Acres of Diamonds
150 years ago there was a young farmer inherited who several hundred acres of land.
He spent the first couple of years working hard, trying to increase the yield on the land.
But, he became very frustrated and restless.
Every time he went into town, he heard the stories of grandeur...about young men, leaving their farms to seek their fortune in diamonds. These were like any of the classic stories of quick riches.
The young farmer decided that he needed to find his own riches. He sold his farm to an older farmer and started out across the continent in search of his fortune.
Ask the kids call it today....he was YOLOing! (You Only Live Once)
Or was experiencing FOMO....the Fear Of Missing Out
Within weeks, the young man was panning in streams and digging in mines, searching for that elusive pile of diamonds.
After the excitement waned...reality set in. The young farmer never found diamonds and ended up years later dying destitute and far from home.
Conversely, the older farmer who purchased the land got to work increasing the yield on the property and installing better irrigation systems.
One day, while working on the irrigation system, the farmer found some interesting looking shiny rocks. He brought them home and put them on his mantle.
Several weeks later a town elder was visiting the family and asked him why he had diamonds sitting on the mantle.
The farmer replied, "What are diamonds?"
It turned out that the farm was sitting on what became one of the largest diamond mines in the world!
The young farmer who originally owned the land, was literally sitting on his own... Acres of Diamonds!
This story is a short synopsis of a talk given over 125 years ago by Russell Conwell.
He used this story to raise money for the formation of a small college in Philadelphia to help educate disadvantaged youth.
Mr. Conwell was able to raise enough money by telling the story over 150 times to create what is now known today as Temple University.
A couple of weeks ago I was given an opportunity to present my client communication system to advisers on a joint webinar with fpPathfinder.
If you are not familiar with this financial planning resource, it was created by Michael Lecours, CFP® and Michael Kitces.
I wanted to start the webinar with a story, and the Acres of Diamonds story presented a natural fit.
Most advisers are sitting on their own proverbial Acres of Diamonds inside of their own practice...but it needs to be 'mined.'
By creating a systematic client communication system, paired with robust planning guides, an advisor can mine their own practice for planning opportunities and building better relationships while delivering better client outcomes.
If you would like all the free resources and free fpPathfinder Planning Guides from that webinar visit www.resilientadvisor.com/fppathfinder
And whatever you are trying to build in your life, make sure you are not sitting on your own...Acres of Diamonds already.
Read the Full Acres of Diamonds story here: https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/rconwellacresofdiamonds.htm
Comments