Lessons from Fincon 2019

Another FinCon is on the books! I just returned from #FinCon19 in Washington, D.C. What is FinCon? Simply, it’s the annual conference for money nerds. It’s where content creators (bloggers, podcasters, youtubers, course creators), financial advisors, and anyone else in the “industry” converge to exchange ideas, learn, and connect in person!

This was my second FinCon, and I love seeing the number of physician finance bloggers grow and collaborate. Also, we had more than twice the amount of women physicians this year!

This just goes to show the need for women's voices in the personal finance space.

FinCon is also a chance for me to run into and see some of my money celebrity crushes. Like running out of the elevator to chat with Ramit Sethi (author of I Will Teach You to Be Rich). 

I also got to meet Rob Berger, the podcaster behind the Dough Roller Podcast –the first money podcast I ever listened to, back in 2014. He was gracious to take a selfie with me. 

On top of that, I got to meet Emma Johnson of Single Wealthy Mommy. I love her message for single moms–that they can be wealthy financially, in love, and in life. 

So like last year, here are some lessons I learned from #FinCon19:

Creating your team is probably the most challenging part of growing a business

Can I get an amen? You may not be running a business, but I’m betting many of you have had to hire a nanny or perhaps a personal assistant. A pearl I learned at FinCon is to take the stance that you are 100% responsible for their success or failure. It’s too easy to think it’s not your fault if they don’t deliver or meet your expectations since it takes you off the hook.

What if their success was all on you? I think we would all approach and show up for our team very differently. Never assume they know what you want or need. They also can’t read your mind. 

Literally ask them to repeat back to you what you asked them to do.

Choose your friends and colleagues wisely

You may have heard the saying, “Your net worth is the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with.” I will take it a step further: you are limited in what you can do, accomplish, and make (money) in life by the people you spend the most time with. What do I mean exactly? If you spend time with negative nellies all the time, then you’re also probably a negative nellie too. You play it safe since that’s what all your friends do, too. 

"You are limited in what you can do, accomplish, and make in life by the people you spend the most time with." Click To Tweet

On the flip side, what if your friends all believed that anything was possible? What could be possible if your friends encouraged and supported your growth, whether it is personal or business growth? 

This is exactly why folks in business join and continue to participate in masterminds. These are groups of like-minded people committed to growing their business by investing in personal and business development. We get together and openly share our secrets to success to help each other. A few of us got together at FinCon and had a “hot seat” where we each took turns asking for advice on a business problem. A mastermind is part advice, part rah rah, and 100% committed to cultivating a growth mindset.

Let’s get rid of money shaming

Ramit Sethi gave one of the opening keynote talks at FinCon and boldly declared that there is no shame on spending a tremendous amount of money on things you love. I couldn’t agree more. And to take it a step further, though we are beginning to share the message of financial literacy to physicians, we are barely touching the subject of money shaming. There is a lack of money transparency and there is plenty of money judging going on. I’d love to see that end.

There is so much shame about how and on what we spend money. We are judged if we are perceived as having too much money. We celebrate paying off multiple 6 figures of debt, and yet we stay hush hush about reaching multiple 6 or 7 figures of net worth. Why? 

There are only 3 answers: Yes, No, and Being Ignored

Cat Alford talked about “failure” in a way I haven’t heard before. In business (and in life), you often put yourself out there, whether it’s asking someone if you can collaborate on something or asking for someone to be a guest on your blog or podcast. Or, on the personal side of things, reaching out to a new friend or asking someone out!

Cat made it really simple: there are only 3 responses: yes, no, and being totally ignored. If you go in knowing that, it’s freeing. It really becomes a numbers game. 

So instead of feeling bad when you get a no, or worse, no response, don’t take it personally. You got 1 of the 3 responses, so just keep putting yourself out there and you’ll eventually get the yeses that move the needle.

Final Thoughts:

So that was FinCon 2019! Of course I could go on and on, but those were my major takeaways. I always learn so much when I go there, and if you ever have an opportunity to attend, I highly recommend it! (Drop me a line so I can meet you there!)

In the meantime, if you’re interested in watching the speaker sessions from this year’s FinCon, check out this link and get access to tons of material from the conference at a fraction of the price! If you do take advantage of it, head over to the Wealthy Mom Physicians community and let me know what lessons you learned!