In the wake of the Flash Crash and Chinese Currency Devaluation in the Fall of 2015 followed Q1 2016’s precarious teeter-tottering of indicators and markets that smelled an awful lot like 2008, I recognized having tripled a practice in seven glorious years I had a growing responsibility on my two shoulders. I also had a choice to make: staff up or merge were my only responsible choices.

Change is Inevitable

In Q4 2016, I took the plunge and merged with WEP/Wealth Enhancement, a larger firm in Atlanta. Ultimately, I’d rather manage clients, their expectations, and their needs than a growing staff.

Change is inevitable. Take a look at your life, the industry, and commerce around you. The same is true. Know where you have come from but have a plan to move forward. Either you learn to evolve, or you will die—professionally, fiscally, personally, and even spiritually.

Evolve or Die!

Fresh off a trip to the Big Apple where taxis come to mind. A WHAT? A Taxi? The value of a NYC taxicab medallion has plummeted from $1.3M in 2014 to foreclosure sales of $150- $450k. Why? You guessed it—UBER.

Evolve or die. “I worked hard,’’ my driver said. “I achieved my American dream and it turned into a nightmare.” This from a NYC yellow cab driver as shared by Winnie Hu of The New York Times.

Hard work is not good enough. We must evolve or die. To me, a dream lost or one that turns into a nightmare are worse than death! And it is avoidable!

Amazon Prime is a great example; Walmart is a close second with their step-up, no charge delivery. You also can pick up online orders at Walmart. They have learned to evolve. How many pick-up lanes can you now spot at Target, Walmart, or Harris Teeter? Evolve or die!

Success Ensues

Kodak, VCRs, landlines. Done. Wall Street with its feet on the desk waiting for the phone to ring. DONE. Retirement planning for a day in the future that may never come. DONE. Strategic financial planning—seeking more financial assets today, without regard for Victor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning,is a doomed exercise in futility.

Frankl admonishes us, “Don’t aim at success. The more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side effect of one’s personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of one’s surrender to a person other than oneself.”

“Happiness must happen, and the same holds for success: you have to let it happen by not caring about it. I want you to listen to what your conscience commands you to do and go on to carry it out to the best of your knowledge. Then you will live to see that in the long-run—in the long-run, I say! Success will follow you precisely because you had forgotten to think about it”

Let’s Get it Done!

Over this past year, I evolved, and you can, too. I have grown from an investment committee of one to merging with a larger team. Now, I can operate within my sweet spot of shepherding those seeking investments in life and not just within the financial realm!

I have a team of six on my Investment Committee navigating through the wicked volitivity (VIX +81%YTD) we’ve seen in 2018. I also have a full-time portfolio manager, who has off loaded “button-pushing” from my daily and weekly routine. Plus, a Bond Strategy that offers strategic and tactical advantages for a precarious rising interest rate environment.

During 2017, my evolution included the addition of three locations that support me in my life’s message and passion of “Perfect Day.” There’s a “get it done” office (Atlanta), a home office (Charleston), and a lifestyle office (Silverton, Co).

So where are you in life? It doesn’t matter what level! Are you ready to evolve and reach your dreams and goals? I say: Let’s grow. Let’s play. Let’s Evolve. Evolution, albeit, can look scary but from where I stand it looks very good.

WEP/Wealth Enhancement & Preservation meets Ms. Perfect Day. Me. Evolution.