Walking Down Gene Carden's Road:Brian Carden "Insights"

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11/09/2010

Walking Down Gene Carden's Road

Inspirations come to me from a myriad of places…sometimes, I’ll hear a song lyric…or perhaps see a quote that resonates…and often times, it’s from the vantage point of a pew on Sunday mornings. Recently I heard Mike Glenn state that “Common sense isn’t all that common.” Needless to say, I grabbed one of my 3 x 5 cards and started writing. I’ve said it before with total conviction and I’ll continue to say that our Senior Partner Corky Dawes, who is a true friend and mentor to me, says that I have the third most important occupation in your life, behind your physician and your pastor. By the way, Mike is the pastor at Brentwood Baptist Church…you know, the one on Concord Road at I-65 that looks like a small community college with a steeple.

One of the things I most enjoy about Mike is that first of all, when I’m in the room with several thousand other people, it always feels like he’s having a conversation with me…and only me. There is not a pulpit, podium, nor a teleprompter anywhere…he’s just speaking from his heart. If you’re a member there, perhaps you feel the same as I. His last series was comparing where one pledges their allegiance: to the American dream of success, stuff, and the like…or the spiritual world of living a Godly life and using the Word as a roadmap. He quoted Thomas Jefferson who wrote the Declaration of Independence, and more specifically he talked about where Jefferson wrote about the “pursuit of happiness” and not “the possession of it”. We do like to own stuff here in Williamson County, don’t we?

It’s funny, because we all can laugh at all of the televangelists that we’ve seen through our years of watching TV. I used to do a great Ernest Angley impersonation when I was a kid. Remember that guy? He was hilarious…but then again, I saw him for who he was. There were only three channels back in those days, so on rainy days, when we couldn’t go outside to play, we watched stuff like this. “Say ba-by…out demon spirit…come out!” I didn’t realize that one could create so many syllables out of a name like Jesus…“Jae-eee-eee-sss-us”.

Why do I mention this? Simple…for every religious nut out there, there are men of God like Mike Glenn who can stand in front of everyone he meets and speak from his heart. He basically calls it as he sees it, and he calls it with conviction. He has a lifetime of experiences, studies, and life lessons that he can pull from on an immediate basis. When Mike talks, I listen…intently…I’m always listening for that “ah-ha moment”...that moment when I hear something that resonates with me that I can bring back to my desk and write about with financial overtones and my own set of experiences, studies, and life lessons…just as I’m writing to you right now.

You might think that I have the audacity to play the religion card and to compare myself to Mike. If that is the way you feel, then please stop reading, close this screen, and move on. There is no sense in reading any farther if that thought has entered your mind. One of my favorite sayings is “The Lord Wants spiritual fruit, not religious nuts.” Needless to say, I can’t stand religious nuts, and here in Nashville, the buckle of the Bible belt, we have more than our share of them…especially in my business. Unfortunately, in the last 2-3 years, there has been a lot of harm caused by financial advisors professing their faith as a marketing ploy to get people to invest their hard earned dollars with them. Unfortunately for the investor, those unethical schemes cost the clients millions of dollars and put the advisors in prison…and the sentences can’t be long enough to suit me!

Mike is a battery recharger for me. I show up on Sunday sometimes drained by my prospects, friends, and even clients. The media makes everyone think that being a financial advisor is an easy job where all you have to do is just talk to people, get them to sign a few forms, get paid very well, and then spend the rest of your time at the country club schmoozing more people to sign a few forms. Trust me…there’s a reason that my industry has a 95% failure rate of new hires in their first 12 months of employment…it ain’t that easy! Mike helps me be made up of the best “spiritual fruit” I can be.

Where I do see myself like him is in my conviction to share the truth with you on matters that I see myself as knowledgeable on my areas of expertise as Mike considers himself. And I have the passion to stand up for what I know is truthful and in the best interests of everyone I meet. Just as there are “religious nuts” in Mike’s world, there are “financial gurus” in mine. Those that seemingly have some credibility because they are behind a microphone of in front of a camera, but can do more harm with their words than any televangelist can ever do.

So, 28 years later…here I am…after having numerous conversations with God as to why this industry chose me. At first it was a job…then it became an occupation…then later a career…and now after some answers to a lot of my questions, a true calling to help people, I find myself listening to a man like Mike Glenn asking me “Brian, on what road have you built your life?” I’m looking at my 3 x 5 card right now with those words written on it. I will tell you for all of the glass half empty days; there have been an abundance of glass half full days. A majority of those glass half full days involve my Dad…either in conversation or in thought. If you’ve been a loyal reader of my posts for the last six years, then you know of Dad.

