Why the Stock Market Debacle is on My Gratitude List

As I was leaving my office on Wednesday, I realized I was walking out the door for the last time in 2008.  I was thinking about what to put on my gratitude list.

At first, I was very happy to close the door (literally and physically) on the year.  Then I rethought my position and went back inside to talk about the year with Joey – my firm’s client service manager.

We sat and talked about all we had accomplished together over the past 12 months:

1. We survived the financial tsunami of a lifetime – and we still had the use of all our bodily functions.

2. We moved offices closer to home (for me…not for Joey).  This is something I’d wanted to do for five years.

3. We slashed our business expenses quickly because of the significantly reduced revenue stream, and life still seemed to be worth living.  True, everyone has to work harder now, but the business is actually stronger than ever and our client service levels improved.

4. My firm forged a strategic alliance with Ric Edelman.  Ric has a $3 billion money management firm, has written five national bestsellers and has a very popular radio show that airs coast-to-coast every week.  Ric was looking for an adviser to refer business to in Los Angeles and, after a grueling process, selected me and a handful of other advisers to work with.  This has been a fantastic partnership and a win-win-win for clients, Ric and myself.  This move also helped me with income diversity.

5. I learned that things aren’t as bad as they seem.  Did people I care about lose money?  Yes.  Did my business lose revenue?  Temporarily, yes.  But the core of who I am remains.  The core of what I care most about didn’t go away.  And you know what?  If things hadn’t gotten so bad, I would have never appreciated how good things really were.

How about you?  What did you accomplish in 2008?  What revelations did you have?  What is on your gratitude list?