This morning as I sat down waiting for my train, I noticed a man walking towards me, eyes glued to his phone. I could see he intended to walk over and lean against a pole. It all happened in slow motion – as he continued to gaze at his phone, he walked head first into it.

I couldn’t help but think how distracted he was and it reminded me of how, as a Leader, I have lost focus at times. I’ve made errors in judgment and while fortunately, no clients have directly suffered any loss, the firm hasn’t always lived up to its capabilities and I wasn’t realising my full potential. Fortunately, with the support of great people around me, I’ve managed to refocus and feel confident in navigating our future.

I believe the things you focus on become your reality. I also believe that having focus is a daily discipline. Lose it or focus on the wrong things and soon you start making bad decisions.

When it comes to investing, we educate our clients to focus on the things that matter, the things they can control like getting rewarded for the risks they take, being mindful of tax and keeping fees reasonable. We steer away from things we can’t control such as the media and attempting to predict the future.

So what are you doing to ensure you maintain focus on the things that matter?

Have a great day and watch out for those poles!