us as a resource. We definitely want to be able to help, but if you want a book recommendation, Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover is a great start for people. And if you’re trying to think about what goals to have this year, maybe you can peruse that book and use it as an opportunity to figure out where you are.

Again, we want to support you in any way we can. Again, our goal and our mission is to bridge that gap between knowing and doing. Knowing really isn’t the problem in a lot of cases because there’s so much information out there, plenty of YouTube videos and things that would be helpful for people, but with regard to actually taking action and knowing what to do, that’s why we’re here and why I still have a job.

Frankly, after 22 years, it’s about follow-through. It’s about figuring out what to do with all that information and how to move forward. Here at Keystone Financial Services, we want to be the antidote to all that noise and distraction and discouragement that throws people off and keeps people from getting the financial life they really want. My passion is teaching people that they are absolutely in control of their financial experience right now. By that I mean beliefs, values, actions, and follow-through around money.

I hope this was helpful for you. If you’d like to pass this on to friends, family, coworkers, it’s easy to share these episodes and I hope that you do. And if you want to support us, click subscribe on your favorite podcast service, and give us a rating. I hope you find that it’s excellent material you’re getting.

And of course, we want to get feedback from you and support you.

Have a wonderful week, a great start to 2022, and God bless.

This episode has been prepared for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide and should not be relied upon for, tax, legal or accounting advice. You should consult your own tax, legal and accounting advisors. Investment advisory services offered through Keystone Financial Services, an SEC registered investment advisor.