Have you ever arrived at the gym only to realize you’ve left your lock for your locker at home? Oh yeah! It’s laying next to the shoe rack on the floor of your closet. Great place for it. What are you going to do?! Head back to the house & risk waking everyone up? It’s 6 AM!! Of course not. You’re going to roll with it. While there’s the off chance of theft – The risk is small. So off to the elliptical you go. But, you’re now 10 minutes in and you’re still thinking about it. Off to barbells & bench – 30 minutes in. The unease never quite goes away. Trust me, I speak from experience.

I always tell myself – Give yourself enough time. Slow down & check your bag….the night before.

Reminds me in a way of the far too often times I hear prospective clients telling me about their fire drill open enrollments. The difference, of course, is their broker consultant is being paid to pack the bag. You know how passionate I am and when I hear this type of thing, It pains me. Invariably, there’s an instant, mutual acknowledgment that there’s a better way.

After we get done talking about the better way, we then often talk at length about how effective strategic planning and a team-based approach to execution.

So, pro to pro, if you’re over fire drills, let’s give enough time to connect early this year.

Don’t let another year lapse without checking your bag. Trust us – It’s in the bag. It’s what we do.