1. Warrick John Pleash 30 May, 2008
Zen and the Art of Financial Planning (Part 2)
Have you ever asked yourself why it is that two people can say exactly the same words to you
but you receive two very different messages…Often different to what they intended you to
receive ?
The answer lies in the intention, state and vibration of the person sending the message and to
a lesser extent the state of the receiver. When I was in an interview with a client and I was
fearful I noticed that often they would become fearful and this increased the chance of losing
the deal, the same thing occurred when I was worried about something like volatile markets,
high fees, how to build trust or which strategy to choose. I can see now that up to that point
in my career I was totally consumed by the blame game… in fact I would often hear myself
saying in frustration “…you know this would be a great business if it wasn’t for those damn
clients !”
You see so many books on sales, effective communication and building rapport have placed
emphasis on the cause coming from the outside, the customer or client, and this has developed
a huge depth of knowledge around the observation of the receiver of the communication and
this has been great. If you are relatively new to the financial planning business this is a
fantastic place to start to build your soft skills by observing how your message is being
received and this can lead you down the pathway of learning about brain processing software
like Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) and other communication skills.
Personally I found these great tools in my early years of discovery and I followed the path
enthusiastically ending up going to the United States in the early nineties to see NLP
specialist and peak performance coach Tony Robbins…I even walked on fire a number of
times.…but I must admit the point came where I started to look for something more,
especially after a session with a client with emphysema in the week I was concentrating on
matching client’s breathing patterns to build rapport….think about it…
Observing only the receiver when communicating comes from the viewpoint that… “I am at
the effect of everything out there…” you know everything is being done to me…I’m not the
cause…I’m the victim…this viewpoint is very popular however it is the opposite of all
knowledge to date in the area of adult self empowerment and personal growth. When you
place the cause out there you instantly give all personal power away to another… now if you
can grasp the depth of what I’m saying here your whole life can begin to change for the
better…if that’s what you want to happen…that is… some people are happy to continue along
their chosen path of pain and discomfort and that’s fine.
The deeper level of truly effective cutting edge communication and a happier life involves
developing skills where the speaker observes their own state as well as the receiver during the
process of communication and visa versa. Observing yourself and the other person at the
same time is a very different concept as it is based on the empowerment philosophy that
everything that happens to me is a direct result of me…my actions…conscious or
unconscious “I Create My Own Reality!”…good and bad.
Now if this is the first time you have experienced this philosophical viewpoint it can be quite
confronting and I must admit that when I first heard it my initial reaction was that it could not
be true…there was no way I was responsible for the bad things in my life although I was
instantly willing to take ownership for all the good.
Slowly, however, I began to embrace this new philosophy as I started to see that everything
that happened to me and around me… came directly from me and the state and intention I was
holding at the time. Believe me, this was quiet a shock to the system…
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2. Warrick John Pleash 30 May, 2008
I remember at the time thinking “My god…I’ve discovered Zen and the Art of Financial
Planning.”
Looking back over the year’s I could see distinctive patterns and effects where I was integral
to the processes and progress of my life… in fact, not just integral, I was at cause. I thought
to myself… Did my wonderful relationships and family including my two beautiful children
just manifest from thin air ?...no way. Did my client base just appear over night without any
effort and intention on my part ?...no way. Did anything happen in my life without my
conscious or unconscious intention playing some part ?… I knew I’d watched too many
episodes of Star Trek to ignore, at my own peril, the prime directive of the universe that is
free will.
In fact, when I began to really look at it, my whole belief system in relation to the ability to
change someone’s life through the creation of a financial plan was built on this philosophy.
Now you might say… ok I’m willing to give this viewpoint some consideration but …“How
do I start ?... How is it done ?”
The answer is simple, during an interview with a client you could begin by asking yourself in
awareness the following questions from time to time… In fact, these are ideal questions to ask
in the moments just before beginning a communication with a client and by the way this is not
just for verbal discussions it also applies to written communication.
 What intention am I holding at this time ?
 What emotional state am I in at this moment ?
 What do I want to achieve out of this communication ?
 Am I being true to myself at this moment ?
 Is there anything in mind that could prevent me from achieving ?
 Am I being real and true to my values?
 Do I believe in what I am doing at this moment ?
 Am I taking ownership for the effect of my communication ?
Notice the answers and also what is happening in your reality at the time…this is a very
simple process… “it’s not rocket science” you might say….yes that’s right ! But believe me
most people are unaware of these issues most of the time. In fact the level of true self
awareness in our community is, on average, very low.
At first, these questions might appear very simple to you but this is not a reflection of their
depth and power…please be aware…these questions are very, very powerful. By using them
regularly until they become second nature you will automatically develop higher and higher
levels of self awareness and thereby increase your power to influence all aspects of your life.
As you continue down this path you will start to see patterns developing around your
intention and energetic state and the responses you get in your life. This is the real meaning
of the word responsibility….response-ability. The universe responds to the vibration it
receives and then it moves in alignment and harmony with it, this is the essence of the power
of influence (with integrity).
Now I remember that when I started down this road of self discovery many years ago it was
somewhat like the experience of looking into one of those 3D picture books for the first time.
You know what I mean…the person showing me the book could easily see the hidden picture
beneath and they were excitedly describing it all to me….despite their enthusiasm all I could
see was a bunch of coloured dots on a page. At that moment my reaction was to defend my
obvious inept visual skills and bruised ego by thinking that “this person must be crazy !” and
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3. Warrick John Pleash 30 May, 2008
yes…I’m the sane one…what do mean I thought ? I’m aware…I know everything that is
going on.
I must admit my ego does not like to be told that it is unaware of something especially
relating to itself, and therefore false levels of self protection (basically denial) worked for me
for a while, but when faced with the actual truth everything based on delusion began to fall
away leaving only personal clarity.
So I’ll say it again, just one more time….the road to higher levels of self awareness and
personal power is, at first, confronting…everyone has this experience…it’s natural…have
faith just give what I’m saying a go, for the next week or two…make a commitment…see
what happens.
Now if you have read my previous article in this current series you would be familiar with
Lesson 1…so here is Lessons 2…enjoy.
Lesson 2
Make a decision to become more and more aware each day of your intention, emotions
and state and the resultant effect they have on you, your interaction with others and
your life… You are at cause... you are not at the effect…yes that’s right !...
You Create Your Own Reality !...”
If you want more, next time we will continue to examine the deeper levels of the
communication process and self awareness from the Zen perspective.
Warrick John Pleash is a Mentor, Coach and Financial Education specialist to the financial
services industry. He can be contacted by calling 0412400121 or emailing
warrick@pleash.com.
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