The world has become quite a toxic place over the last few years. ISIS, Brexit, the Coronavirus, racist issue’s and riots – you could be forgiven for shouting ‘stop the world I want to get off’.
The frustrating thing is we all have opinions on these matters but very few of us have control over them on a large-scale level. We can only really control things within our own circle of influence. Such as how we treat others, how we respect the social distancing rules etc.
The irony is when we become so engrossed in the media frenzy, and focus on what we can’t control, that circle grows and so the more control we lose.
However, when we focus on what we CAN control, our circle of influence grows and the more authority we take back in our lives.
The fact is, whatever you focus the most on will grow and whatever you focus the least on will diminish.
This has led me to think about what we can and can’t control in our financial world and the many client conversations I have had over the years.
I do seem to spend a lot of time helping clients to understand that neither I nor them can ultimately control market returns – but we can control whether we put money into the markets. We cannot control fund performance, but we can react and amend the portfolio based on fund manager underperformance. We cannot control inflation, the economy, taxation and legislation changes but we can control the goals you set, the choices you make, how much you spend on things that improve your life and how much risk you take.
These are just a few examples of many area’s which are both in and out of control.
So, the main point is this…. don’t spend all your time focusing on things you CANNOT control, you’ll go mad!! Instead, focus on what you CAN control and bring back some order and peace of mind into your financial planning life.
