“How’s your book coming along?”
I’ve had writer’s block lately.
Or maybe I’m just happy to be done with the book. It was seven years ago that the idea and structure of the book came to me. From my first days as a financial advisor, I wanted to expand access. To that end, I wanted a message that would:
1. Invite the uninformed, skeptical, and creative in an easy, non-technical read.
2. Offer some practical advice without “should-ing all over people” (finance dad joke).
3. Incorporate a social science and social justice perspective into the finance literature, which is almost entirely about the individual and individual outcomes, without the culture and community elements.
Here was the rough timeline:
Spring 2016
The idea, at the Green Door Tavern in Chicago, waiting to meet with KB. A few months spent trying to convince myself it was a good idea, something worth doing. An idea is always the most fragile at the beginning. It is nourished over time, gaining momentum. In the beginning, it’s hard to believe it will amount to anything. By the end, you’ve printed drafts 2-5 and scribbled all over each. The deeper in you get, the harder it is to quit.
Summer 2016 – November 2019
I was so consumed with building my clientele and passing the Certified Financial Planner exams that I could only write in spurts of activity. I would email “notes to self” when an idea came. So many of you have asked, how was writing? Well, writing was hard. You have to balance writing on a theme, with a purpose, with the end in mind on the one hand, with…just getting something out on the other. So many of our most important projects and journeys and relationships need to start with a general sense of optimism that they will work out. The pessimist never starts. But, we have to trust ourselves that once we commit to the work, the answers and adjustments will reveal themselves along the way.
December 2019
My friend Jason asked me to join him on a vacation to Beijing. Yes, in December. It was grey and cold like Milwaukee so flights were cheap. It was the first time in five years that I’d spent money on myself and I felt abundant. We saw The Forbidden Palace, Tiananmen Square, and the Great Wall in winter coats. (And the food was unreal. I write about the Ritz Carlton in the “Are you gonna eat that?” chapter.) I had no idea how to write a book. I found practical advice in Stephen King’s On Writing, especially this advice: show up for four hours a day. No matter what happens, show up and make yourself available for the “muse”. Shut the door and commit. Four hours of writing is intense work, and it felt good to hear that trying longer would be more frustrating than helpful. I was undertaking a new, difficult thing, and I sought advice.
January 2020 – September 2020
After working with me for four years, Rebeca accepted a full-time salaried position. For the first time in five years, we had stable, consistent income that paid all our bills. The hamster wheel paused…then, I applied for and received an Economic Injury Disaster Loan from the Small Business Administration, providing a lump sum payment with a low-interest, tax-deductible, 30-year repayment plan.
With the basics covered, we had money to reinvest. I had room to think beyond the 1st and 15th pay run. Change from Your Dollars is self-published, but with all spending, there’s two elements: direct cost (measured in dollars) and opportunity cost (measured in time, and often dollars too).
I finished the first draft, a rambling stream of consciousness.
October 2020 – March 2023
I started spending money. And with hiring came commitment to others and deadlines. The purple scribble photo is my way of staying on track. I just made a kid’s board game-style visual and had it next to me during the final rewrite.
I became more excited about the potential outcome, while realizing that putting it all out there was risky, while spending more for guidance and support from an amazing team: especially Annick Ina my book coach, Bob Lenz the cover designer, Sorrina for marketing, and my internal teammates Lydia and Anne. All that “deficit spending” before any evidence, much less a guarantee of it “paying off” in the conventional sense.
April 2023 – June 2023
Once the book was approved by my company’s compliance team, the runway was clear. I accepted all potential outcomes. I had seven years to cycle through all the emotions.
I share the above because I grappled with many key pathways to financial wellness described in the book.
1. I committed to growing my gift, meaning something I could uniquely offer. Inventions and innovations and creative contributions can be lucrative because they can scale. Artwork, a concert, a book can spread fast. Beyoncé will give the same performance to 45,000 or 50,000 people. But you have to put in the work first. If you’re gonna work that hard, you may as well grow your gift. The dream makes the work and discouragement tolerable. It was journal entries, and my attention compounded over time.
2. I sought help. It became abundantly clear to me I didn’t know how to do most of this. I could write well, and I had the idea and the inputs. Making it a reality was impossible without help. Find your own “board” (as described in “general merchandise” chapter), lean on them, and compensate them with reciprocity and/or joyful compensation. The DIY path works if you enjoy learning this topic, the stakes are low, or you have lots of time for trial and error. None of those applied here.
3. Rebeca’s salary meant I didn’t have to fundraise our mortgage payment every two weeks. As I write, the psychology of poverty has to do with time horizon. The hierarchy of needs is real, we all can build only on a foundation of basics.
4. Compensation follows pressure as well. I spent money we didn’t have to follow through. It was stressful. The only thing more costly would be quitting before the finish line (see “I’m in grad school” chapter). People ask me all the time how they can grow their accounts without taking risks. But life doesn’t work that way. More risk, more potential reward.
This isn’t technical advice, but perception is reality. Reality is measured in dollars. Dollar price is based on our perception of value. Change your perception, change from your dollars.
As always, thanks for reading.
- Brett