Call Your Wisdom…

Take out your aging well plan. You do have one, right? Why not?

We all have something lurking in the backs of our minds; but maybe we don’t call it a plan. These thoughts reside in the recesses of our minds. Many never quite get around to putting it all down in writing beyond the initial will, much less notify all of the stakeholders in writing.

(Did I mention my profession? I’m a transitions coach. The kind of coach that can help you take the steps to plan for transitions in business that affect your family, your community and your legacy.)

Yet, we don’t know how to age well and a HUGE part of that is a refusal to prepare. We don’t invest the time to plan for contingencies or possibilities. Our culture, businesses, and families are driven by the here and now.

Our excuses are lack of time, and a lack of information, with too many “balls” in the air to conjure the bandwidth to plan for the possible twists and turns of the future.

That is BS- it comes from a negative, fixed mindset, seasoned with fear and an aversion to imagining a world without us.

I’ve spent the past week in Montana processing the loss of a family member as well as sorting through the paperwork of a life. This was a person who had had several businesses; an expert in accounting, bookkeeping, as well as organizational finance.

It’s messy. Things that were well organized in 1995 were not organized for 2019. If we want our businesses and families to have the space to process life without us, AND continue our legacy- organizing once every 24 years doesn’t cut it. Seriously!

Here’s my take away- every year business owners need to review all policies, instructions, access to accounts, AND put those things in a clearly marked, easily accessed place. It’s also a time to take stock of how we’ve changed, evolved and review whether or not we are living aligned with our values. Include your team, family and friends in this kind of review, which expands awareness even further.

Each of you need to take a look at your key stakeholders- determine what experiences and learnings they would like to have to fill the role you believe will be left by your absence. (If you detect any squeamishness here, you definitely need a coach!)

Create a strategy for the implementation and execution for each goal and include each of those stakeholders in that conversation. Put those strategies on a timeline with the resources needed to achieve those goals. Set each person up to succeed.

This is an important to aging well. We captain our own transition from chief decision maker to chief sage. My dad always called me a “wise ass”. I missed the meaning of the message.

I’m here to tell you that not only do we need to become wise asses- we need to own that status. Each and every day we conjure up lessons learned and wisdom captured, we take another step to aging well.

By the way, I’m not just talking about you, and your management team. This is true for family, too.

So, close your eyes and picture yourself as a powerful, empowered wise ass. Then, contact me and we will work together to bring that vision to life using an actual plan.