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Financial security is essential. The work you do to help your clients achieve their retirement and other goals is critically important.
But does it trump being happy?
Few of us would sacrifice happiness at the altar of wealth.
Financial advisors who add immeasurable value to their clients are focused on both.
My experiences
It’s been a while since I practiced law. I was admitted to the bar of New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts. I recently decided to change my status to “retired” in all three jurisdictions.
It caused me to reflect on my legal career.
Most of my time was engaged in representing large corporations in complex litigation. The work was challenging, intellectually stimulating, highly stressful and financially rewarding.
I handled countless cases over a long career.
Occasionally, individuals contacted me. They couldn’t afford to hire a lawyer. They were in dire straits.
One man in rural New York built a pool at the summer home of a hedge fund mogul. He was being sued for perceived defects. He didn’t have the funds to fight the case and was worried he would be financially ruined.
Another situation involved an elderly woman who lived alone (with her beloved cat), up a dirt road, across from a highway where the state stored gasoline in deep tanks. Gas leaked onto her property, making her home uninhabitable. She was forced to move to a dismal nursing home where pets weren’t allowed.
I took on these cases (and others) and was able to achieve favorable outcomes in most of them.
Others may perceive my efforts as acts of kindness, but for me they were labors of love.
Without a doubt, over the course of my legal career, what gave me the most pleasure was helping these people.
Compelling evidence
I never thought about why helping others made me happy. It just felt right.
A recent study by David R. Cregg and Jennifer S. Cheavens, members of the department of psychology at The Ohio State University explained the impact of kindness.
A critical component to a happy life is social connection, defined as: “...an internal sense of belonging and interpersonal closeness with other individuals and groups.”html
Those with high levels of social connection tend to be happier than others. They report the highest quality relationships with family, friends and others.
Those suffering from high levels of anxiety and clinical depression benefit from improvement in their levels of social connection.
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The study engaged in a series of experiments designed to determine whether acts of kindness improved social connection and well-being more effectively than the traditional approaches, like cognitive behavioral therapy.
The study found they did.
According to one of the co-authors of the study, David Cregg: "Social connection is one of the ingredients of life most strongly associated with well-being. Performing acts of kindness seems to be one of the best ways to promote those connections."
The authors theorized the reason for the positive impact of acts of kindness is surprisingly simple: It distracts people from their symptoms of anxiety and depression.
Acts of kindness don’t have to involve grand gestures like building an orphanage in India. Those in the study were mundane activities like baking cookies and offering words of encouragement.
I have already implemented the lessons in the study. In response to a communication from a reader who lost his life savings investing in a cryptocurrency, I started a website to serve as a resource for investors who can’t afford a financial advisor.
It has taken time and money and will involve more of both in the future.
I’ll never make a buck off it.
But it makes me happy.
Dan trains executives and employees in the lessons based on the research in his latest book, Ask: How to Relate to Anyone. His online course, Ask: Increase Your Sales. Deepen Your Relationships, is currently available.
Read more articles by Dan Solin
Advisor Perspectives welcomes guest contributions. The views presented here do not necessarily represent those of Advisor Perspectives.
