Morningstar Magazine - October/November 2017 - 20

Dispatches

It's sleep.
Yes, sleep. It's that thing you should try to get
at least eight hours of each night. Sleep is
my secret weapon for both business and life. After
all, we should understand the massive power
of small, incremental behavior done consistently
over a long period (compound interest,
anyone?). That's the power of high-quality sleep.
It's so simple, but it's not easy.
Most of us have habits that are antithetical to
sleep. I've had many of my "Master of the
Universe" friends express disdain for even the idea
of getting sleep. Contrary to the belief
that sleep will detract from our productivity, the
research shows the opposite. Sleep is a force
multiplier. It makes us better at everything
we do. Plus, given the emotional stress that this
industry demands, it should be a priority.
Try just a few simple things.

Sleep on It
Learning to tolerate
uncertainty
starts the night before.
BEHAVIOR GAP

Carl Richards

A major part of a real financial advisor's job is to
give mission-critical advice in the face of
irreducible uncertainty. No matter what stories we
tell ourselves, there is no way to get rid of the
uncertainty that is inherent in our work.
We all have a level of uncertainty we can tolerate,
and if things are in that range, then things
are fine. But then something changes. It can be
anything: The markets get scary, a key staff

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Morningstar October/November 2017

member leaves, regulatory change, even something at home. Don't seem like much at first,
but then these spikes of uncertainty go beyond
what we can handle. It only takes a few of these,
and we're off looking for a "less stressful" job.
Uncertainty like the sort we must deal with takes
a toll on our emotions, and it has ended more
than a few careers. But because we can't get rid of
it, our best option is to increase our ability to
tolerate it. You can think of this as becoming more
resilient if you like, but I think of it as making
myself harder to kill. The good news? There
are some simple (not to be confused with easy)
ways to accomplish this goal.
For a few years now, I've focused on becoming
harder to kill. I've done crazy things like
taking three-minute, freezing cold showers for
100 days straight. It worked wonders, but there's a
better place to start. Now, before I tell you,
I need to warn you: it's going to sound so simple
you'll be tempted to ignore me.
Ready?

3 Shut down your devices at least 90 minutes
before bed.
3 Turn down the lights a bit.
3 Swap alcohol or coffee for herbal tea.
3 Get to sleep at the same time.
3 Aim for eight hours of sleep.

Just test it for one month. I'm telling you, it will
make you a better human (which is what
I care about). It will also increase your ability to
tolerate uncertainty, so you can be a better
financial professional (which is what will matter
most to your clients). K
Carl Richards, CFP, is the author of The Behavior Gap
and The One-Page Financial Plan: A Simple Way
to Be Smart About Your Money. He also writes the weekly
Sketch Guy column for The New York Times.
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Morningstar Magazine - October/November 2017
