Ron’s question caught me off guard, “Did you write that book yourself?” I wasn’t sure where the question would lead, but the question came from a friend and someone I knew to be a nice guy.
Like a proud father asked about one of his children I replied, “every word.”
What he said next struck me because it wasn’t about finance, spreadsheets or the stock market. It was about passion. He said, “Your passion shows through. I could tell you really love what you do.”
You know what? He’s right. I do love what I do, but what he doesn’t know is that wasn’t always the case. In fact, out of the twenty five years I’ve spent in financial services, I spent almost ten years trying to get out of the industry. I started other businesses, purchased other businesses, helped with other businesses and so forth. But about six years ago, I wholly and fully committed to the financial services industry and my practice.
Why the change? Because I came to the conclusion that helping folks with their finances was valuable and made a tremendous difference in their quality of life. Several experiences affected me profoundly, ones where I was able to make a significant impact on a person’s financial life and see a good result. Some purely investment related, some tax related and some estate planning related. It’s said that money issues end many marriages, so watching couples make progress in that arena was also powerful.
So why write a book? My desire to help as many people with their finances as possible led me to look at all the avenues available. My practice has allowed me to help thousands of people over the years, but how could I help millions? I looked at building the ‘killer website,’ writing a blockbuster movie, starting a movement or writing a book. Writing a book seemed like the best way for me to reach a large audience and help people financially even if we never met.
So here we are. My book has been well received and I’m proud to say that many folks, including the man I mentioned at the outset, have thanked me and told me they received value.
I have a vision I hold dear. I’m sitting in a restaurant and a woman around age 60 approaches me and asks if my name is Kevin Bourke. I nod and she says she just wanted to thank me. She tells me that my book helped her make a decision in her financial life that worked out to her benefit. That’s my dream, helping people.
So yes, Ron. I do have passion… about a decidedly passionless subject. Thank you for noticing!