AM I A HYPOCRITE?

I have been told by many advisors that they were attracted to #TheIntentionalAdvisor initially because of the work/life balance I described in my presentations.  

It was all true.  Emphasis on WAS.   

-I did run my practice in about 30 hours per week with a lot of coffee breaks and shoe shopping runs. 

-I did have 100% of my overhead, including my salary, covered by recurring revenue.  

-I did take long walks to the park every morning and leave early for Happy Hour.   

I did all those things, but I don’t anymore. 

-Now I work 50+ hours a week? 

-Now my overhead has grown beyond my recurring revenue, adding financial stress for the first time in years.  

-Now I have to beg, borrow and steal time from myself for exercise and I turn down most social invitations.  

Am I a hypocrite; failing to live what I preach? 

I am tempted to point the finger at myself and say YES, but I am not going to.  

One of my work sisters, Sheryl Brown, posted this article and referenced her lack of balance in the early years of building the Females and Finance community.  

Reading Bill Gates's words about the early days of start-ups reminded me of what I often forget.   Doing big things requires sacrifice.   

It is completely unreasonable to think that any of us is going to change the world, the industry, or our corner of the market at a leisurely pace.   

I am not a hypocrite, I just have a purpose driving me that wasn’t present before.  

All that free time I had intentionally designed into my life has been transmuted into my life’s work.   

-Instead of Insta-worthy vacations, I am doing Writing Weeks that create concrete deliverables for my community. 

-Instead of a robust social life, my connection is with my aligned business partners who are also on fire to make change. 

All that space is still there in my life, but it has been repurposed.   If I had been content to make good money running a highly-efficient business serving my clients all that balance would still be there.   

But I am not!  And for now I sacrifice balance for impact. 

I know that you may not be trying to juggle a full practice, a team of advisors and staff and a consulting business, but there is a message in this for you.  

If you want to do big things, you might just have to give up your balance temporarily.  And it is OK! 

Don’t let people who are living average lives guilt you into the idea that you have an unhealthy obsession with work. 

That’s fine for many people, but if you are on fire to design a purpose-driven practice, it might not be fine for you.  

Change takes time.  Change takes energy.  Change takes up space.   

 Give yourself whatever you need to make the change you are dreaming of! 

With Purpose,

-Lucila

If you want to align yourself with other Intentional Advisors who are making change in their communities, join us in the advisor-only TIA Mastermind group on Facebook!