Jenny Black’s Post

I gave up New Years Resolutions years ago. Like many, as the year comes to a wrap, I often will look back at what happened in the year, what went well, what were my lessons and what am I proud of. What am I bringing with me into the new year and what am I leaving behind. For YEARS I would be on the New Year’s resolution band wagon, and most times it was your typical drop X amount of weight, stop smoking…truthfully it was like I was living Bridget Jones’ Diary, only I didn’t get the sequel with Patrick Dempsey. 🧐 As I’ve grown and refined my focuses, I no longer focus on the new year in this way. I do however still look back and try my best to plan ahead, personal and professionally, and financially, leaving room for adjustments and flow of course, it is life after all! In recent years, I haven’t been so focused on it. Truthfully, I felt I had lost control of my ability to manage much of it. I’ve decided this is the year I take my power back. Planning the year ahead is one way I find that helps! Before moving forward though, we also need to release the past year - what worked, what didn’t, forgive yourself for the hard moments. Honor the tough stuff, it provided you an opportunity to show up more fully. To grow. Then celebrate the good stuff, actually celebrate all of it. Acceptance, forgiveness and compassion for the tough and the good, it all had its place. Write out this affirmation; I commit to releasing the last year and I honor what’s to come. Then it’s time to shift our focus to the year ahead, write down all of your intentions for the year to come, allow yourself to feel what it feels like to achieve and attract these things. What do you want to attract? What to do you want to experience? It’s no longer about what to remove, but what are you calling in! Hold a clear vision, this creates power behind your desires. This is what will lead the momentum along the way. What are your intentions for 2024? 📸 @paulbuceta

What a great weekend! Thank you, Jesus! I was sharing at my Church how these past ten years have been the best years of my life! I remember wondering if there was more to life than being in retail. I was a workaholic working 6 to 7 days a week, 60 hours, and commuting 2 hours daily. I remember asking God for help but not knowing what to expect or how to get started. I just knew I needed a change. I had an opportunity to be a store manager for a Mattress company, but I wanted something different. I remember finding my calling and purpose in the same week. I know how that sounds, but I remember God leading me to Paychex. I'll save that story for another day. I got hired on a Wednesday, but since a training class was taking place already, I had to wait four weeks until the next training class. During those four weeks, I got involved with Celebrate Recovery due to my issues with fear, stress, anxiety, and depression, during those four weeks. I got plugged into a church, which became my 2nd home. I got Baptized and started with Paychex soon afterward. That's why I love sharing and helping others overcome life issues. Paychex has been the best company I have ever been a part of, yet I never knew it existed. Going to Conference as an individual and then again as a supervisor was fantastic. Back-to-back Team of the Year awards were incredible, too, but it's the people that I love the most. The people I get to interact with. Paychex is the place where people have helped me with my confidence and public speaking. At Paychex, they accepted me for me since day one and never once tried to change me or even tell me to tone it down. I'll never forget how I took my Bikers friends to support our United Way event in Phoenix. At the same time, I still think it's cool that I got to be on the news for handing out over 2k Narcan kits within the community. I remember talking to the NBC news media and wondering where I could record it, but Paychex was cool if I recorded in front of the building with no problems. That's why I felt so proud sharing this weekend. I shared what I get to do each day but also how Paychex and Celebrate Recovery have supported me since day one. Life is about people helping people. No titles are needed. Let's go. #faith #Community #bridgebuilders

PERSIST. In our final class day of Scottsdale Leadership, we were tasked with choosing a word of intent. We stamped our word into a bracelet charm. I added the word “bro” as a personal reminder, like looking in the mirror for a quick pep talk. I can't think of a more applicable word to describe a good chunk of my life experience. It's a vulnerable word. It's also a banner word. PERSIST. When you’re divorced at age 24 after getting married with a baby at age 19… When you have to work retail coming out of the Great Recession because the conditions aren’t right for someone without a degree who was just released from employment to appear as "top talent"… When you fall in love again and suddenly have three extra kids as part of the deal, and you’re learning how to be a good partner and finding your role as a step-parent without alienating your own child in the process… When you go back to college as an adult to finish the degree you started ten years earlier because you’re tired of banging your head against the proverbial wall and want to be taken seriously in the job market… When you decide the career path you want and the first firm tells you it’s not possible to finish a degree and study for the Series 7 & 66 exams at the same time, so they pass on you… When the second firm tells you there’s no path for the advancement you want, unless you go “skate on your own pond”… When the third firm doesn’t work out, so you decided to move to a new city on the other side of the country with no network, without your family, and under constant threat of lawsuit from said firm… When a global pandemic starts just as you’re beginning to gain some momentum and networking in the new city, and your family is still on the other side of the country and travel is not possible… When you start earning revenue but most of it is consumed up-line, so you have to bleed your savings for three years to make ends meet... When you’ve finally hit your breaking point with always building someone else's dream and decide to launch your own independent advisory firm... and every client trusts the vision and follows you. PERSIST. Times are not always supposed to be good and plentiful. Worthy summits are not reachable without first navigating a wilderness. The more you push for visibility, the more you become a target for criticism, shit-talkers, and disappointment. BUT… you also become more visible where it matters – you separate from the crowd and put yourself in the game to be a difference-maker. The temptation to shrink back grows when things get hard. The more I PERSIST the closer I get to where I want to be. The clearer the path becomes. The more attractive working hard to reach greatness becomes. My wife and kids still like me. My firm is growing. I've built a great network. I'm blessed. PERSIST. It’s a great word for me, and it’s what I intended to keep doing. What’s your word of intention?