He’s 85 now…a little slower these days, but he’s still with us. The “Carden foursome” played a few weeks ago…Dad, my brother David, nephew Chase and of course, me. He can’t hit it very far these days, and it frustrates him, but he still hits it straight as an arrow…and to him, being out with us is about as good of a day as he can have...short of being with Mom of course. About three years ago, life happened, and God pretty much told him, “Gene, you’re done working…but I’ll make sure you’re around for a while longer.” At one point, when he was completely out of it in his hospital bed, and we were wondering if his time with us was over, he suddenly woke up, looked at Mom and said, “Hagan, I’m not done yet!” I swear, his last words to us will be “Don’t worry about me, I’m fine.” And I have no plans to hear those words for quite a while!

Dad would love nothing better than to get up in the morning and go out and make “sales calls” as he calls them. He just loved being in the mix. He told me recently that he never worked a day in his life. He just got up every morning and did all he could to help people. He sold industrial tools, mill and mine equipment, and just about everything a manufacturing plant or construction company could use. If you signed a purchase order within a 100 mile radius of Knoxville, chances are Gene Carden’s card was on your desk somewhere. Recently some of his friends from a company he used to call on looked him up in the phone book and called the house. Mom answered and they asked if this was Gene Carden’s house and she said yes. Then they asked “Is he still alive?” To which Mom answered, “Yes he is, would you like to talk to him?” Needless to say, Dad went down and had lunch with them a few days later. It made him feel so good to know he was missed and that he made a difference to those people. There is no telling how many people he has touched through these many years of “doing what Dad does”.

It’s funny. I’ve never seen him read a Bible or quote scripture…never seen him pray other than saying the blessing at the dinner table…never seen him do a lot of things that you would think a lot of “religious men” might do. The closest he probably came was telling me his version of the Golden Rule, which was “To have a friend, you’ve got to be a friend.” Then again, I have never met a man who “walks the walk” any more than Dad. I’ve learned through him that it’s my walk that makes me who I am…not my talk. It’s the consistency of getting up every morning, and doing your best to help someone else. Not the money you make, the notoriety you get…just get up every morning and do all you can do to help someone else. Dad doesn’t feel the need to tell me about his walk with God…he’s just shown it to me for all of my 52 years.

He has to walk in the evenings to keep up his strength, and when he does, he will call me a couple of times a week and we will talk about my day…who I saw, what I did, the frustrations I have in getting people to understand I’m truly trying to help them, etc. The greatest compliment I’ve ever received came from a man who knew Dad for years and he told me “Darn it Carden, you’re just like your old man!” To which I replied, “Yes I am!” So when a man like Mike Glenn asks me on what road have I built my life, it’s easy for me to look at the road that Dad continues to walk.

In my walk, I do everything I can to be like Dad…and to be quite honest, some days it’s just hard…sometimes downright frustrating. Where Mike Glenn can stand up on Sundays and tell you what you’re doing right now is not going to get you to where you want to be from a Godly perspective, I know in my heart, and with 28 years behind me, I can tell you what might have gotten you here will not get you there from a financial perspective. Or in some circumstances, I can tell you where you would have been if you hadn’t listened to one of those financial entertainers that you think are “all seeing, all knowing”. They call them “financial gurus” now don’t they? Whatever…regardless, whatever you think. I can not only state with all of my heart and soul, but also numerically validate, that a high percentage of what you hear and read is wrong regarding investments, insurance, and many other things financial. You can’t get financial advice through the media, just like you can’t get a haircut over the phone!!

I’ve sat and listened to potential clients rationalize their misguided beliefs to me over and over again. I’ve had friends who thought that since they made more money than I did, that they were smarter than I, and that they knew exactly what I did for a living. To which I replied, “You have no clue what I did, because if you did, you would realize immediately that I could help you!” But I guess that guy at the brokerage firm was still promising him 12% returns like the financial entertainers are promising you every time you turn on the radio or television. I’ve had men look at their wives and tell them point blank that “They weren’t buying that much life insurance on themselves.” To which I thought, obviously, you love the money it takes to buy the insurance more than you love your family. And on a daily basis, I find myself quoting the comedian Ron White, who gave us “You can’t fix stupid!!”

Wow…this piece didn’t wind up finishing the way it started, did it? But as Popeye says “I am who I am!” In my case, I don’t apologize for it. I know the quality of work we do here at Peachtree Planning of Tennessee. I know the difference between an investment strategy and a mutual fund or variable annuity sale. I know a product peddler when I see one. I know a faux leather binder full of facts figures and assumptions doesn’t make a financial plan. I know when someone has been taken advantage of by someone claiming to be a “fee based” this or “certified” that, and if someone plays the “Christian” card, it has always been my nature to run like my hair was on fire…regardless of what industry they were in!

And, I know who I am…and what road I’m on. Thank you Mike for your words of inspiration…and of course, thank you Dad…I love you and am proud to be your son. See you around the family table in a few weeks.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Brian Carden
Brian_Carden@PeachtreePlanning.com
www.briancarden.com

Posted by Brian Carden at 05:45:00 AM in Financial

Technorati Tags: Brian Carden, family, financial advisor, financial entertainers, financial planning, financial strategy

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11/09/2010