Ross Levin

Our patterns of thinking can lead to self-destructive cycles . Here are some ways to break them .

ICHARD ROHR , AN AMERICAN FRANCISCAN FRIAR AND writer on spiritual issues , believes that each of us is addicted to our habitual ways of doing and thinking about things . He calls this tendency “ stinking thinking ,” and says it ’ s the “ universal addiction .” It results in a binary approach to problem solving , even though the things we do rarely involve a simple “ this ” or “ that .” We face complex questions for our businesses and our clients . The answers to those questions could be compromised by our stinking thinking , as well as that of our clients .

Let ’ s take a model for our clients ’ safe spending levels . I shudder when I think of how our own personal perceptions affect the results of these models . The term “ safe spending ” is a value judgment that implies other people ’ s spending levels are unsafe .

Unsafe for what ? Are we saying they ’ re going to outlive their assets ? Or that they ’ re going to be caught unprepared for an uncertain future ?

What if we change the term to something like “ spending competencies ”? That could mean we have a relationship to money that allows us to enjoy it more . Or maybe we could make better spending decisions , ones that reflect what ’ s actually important to us internally instead of what we want the outside world to see in us ( unless we decide that ’ s what ’ s really important to us ). Maybe we want to improve our ability to adjust and change spending when our situations suddenly change .

Stinking thinking can cloud our interactions with colleagues and clients . I was talking to one of my cohorts , who asked me why I was able to talk with people who had money long before I had any myself . My thought was that I generally view people as people . I don ’ t consider them below me , so I also don ’ t consider

DECEMBER 2023 | FINANCIAL ADVISOR MAGAZINE | 15