Your Value as a Doctor
I bet you can think about the countless times you’ve improved your patients’ lives. Whether saving your patient’s life during a risky operation or delivering their first child, we all have experiences knowing we make a valuable impact on our patients.
What do you think your highest value is as a physician? Some of your value is making a correct diagnosis and developing a treatment plan. But what if you can’t effectively communicate with your patient to learn their health and other information to make an accurate diagnosis in the first place? What about explaining your assessment and helping your patient follow your recommendations? Without trust and solid communication, it’s challenging to impact your patients fully.
As a financial planner, many physicians who reach out to me assume that my value is picking the best investments and constantly beating “the market.” Even if I could make that happen consistently and spoiler alert, it’s impossible; there is a much deeper value in working with a financial planner.
Success comes when we develop skills and habits to make us better investors. When the market drops and everyone is abuzz in the physician’s lounge and you shrug your shoulders, knowing your financial house is in is order? Those are victories we are planning and aiming for!
Why is it that if the average index fund returns 8% a year, yet the average investor’s return is 1.5-3% lower? The answer is simple, even if the solution is not. It’s investor behavior. Investors buy high and sell low instead of staying the course. We watch the financial “news,” and our default behavior is to act.
As we’ve watched the stock market drop 15-20% this year, I know many of you have wanted to sell and not lose any more money. Instead, what if you paused and asked yourself if this action is part of our well-thought-out plan and then decided to do… nothing. Doing nothing doesn’t feel good, especially when we don’t know what the future holds. It is natural to default to action over inaction, even when it leads to financial trouble.
Value in Financial Planning
As a planner, some of the most enjoyable and rewarding work I do is digging in deep with colleagues to help uncover their purpose and deepest dreams (some of which they haven’t even told their spouse!). Or giving clients permission to ask for what they want, and even better, to help them achieve it! Let me ask you, what would you create in your life if money, time, or location were not limitations?
My value as a financial planner begins by listening to where you are currently, understanding the tools you have to change, and creating a plan you can stick with while the market is up and especially while the market is down. It’s creating an estate plan that directs your money in ways that align with your values. It’s buying appropriate insurance so you can sleep at night, knowing your family and your income are protected.
Perhaps the most significant value is delegating your time to focus on what’s essential and valuable to YOU. Can you imagine a life where you did more of the activities that gave you energy and recharged you? Or where you delegated and did less of those activities that sapped your energy or did not add value to your life? What would that feel like? What would your day look like?
I’m here to tell you that this is all possible, and it is not as difficult as you think. A significant shift happened for me a few years ago when I worked with a fabulous physician coach, Dr. Dena George. Through our work together, Dena helped me recognize that many of my so-called limitations were self-imposed stories I’d been telling myself for years – about how I was supposed to spend my time or money as a physician.
As a business owner, my highest value is working directly with clients, not updating my website, editing a blog post, or spending all day on email. It’s helping my clients live their best life, where money is a tool to help them achieve that life!
One of the best lessons Dena taught me was sharing my story and asking for help when I needed it. Asking for help can be challenging. But it does not have to be. Here at Greeley Wealth, we are a trusted planner to your family. As a fiduciary, we always put your interests first! It is ok not to understand everything about finance, know what the next best step is, or how to craft a revocable trust. No one taught you this in med school! But what isn’t ok is staying stuck and not asking for help.
All You Have to Do is Start
Getting your financial house in order takes time, but guess what? We’ve created a process to make it as painless as possible. We deal with the details while you are left to spend time with your family, caring for your patients, and taking care of yourself. How does that sound?
Schedule a call today, and let us help you start your journey to financial freedom.
