Nothing makes me worry more than when a client says to me, “We haven’t talked about this.”

The ‘this’ I’m thinking of here could be any piece of information to do with their financial situation, products or services that we’ve definitely covered in a documented and legally required way.

I often hear this comment when they’ve been taken surprise by something they’re not pleased or sure about. It might be a fee, a due date for a payment, or tax implications, for example. It inevitably involves some frustration or confusion on their part, and so they say they never knew. 

Why does this concern me? 

Well, my experience as a financial coach shows that the people who take ownership of what they know and what they don’t always end up in a much better financial position than others. 

In fact, they’re often happier and more successful across many parts of their lives. 

Active knowledge 

We don’t need to know everything at all times, and unless we have a super-human photographic memory, we just can’t. 

But in today’s world where we have information at our fingertips, ignorance is no excuse.

The key is to take responsibility for what we choose to engage with, and what we don’t. And when we don’t, accepting that sometimes there are consequences to that.

My dad had a heart attack at 54 and his doctor told him that my sister and I should start doing regular cholesterol checks (rather than wait until we turned 40). I took 2.5 years to finally book in for a blood test. But I did this being OK with the fact that the blame was entirely on me if something was wrong.

It’s OK to get help

In areas where there’s an information avalanche and I don’t have the space or will to get up to speed, I often engage with experts to help me get things done and make decisions. I do my research on the people I’ll hire, then once I’m satisfied they’ll have my best interests at heart, I put my trust in them. 

I hired an event planner to get my wedding in order. In my early 20s I hired a financial coach (which was of course the best decision ever), and more recently I hired a buyer’s advocate to buy a property for me. I have someone else in charge of my tax returns. With these experts, I’m really clear about what I focus on, and what I let them decide for me. I put my trust in them, and then I accept the outcomes.

Turning around our habits

To start taking ownership of the information we absorb, we can look at what we know at the moment, where there are gaps, and where we’re willing to put the time and energy into taking an interest. In some cases it might be that we engage experts to help us along, but we can still be intentional with what we manage ourselves and what we rely on them for. This doesn’t mean we need to trust blindly, but it does acknowledge the responsibility we must take for ourselves and our choices. 

We’re swamped with information, that’s the modern world. But if we’re in control about how we deal with it we can have a better understanding, better decision making, and much more ownership of our own happiness and success.