Phenomenal. Today was absolutely phenomenal. Do something you love, with peope you love, become a part of something bigger… and you’ll never work a day again in your life. My life is my work. And my work is my life. And in no way does it consume me. I live my life so free, and I have done for the last 6 years. I simply make my money by being myself, wholeheartedly and unapologetically, as well as sharing what I’m passionate about. Our business model is simple, automated, and explained in the free bundle I’ve created for you. People will either join us, or they won’t. Either way is fine by me… obviously it’s better for you if you join us though. 😉 Together, we are rising. 💦🌱✨ 🎥 I’m going to be making a longer video tomorrow that includes all the speeches from top legacy leaders - they’re fire!! 🥹 comment “WANT” if you want the link to the video! I legit cried like 8 times today 😂😂 🫣 What’s a legacy leader? A leader who has reached a legacy position in the company because they’ve helped a certain amount of people win. This gives them monthly income for life, as well as the ability to pass this income down to their children. I’m becoming a legacy leader. Which is why I no longer pay into a pension because they’re a load of shit in comparison to what we’ve got going on. 😂 ❓What was your favourite part of this video?

"I love getting questions from you, our clients. It lets me know what is on your mind. I might be talking about one thing, but something completely different might be on your mind. At the beginning of each annual meeting, Cliff, Mike, and I ask you if you have any questions. In fact, Nina, also asks you prior to our meeting, if you'd like to add anything to our agenda. We want to know what you are thinking."

For this month's #MeetTheTeamMonday, we are featuring Gray Rudd, CFP®, Director of Wealth Management. We asked Gray a few "Get To Know Me" questions... check out his answers below! Q: What is your most fond memory of working with Pure Wealth Strategies? A: Watching the team grow. It’s energizing to bring new people on board, see them become excited about their role on this team, and watching them grow personally and professionally. Babies are born, people get married, kids graduate... it’s cool to grow with people you spend 40-hours/week with. Q: What are you most excited about in your life right now? A: I’m pumped to keep getting to know my kids’ personalities. It’s super fun how different every six months can be, and I love seeing their unique personalities develop. Q: Where do you most want to visit in the world? A: I wish there was just one place, that would almost be easier. My answer changes like a mood-swing, but today, Scotland. I’d love to visit whiskey distilleries and play golf while looking down a cliff lined fairway along the ocean (my ball will be in the rough, of course). Thanks for sharing, Gray! Get to know all of our team members a little more by visiting our website: http://spr.ly/6040gS5bw

A great article by No Sidebar at https://lnkd.in/g8ZsPMmn "End Your Year Intentionally" with these 10 questions: 1.    What makes this year unforgettable? 2.    What did you enjoy doing this year? 3.    What/who is the one thing/person you’re grateful for? 4.    What’s your biggest win this year? 5.    What did you read/watch/listen to that made the most impact this year?  6.    What did you worry about most and how did it turn out? 7.    What was your biggest regret and why? 8.    What’s one thing that changed about yourself? 9.    What surprised you the most this year? 10. If you could go back to last January 1, what suggestions would you give your past self?

Do you know why Barry Sanders retired? He said: "My desire to exit the game is greater than my desire to remain in it" Which sparked a question I asked myself: Is being good at what you do a reason to keep doing it? The answer in my opinion is no and here's why: If you're good at something, most likely you will achieve some level of success. In the business world success is typically viewed as being related to earning a certain level of income, perhaps a level of praise from your employer or co-workers, and meeting or exceeding goals/expectations. But is that a reason why? No... I think you have to take what you're good at and dig down a little deeper. Fall in love with the characteristics about yourself that make you good at what you do. Connect what you do to a greater purpose so that when the money and the praise doesn't become enough you have your reason why to fall back on. I'm competitive, I want to win. I want to win the day, win the deal, win the year etc. So I tie that into my rationale for making one more call. I love the freedom that being successful creates for me. The ability to provide for my family, invest in my personal health journey, and travel the world. I also enjoy helping others find success by providing opportunities for personal and professional growth. SO it's awesome that you're good at something, but if your goal is greatness then you need to have longevity and you can't sustain effort without a reason why. Lean in to your why and I bet it will help you find that extra gear you need to win the day when no ones watching.

If you always spend less than you make, you'll always have surplus. Whether you make $15/hour, $100k a year, or $1M a month. The opposite is true too, unfortunately. If you spend more than you make, you'll never have enough. It's a basic financial concept, but I like how it applies to our everyday life. If you're always grateful for what you have, you'll never need that new thing. Doesn't mean you can't get it, but just that it's an extra cherry on top. I recently went through this as the 49ers lost the super bowl and I found myself grateful for my family. Had they won, I'd have a happy family and be an overzealous fan. But this year, I just have the first thing. And I'm grateful. So next time you find yourself thinking "I wish I had that", look at what you DO have, and be grateful.

⭐ HERE'S ERIC ⭐ Closing out the week leading up to Veteran's Day we have our third and final veteran and financial planner at Francis, Eric Hencley, CFP®, MBA. Read more below on how Eric seeks balance in work, life, and money. Thank you for your service! 💼 Work: I love being able to do the right thing for participants. I enjoy being able to help advise them through situations with which I personally used to struggle. ❤️ Life: I am all about lake life. My favorite thing to do is spend time with family lakeside. If it's too cold for a lake day, I can settle for doing any outdoor activity. 💲 Money: There is no such thing as an optimal solution for everyone. Life is a series of tradeoffs; it is all about finding the right balance for you. #worklifemoneybalance #francisllc #financialplanning #veteransday