Ideas in the Wild: Scott Danner is Sharing His Story to Help Financial Advisors Truly Live a Rich Life
Understanding that your story matters and can impact other people in a powerful way. That requires some connecting of the dots when you look back on a portion of your life and say, “How did I get from this point to this point?” And you share those ideas to help someone who’s trying to achieve a similar level of success, so they can see those dots and connections in their own life. Oftentimes, people avoid those dots and they miss how things interconnect.
In the land of finance, discipline equals freedom.
Nobody knows this better than financial advisors. To their clients and community, they offer expertise, which enables those folks to achieve their goals and become financially independent. But what about the advisor’s goals, independence, and more importantly, their happiness?
Some advisors reading this may have heavy decisions to make about selling or merging. Maybe they’re considering retirement. There are a variety of factors that could make the future feel uncertain — but that doesn’t mean it won’t be fulfilling. In Freedom Street, financial advisor and CEO Scott Danner shares lessons learned and insights gained from nearly two decades of managing assets, purchasing financial practices, and creating succession plans to ensure a future that is both prosperous and rewarding. With nearly fifty advisors in seven states, Scott’s practice manages more than $2 billion in assets. I recently caught up with Scott to learn what inspired him to write the book and the biggest lesson he’s learned along his journey.
What happened that made you decide to write the book? What was the exact moment you realized these ideas needed to get out there?
I’ve put out a lot of videos, and through that, I’ve seen the ability you can have to share your story and impact people on a greater scale. That was the first part of it. The other part was: I see financial advisors walking away from their practices every day because they haven’t created a rich life, they aren’t living their legacy, and they don’t know how to own their future. Their business might be doing well, but outside of that, things are spiraling out of control.
I wanted to share some ideas and some stories that could help people struggling in that way. The answer isn’t always selling your business. Sometimes the next chapter includes your business, so my hope was to get people ready for that next chapter. The way I decided to do that was by sharing my story of how I got to that next chapter in this book.
What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned going through the journey you share in the book?
Understanding that your story matters and can impact other people in a powerful way. That requires some connecting of the dots when you look back on a portion of your life and say, “How did I get from this point to this point?” And you share those ideas to help someone who’s trying to achieve a similar level of success, so they can see those dots and connections in their own life. Oftentimes, people avoid those dots and they miss how things interconnect.
Another lesson: I’ve always believed in living a rich life, but in the reality of how do you live richly, what are the things that are most important to you? Who are the people that are most important to you? You know, I’ve had the honor to do the eulogy for four of my grandparents when they passed. And when you do a eulogy, you talk about their life, love, friendships, and relationships. So, ask yourself: what would you want people to say about you?
How will you apply this lesson in your own life and business moving forward?
When you realize you are where you’re supposed to be and life’s choices lead you to that point, you can accept the present moment — and that’s extremely powerful. It doesn’t mean you have to stop dreaming or creating goals, but it does means that you have to enjoy the ride.
Savoring the present moment is something that I have always struggled a little bit with because I’m always working so hard to the next moment. In writing the book and looking at the failures that I’ve had and evaluating all these things, I’ll continue to live my life, striving for success and opportunities and goals, and being the best version of myself that I can be.
But I’m also going to continue to enjoy the ride, and the older I get, the more I want to enjoy each day, each moment, and each relationship. And I think we can all learn from that.
I know I certainly am.
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this. We wish you continued success and good health.
