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Client Focus: John Neyer

I asked John when he first heard about Mackey, and it was so long ago it was difficult for him to determine. “I first heard about Mackey fifteen years or so ago, when I got on somebody’s list and started to receive her newsletter. Hers was one of the few that I read due to the informative nature.”

That’s gratifying. Yet after reading 180 of Mackey’s newsletters, John has loyally retained a competitive firm for his company’s accounting work. But Mackey’s conversation about socially-responsible investing struck a chord, and when he and his wife Tina were looking for a new person to handle their personal investments, they called and made an appointment to meet with Mackey. John said they wanted someone to manage their investments, rather than be “sold” a product of some kind. I got a clear message that John and Tina wanted to work with someone who would interpret the “financese,” give suggestions and guidance, and let them have a say in the placement. He wanted to be a “managing partner”, not just a customer.

“Mackey helped us to understand the diversification puzzle and how she managed it,” said John. And being happy with the results of their investment decisions, he and Tina then took the next step and created a retirement plan. “Now we’re looking at our money long term vs. short term and we have a financial plan. The path is set and measurable, and we can review our progress on a regular basis.”

How does he feel about his investments today? “We’re getting a good return. We don’t feel like we’re sacrificing anything, and we’re not compromising our principles in the process.” Sounds like he got exactly what he wanted.

John concluded by saying “Mackey simplifies complex things. Not just knowing where my money is invested, but understanding why and how, I have confidence in the decisions I have made and continue to make with Mackey.”

I checked out the Neyer Construction website, neyerconstruction.com and found John and Tina’s involvement in community (Habitat for Humanity, Lighthouse Youth Services, Franciscans International, and others) and their commitment to safety. They are even members of the NAWIC - National Association of Women in Construction. Good people doing win-win things in the world with their time, their prosperity…and their investments. You can contact John at jneyer@neyerconstruction.com.

THINK BIG!

With an open mind, the possibilities are unlimited.

Several years ago, I worked with a man whose ability to stay in business was uncertain. For years, sales had been on the decrease and his losses continued to mount. We dissected his business, separating the product lines that were unique to his company from the product lines where he competed against larger, better-financed, and more efficient companies.

I asked “If you excel at making product A, and it is unique to your firm, why are your efforts focused primarily on selling products B, C and D?” Immediately, he saw the opportunity. He needed a bigger vision. He had been working as a “me too” in a local market. He left my office seeing himself as a national player in a niche market.

Armed with his new perspective, he began to make decisions about his business, i.e. hiring, customer service, and pricing, relative to his new vision. Going out of business was now the last thing on his mind. Newly energized and focused, he actually shrunk his product offerings while expanding his scope. And from that point on, he saw his bottom line grow each and every year.

We are as prosperous as we think. Whether we are among the wealthy, the middle-class, or the poverty-stricken, our present day reality has been created out of yesterday’s thoughts. Taking it one step further, our tomorrows will be created out of today’s thoughts.

What you thinking? How big is your thinking? If we aren’t careful, our thoughts will put us in a rut. Sometimes we achieve a certain level of financial success and then, for some reason, it seems as if a door closes. So we make changes, but the bottom line of our life does not change. It’s as if our life is a treadmill and although we are running fast and furious, we stay in the same place.

What is missing that takes you off the treadmill and on to Prosperity Street?

Goals. Big, hairy, bold, audacious goals. Not just dreaming about them, but making them…and then committing to them.

Big goals open us up to new possibilities. They change our thinking. If the goal is big enough, it creates an upset to our current thinking pattern.

Here is an example.

A business owner sets a goal to open seventeen stores in ten years. A few short weeks after opening his first store, cash is very tight and the owner is struggling to meet payroll. He is at a critical decision point. What does he do? Do more marketing? Change his product line? Hire better sales people? Open a new store? Are you crazy?

A new store seems like a crazy move, but given the goal, and the well-thought-out plan of seventeen stores in ten years, that is just what the owner did. He found a better location, gathered more financing, and opened store number two. Ten years later, he had a thriving business of thirty six stores.

Our goals give us a focal point for decision making. If we have a goal of seventeen stores, and we’ve done our homework, opening one more is an obvious answer. With a different goal, we would get a different answer.

In talking with a client recently, she asked me, “Do goals really work? Or does it make more sense to be present to the moment-to-moment opportunity, seeing what shows up and going from there?’ My answer was yes…and yes.

Having a clear goal, sets up a defining decision point. Your goals become a foundation to choose as the universe offers new options and opportunities. If I have no goals, and am instead simply open to the opportunities the universe offers, from what frame do I choose?

For us to live big, or to have the big business we desire, our goals must be big. A great goal will take your breath away. It may be bigger than you can currently imagine yourself. If it is, you know you have something really worth going for.

In Chapter 8 of The Intersection of Joy and Money, I ask readers to discover the feelings or higher purpose in the things that they want. I challenge readers to boil down their desires into a one-word goal, represented by a feeling. I then redefine all the tangible things they want as strategies. The things such as the new house or the new car are strategies to get the goal, or the feeling.

The paradox that sets up at this point is fascinating. After making a comprehensive list of all the things I want, and then boiling them down to one word, the logical mind thinks “You have just limited your options.” Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, at that point, your options have expanded exponentially.

My personal goal is joy. That is my one word. With a goal of joy, the possibilities are much bigger than if my goal is a new home or a new car. Feelings are expansive, offering many opportunities for expression. By having a one-word feeling goal, I open up my options while at the same time I clarify my decision-making process.

When I am struggling with a decision, business or personal, I don’t ask myself if it will make more money, is it the right thing to do, or if it will stop global warming. I ask: “Will it bring more joy?” Once I put the focal point of ‘joy’ on the question, the answer becomes crystal clear.

What kind of thoughts are you thinking? What kind of results are you getting? If you want bigger results you have to think bigger thoughts. Summertime is free and easy, and also a great time for stepping back, considering whom we really want to be in the world…and setting big, hairy, and audacious goals.

Think big. Expand your vision. Watch the opportunities arise.