Market Falling, Christmas Calling
We're practically in mid-December. The stock market's falling. But - what's this - yes, I hear it. It's Christmas. Christmas is calling.
Can you hear it too? No? That's not good. Why not? Too busy? Something like...
At work, many of us face year-end deadlines. Are you in the vice grip of holiday crunch time? You must hit that sales goal, finish that project, file next year's business plan, and so on. At the same time, we're approaching a kind of point of no return. The closer we get to that Christmas-New Year's break so many of us take, the harder its becomes to get people's attention. So if you've got an important deal to close or project to complete, you need to get people's attention like NOW. My rule of thumb: If it's not done by December 15th, your chances of getting it done drop like a stone. So get on it.
(December 15th? Yikes, that's tomorrow!)
In the wealth management business, we've got the same sorts of issues. As the markets swirl overhead, we've still got to run our businesses. So we're sympatico.
So what to do? Well, for one thing, I'd tone down the Christmas music. Hey, it's Advent after all. So Christmas music presents a kind of conflicting tone if you're trying to observe Advent. And that just adds to the stress of the pre-Christmas business crunch. At least it does for me.
Of course, most of the world has completely forgotten or forsaken any vestige of the spirit of Advent. Most of us start celebrating Christmas some time around Thanksgiving. Those of us who'd like to keep things under wraps until Christmas Eve - at least to some degree - are an anomaly. Try to share your reticence with others and you're borderline Grinch. OK. so I'm the Grinch.
Hey, why not try this. Listen to this Air from Handel's Messiah. This particular version, featuring Barbara Bonney and the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra is one of my favorites. Having sung this as a boy soprano in my church choir many years ago, it's close to my heart and always brings me both comfort and encouragement. It's certainly more in keeping with the "real" Christmas. And that should soothe the soul and wind down those anxiety levels.
Can you hear it too? No? That's not good. Why not? Too busy? Something like...
At work, many of us face year-end deadlines. Are you in the vice grip of holiday crunch time? You must hit that sales goal, finish that project, file next year's business plan, and so on. At the same time, we're approaching a kind of point of no return. The closer we get to that Christmas-New Year's break so many of us take, the harder its becomes to get people's attention. So if you've got an important deal to close or project to complete, you need to get people's attention like NOW. My rule of thumb: If it's not done by December 15th, your chances of getting it done drop like a stone. So get on it.
(December 15th? Yikes, that's tomorrow!)
In the wealth management business, we've got the same sorts of issues. As the markets swirl overhead, we've still got to run our businesses. So we're sympatico.
So what to do? Well, for one thing, I'd tone down the Christmas music. Hey, it's Advent after all. So Christmas music presents a kind of conflicting tone if you're trying to observe Advent. And that just adds to the stress of the pre-Christmas business crunch. At least it does for me.
Of course, most of the world has completely forgotten or forsaken any vestige of the spirit of Advent. Most of us start celebrating Christmas some time around Thanksgiving. Those of us who'd like to keep things under wraps until Christmas Eve - at least to some degree - are an anomaly. Try to share your reticence with others and you're borderline Grinch. OK. so I'm the Grinch.
Hey, why not try this. Listen to this Air from Handel's Messiah. This particular version, featuring Barbara Bonney and the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra is one of my favorites. Having sung this as a boy soprano in my church choir many years ago, it's close to my heart and always brings me both comfort and encouragement. It's certainly more in keeping with the "real" Christmas. And that should soothe the soul and wind down those anxiety levels.
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