What Would You Change If You Stepped Away for 90 Days?

If you stepped away from your business for 90 days and came back fully in control, what would you change?

• Your client profile?
• Your growth strategy?
• Your team structure?
• Your calendar?

It is not just a thought exercise.

If, like me, you were glued to coverage of the Winter Olympics, you probably saw Alysa Liu deliver a near-flawless free skate, scoring 226.79 points and becoming the first American woman in 24 years to win Olympic gold in figure skating.

Listening to the coverage before and after her skate made me realize the most powerful part of her story is not the medal. It is the reset.

After the 2022 Games, Liu stepped away from skating entirely due to burnout. As a teenage prodigy, she had lived under constant expectation. Programs selected for her. Presentation shaped around judges. Schedules built around performance metrics. At one point, she described feeling like a dress-up doll rather than an athlete in control of her craft.

So she walked away.

For two years, she was not “the future of U.S. skating.” She was simply herself.

And when she returned, she did so with conditions.

She chose her coaches, her choreography, her costumes, and her training intensity. And, perhaps most importantly, her music.

She renegotiated her relationship with the sport. She did not come back to chase medals. She came back on her own terms. That shift changed everything.

Hence this edition of the blog…

Advisors Operate in a Judged Sport

Advisors perform in a judged arena too.

Markets move publicly.  Clients react emotionally.  Performance is tracked and expectations never switch off.

And over time, many advisors find themselves in a business they did not fully design.

• Clients added reactively.
• Services layered on without intention.
• Calendars dictated by urgency instead of strategy.
• Growth pursued without clarity.

Like Liu before her pause, it can start to feel like you are performing inside someone else’s program.

Burnout in this profession rarely comes from lack of capability. It comes from lack of control.

Renegotiating the Relationship With Your Business

Liu’s comeback was not about returning to form. It was about ownership. Control led to identity.
Identity restored joy, and joy unlocked performance.

Advisors need the same sequence.

Control might look like:

• Redefining who you serve and who you no longer serve
• Building a tiered service model instead of over servicing everyone
• Clarifying team roles so decision rights are clean
• Designing proactive risk conversations before volatility
• Protecting white space on your calendar

That is not stepping back.

That is stepping into leadership.

The firms that scale sustainably are not the busiest. They are the most intentional.

Control Is the Real Gold

Figure skating rewards precision, but composure separates silver from gold.

At the Olympics, Liu did not look frantic. She looked relaxed. Present. Joyful.

That was not accidental. It was the byproduct of ownership.

Advisors face their own version of the free skate every time markets turn volatile.

When clients spiral, do you react? Or do you execute a repeatable system you designed?

Clients do not calm down because of better charts. They calm down when they feel ownership of the plan, and the same is true for advisors.

You do not regain energy because revenue increases.
You regain energy when the business feels like yours again.

The Evolution of Control

Early success can be driven by energy and intensity.

Long-term success is driven by design.

Liu’s gold medal was not just a comeback. It was evidence of evolution. A different relationship with pressure. A deeper level of composure.

Many advisory firms plateau after early growth. The skills that build the first 50 million are not always the ones that build the next 100.

The shift requires moving:

From producer to leader.

From rainmaker to architect.

From reactive to structured.

From busy to intentional.

That shift does not require more talent.

It requires control.

The Real Question

So I’ll ask again… If you stepped away for 90 days and only came back under one condition, that the business would operate on your terms, what would change?

• Would you narrow your focus?
• Redesign your service model?
• Elevate your team before chasing new assets?
• Create systems that protect both performance and energy?

Olympic gold was not won in one skate.

It was won the moment she decided that if she returned, it would be different.

Sometimes the most strategic move is not pushing harder.

It is renegotiating control.

And when you do, performance often follows.

Song of the Month

In honor of Liu’s free skate, this month’s selection is “MacArthur Park” (suite version) by Donna Summer. Dramatic. Layered. Emotional. A little defiant.

The kind of music that says: this performance belongs to me.

Put it on. Turn it up. And ask yourself one more time:

If this were your comeback season, what would you redesign first?

 

FOR ADVISOR USE ONLY. NOT INTENDED FOR CONSUMER SOLICITATION PURPOSES.

Beacon Capital Management, Inc. is an investment adviser registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Additional information about Beacon Capital Management is also available on the SEC’s website at www.adviserinfo.sec.gov under CRD number 120641. Beacon Capital Management only transacts business in states where it is properly registered or excluded or exempted from registration requirements.

Information presented is for educational purposes only and does not intend to make an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of any specific securities, investments or investment strategies.

Sammons Financial® is the marketing name for Sammons® Financial Group, Inc.’s member companies, including Beacon Capital ManagementSM.

 

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