I was just asked to help someone with a large lottery win. I was supposed to have a wedding in August. All of the major life milestones you were talking with your clients about a month ago still need attention. What is the quality of your attention right now? Are your inner resources up to the task of retirement planning during this crisis? Is the advice you’d give to a lottery winner different now, and if so, how?
Do You Have A Real Plan For This Surreal Time?
Like a formalized self-care plan, a crisis plan for your client-work is something you should always have that creates a stable base for your everyday, personal-side work with them. Its importance becomes clear during times of transition and crisis, as suddenly what used to seem ordinary has become extraordinary. I’m talking about things like:
• Understanding client communication preferences
• Knowing what client support systems look like and the role you play
• Determining the client’s tolerance for uncertainty
• Reviewing the client’s history of resilience with them and talking about it—reminding them of it
• Checking in with them and stabilizing them if their anxiety is heightened
• Understanding what’s at stake for them.
If all of this groundwork is done and regularly reviewed, there will still be some tweaking during times of transition and crisis, depending on the individual and how they respond to and process uncertainty. And if it hasn’t been done, it’s not too late. This pandemic will someday be behind us. But all of life’s twists, turns and milestones aren’t going anywhere.
Establish your own protocol for life transitions and times of crisis by attending our 6-hour Crisis-Response Training on May 13, 14, and 15.
Susan Bradley is the founder of the Sudden Money Institute and its training division, the Financial Transitionist Institute.