There’s a line from Theodore Roosevelt that’s been on my mind this week. Speaking at the Sorbonne in 1910, he said the credit belongs to the person actually in the arena, who, if they fail, “at least fails while daring greatly.” Last Thursday, I found out what that feels like.
Ten years ago, we set ourselves the target of one day winning Chartered Financial Planning Firm of the Year. In our profession, there’s no bigger accolade, so I’m proud to tell you that this year we made the final three.
The road from that day to reaching the final hasn’t been a straight line. Since Jo and I took over the business in 2020, we’ve made a lot of changes, and not all of them have been easy. Together, though, they brought us to a point where we believed, as a team, that we could win this award and that the work we’ve done had earned it.
So I really wanted to win. And when you want something that much, it’s tempting to hold a little back and keep your hopes in check, so that it hurts less if it doesn’t happen. Most of us have done it at some point. But I decided not to, and I headed to the awards afternoon excited and believing it was our year.
We didn’t win, and because I’d gone all in, it hurt more than it otherwise would have. I’d let myself picture us winning, which made hearing another name read out all the harder. That’s the bargain Roosevelt was describing. You can’t dare greatly and keep yourself safe at the same time, and given the choice again, I’d still go all in.
Congratulations to De Mellow & Co on winning our category, and to every other winner on the day. I’d also like to congratulate First Wealth, our fellow finalist, who we have a lot of respect for.
Once the disappointment settled, what I felt most was pride in reaching the final three of an award we first set our sights on a decade ago, and in a team that has worked incredibly hard to get us there. We learned a great deal from the process itself, because the awards set a high bar and working to reach it has made us a better firm. So we’ll keep going and keep improving until we win it.
Finally, to our clients, thank you for your support. You’re the reason we keep pushing to be better. And to the team, thank you for everything you put into this, and into the everyday work that made the submission possible. I couldn’t be prouder of you.
