09/29/2025
Converting Dreams to Realities
Improving the Probability of Success
If you have known me for a while you have heard the story where at 26 I had just arrived from Arkansas and was working at a nursery in Snohomish. Looming large to the south was Mt. Rainier. One day I asked nursery owner Fred “Does anyone ever climb that mountain?” He said “Yeah, all of the time.” That was the moment I started dreaming about climbing it. But I knew it would require planning and preparation for that dream to become a reality, so that’s exactly what I did until I actually achieved it the first time on August 7, 1989.
Our approach to financial planning has similar elements. It often begins with learning what clients would like to accomplish, such as becoming financial independent, or retiring early (or just retiring!), being able to be more philanthropic, exotic traveling, etc. I suppose there are those who have summited Rainier with little planning and virtually no preparation…but I can’t imagine it. Likewise, I know there are those who have retired without much planning, but it is rarely the kind of retirement I would want.
I alluded to having summitted Rainier twice. Turns out that I hadn’t prepared as well as I thought and managed to summit mostly by youth and willpower. In other words, I did it, but it wasn’t fun. Once I recovered (aches, pains, and EXTREME blisters…), I realized that it could have been fun, so began planning for my second attempt. While I couldn’t be certain of a more enjoyable experience let alone summitting again, I could improve the probability of success.
This is exactly what we expect to accomplish for our clients via our financial planning process. While ultimate results are never guaranteed, one CAN improve the probability of success. A comment one of the guides made about halfway between Camp Muir and the summit was “Even if you don’t summit, you will have climbed higher than most and probably higher than you ever have, which is a great achievement!” That thought motivated me to keep going--keep going that morning, keep going on other outdoor adventures, and keep going towards other life goals.
But converting a dream to a reality isn’t easy, which is likely the primary reason so few even try. Achievements nearly always come with costs, such as time, money, energy, willpower…and postponing gratification. Admittedly, patience has never been one of my natural characteristics, but by necessity from childhood I learned the importance of delaying gratification. Few old sayings are truer than “good things are worth waiting for”…and WORKING for.
And improving the probability of achieving a goal naturally includes doing so as efficiently as possible, be it climbing a mountain or enjoying a fulfilling retirement. We don’t want to just barely make it, then be too exhausted or too financially strapped to really enjoy the achievement. Likewise, the first time I summitted Rainier I was so exhausted I barely had time to look around, let alone explore the summit crater or really take in the views (all of which I was able to do the second time).
We are continuously improving our financial planning process as part of our effort to bring more value to our clients. The program we use is updated frequently, enabling us to better customize and document plans that focus on what each client seeks, then better present it visually. There is something exhilarating about creating a feasible plan that, ideally, illustrates a high probability of success!
In recent years I have begun to experience age-related issues (primarily balance) telling me that some of the “extreme” hikes/climbs I love are no longer prudent for me. Consequently, last winter I planned for this to be my “Epic Summer”, wherein I planned to repeat some of my most challenging hikes one last time, climaxing with “The Enchantments Loop”—a “day” hike that includes a 4500’ elevation gain (much of which is scrambling up Aasgard Pass above Colchuck Lake) and 20+ miles. Throughout this summer, each week’s hike was chosen specifically to prepare me for the Enchantments. As the summer progressed, the hikes got intentionally steeper and longer. Lake Constance (the final “test” hike) was particularly grueling. But having passed that test, last week I am proud--and somewhat relieved--to say that in spite of taking me 19 hours, I did it!
To be clear, I still intend to hike and backpack, just less “extreme”. Consequently I still need to keep in shape, plan ahead, prioritize and continue doing everything I can to improve the probability of successfully enjoying the great outdoors. We look forward to helping you improve your probability of successfully turning dreams of a better future into realities!
