Financial advisor Louis Barajas says keep people around who tell you hard truths, even when you hate hearing them. After nearly 40 years advising clients, he's seen people fire advisors for pointing out overspending or debt, then wonder why nothing changes. Growth starts when you stop wanting to be flattered and listen to whoever cares enough to tell you what's actually wrong.
So here's a little life advice. Now, if you're gonna fire somebody, don't fire them for telling you the truth. Now, I've noticed something, that after nearly 40 years of helping people with their finances, people rarely get upset when you tell them what they want to hear. They get upset at you when you tell them what they need to hear, like you're spending too much money, or you're carrying too much debt, or you're not saving enough, or you're living beyond your means. Nobody likes to hear those things. Trust me, I don't always enjoy saying them as well. Now, if you appreciate honest conversations about money and life, please follow me here. Okay, so here's the problem. Sometimes we shoot the messenger. We get mad at the doctor for telling us to lose weight. We get mad at the trainer for making us work harder. We get mad at the financial planner for telling us to stop spending money we don't have. The truth didn't create the problem. The truth just revealed it. And if somebody cares enough to tell you the truth, well, they may be helping you more than the people who tell you that everything's just fine. So, here's what I've learned. Growth begins when we stop looking for people who tell us what we want to hear and start listening to the people willing to tell us what we need to hear because the truth may sting, but it can also change your life.
