Between Now and Success

My guest today, Dr. Elliot Berkman, is a tenured Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Oregon, where he directs the Social and Effective Neuroscience Laboratory and conducts field-leading, federally-funded research on goals, motivation, and behavior change. He's also the Associate Director of the Center for Translational Neuroscience, and an author who writes about psychology and neuroscience for lay audiences, including in Psychology Today. We talk about the concept of the will and the way of goal pursuing, where the way is the set of cognitive skills, capacities, and ability that we collectively call the executive function, and the will is the motivational factors that propel the behavior. We also talk about how to increase our motivation and influence other people's behavior, the idea of flow states, and how that applies to achieving goals.

With the accelerating pace of technological change, how can you be sure you are making the right technology choices? What should your tech stack look like? One of the biggest changes in the financial advisory business over the past 10 years or so has been the rise of technology. Now, of course, technology has always been a part of the business -- as anyone who, like me, struggled with Advent Access performance reports in the 1990s can attest. But the accelerated rate of technology change in the last 10 years has been amazing. Unfortunately, for many financial advisors, the rate of change, and the number of choices available, has also been overwhelming. My guest today, Matt Sonnen, is the founder and CEO of PFI Advisors. Matt's firm works with billion-dollar breakaway advisors who are looking to set up their own firms. In our conversation, Matt and I sorted through the tech stack that advisors need to run a top-notch firm and compete in today's marketplace. We "name names" to help you figure out which companies and products will offer the best solutions for your practice.

How long could your business survive without you? For financial advisors, I think that's really two questions in one. Part one is a question of scale. Part two is a question of how you want to connect with your clients, build a sense of community, and run a modern advisory practice. Brighton Jones is one of the top fee-only wealth management companies in the country, and one of Washington's 100 Best Companies to Work For seven years in a row. Brighton Jones also placed on Barron's List of the Top 100 Independent Financial Advisors, and Forbes' List of the Top 50 Wealth Advisors. And they racked up these accolades, in part, while the CEO was on a year-long jaunt with his family that covered 35 countries. My guest today, Jon Jones, is the CEO of Brighton Jones. We talked about how he prepared his company to run without him for a year, why financial advisors should put more focus on revenue and less on AUM, and how his firm divides up responsibilities between business development and advising clients to achieve scale without sacrificing the Life-Centered Planning experience.

If you could come up with 3 words for this year, that would drive your actions and keep you on track to make this your best year ever, what would those 3 words be? For several years now, I've begun the year by identifying 3 words that will set the course, give me direction, and totally excite me as I move through the year. I write these words at the top of my Daily Focus sheet and look at them daily throughout the year. The premise is simple. Pick 3 words that motivate you, remind you, and guide you on your road to making 2018 your best year ever. I encourage all of my clients and I encourage all of you to do this same exercise as it will help you stay focused on the most important outcomes for the year. In today's post and podcast, I discuss my 3 words for 2018 as well as review my 3 words for 2017 and discuss how well I executed on them.

People often times know what they need to do to reach their goal, or know what the "right decision" is, but they still don't do it. It's that old knowing-doing gap idea. And much of the popular literature about how to create better habits and change your behavior, are, unfortunately, based on weak science. The good news is, there is solid scientific research on how to change behavior and stick with this new behavior...and we're going to discuss it in today's podcast. My guest, Sean Young, is on the leading edge of this research. Sean is Associate Professor at the School of Medicine at UCLA, a Wall Street Journal best-selling author, and Executive Director of the University of California Institute for Prediction Technology and the UCLA Center for Digital Behavior. Sean's new book, "Stick With It," details a "scientifically proven method for changing your life -- for good."

Can I interest you in my new cryptocurrency, BelayCoin? You can use BelayCoin to pay for the services of my company, and every transaction is verified and recorded in the Ethereum blockchain. And over time, the value of BelayCoin may rise to reflect how in-demand my services are. Now, don't go running for your credit cards – I'm just kidding. I haven't actually set up a system like this. But if I did, would I be crazy, or ahead of the curve? On today's show, I sit down with Jim Dowd to find out. Jim is the founder and managing director of North Capital, the leading provider of prime brokerage and technology application services to power financial marketplaces. North Capital also has a Reg D offering called Proof Ethereum, and they intend to invest most of its assets into Ether, which is the value token – the cryptocurrency – that is used on the Ethereum blockchain.

In the last 35 year, we've seen the following happen in the financial markets. The beginning of the great bull market in August 1982. The stock market crash on October 19, 1987. The technology bubble of 1995 – 2000. The bear market of 2000 – 2002. The real estate bubble of 2002 – 2007. The Great Recession of 2007 – 2009. The amazing, low-volatility bull market of 2009 – today. Two leading financial advisors have been through it all and on today's podcast, we come to you live from Schwab Impact 2017. We discuss what they've learned, share their insights on how to be successful going forward, and get the perspective from a Schwab executive on supporting and building excellent RIA firms. For 30 years, Charles Schwab has been providing services to independent RIAs and I was pleased to host a panel discussion at Schwab Impact 2017 in Chicago.

Imagine you're sitting down with a potential new client for the initial discovery meeting. What do you see sitting across from you? Unfortunately, many advisors see a "prospect," "dollar signs," or perhaps "a million-dollar account." The philosopher Martin Buber called this an "I-It Relationship," in which one person objectifies the other. On today's show, Ross Levin explains the importance of "I-You" relationships, how to master the "slow things," and the story behind building one of the industry's most iconic firms. Ross Levin is the CEO and Founder of Accredited Investors Wealth Management, which is an RIA based in Minnesota, with approximately $2 billion in assets under management. Ross was the first recipient of the Financial Planning Association's Heart of Financial Planning Award, and the inaugural recipient of Financial Planning Magazine's Lifetime Achievement Award. He is truly an icon in our industry.

Financial advisors have a unique opportunity to make a real, immediate impact on people's lives -- if they're willing to break away from the old model that's only interested in improving return on investments. On today's show, RIA leader Seth Streeter explains how his firm not only delivers a first-class planning experience, but also helps their top clients "redefine wealth" and develop their "inspired life purpose." Seth Streeter is the CEO and founder of Mission Wealth, a leading wealth management company with about $1.6 billion in assets under management. Seth's team specializes in comprehensive financial planning and investment advisory services for high net worth clients around the country. Seth also helps people reframe their perspectives of wealth beyond just the financial so that they can enjoy a more balanced, impactful, and fulfilled life. And in 2016, Seth was asked to speak on the TEDx stage to share "an introspective approach to help you assess and transform your true wealth."

Mark Casady had a front row seat on the massive changes hitting our industry over the past 15 years of his tenure at LPL. Now that he's "retired," we discuss his career and the lessons he learned. During his 30-plus years in financial services, Mark likes to think his job was to be a classic "change agent." As chairman of the board and CEO for LPL Financial, Mark led the company through its IPO and grew it into the fifth largest brokerage firm in the United States. Today, you might say Mark is "retired," but he prefers to think he's in the middle of "Life 2.0," which includes working as General Partner and Advisory Board Chairman for Vestigo Ventures, a fintech-focused venture capital firm.