Let’s talk – about a great future work life

Hello there!

This guide is for you – if you own a financial advice business and feel you could use some help in designing your future work life.

If you already have thoughts about what work you’ll do (or you don’t plan to work) after selling your business, this guide could help you confirm or re-consider your choices.

It may also reveal some things you could change if you need to make your business more fun and effective today.

Designing a new work life is one of the most significant projects anyone undertakes.

Research shows that we have a far higher chance of success with big projects if we take the time to explore and analyse our options upfront.

So, drawing on studies (from psychologists and life design experts), we’ve compiled this thinking guide to help you make great choices.

You’ll gain the most value from reading all four parts of this guide – but you can click on these headings to skip ahead if you like.

Part 1: Why do you want to exit your business? 

Here, we explore the factors driving many business owners to sell up. And, spoiler alert: we suggest you take control of the exit process to develop a plan that attracts you to your future life rather than pushing you away from what you have now.

Part 2: Why can’t we forecast our futures?

In this part, we explore the big-thinking traps of forecasting what will make us happy in the future.

We also share proven ways to avoid these traps, which could help your financial planners with their client work today.

Part 3: How will you design your future work life?

Here, we outline twelve fundamental questions – to help you approach the design of your future work life.

Part 4: What do you want from your future work life?

In the final part of this guide, we list twelve work features you may want to consider in your planning.

We also outline a model for making a balanced assessment of your options.

This guide is all about YOU!

One of our favourite maxims at Melo is that everybody exits – the only question is whether you’re bought out, pushed out or wheeled out!

We’re sorry if that sounds harsh; It’s true.

At some point, you will leave your business. And, if you’re able, you’ll want to take control of that process – because nothing causes stress like uncertainty and feeling out of control.

You’ll want to get on top of the many challenges to achieving a good exit, which means one that’s good for you, your team, and your clients.

Your buyers must be happy, too – if you’re to receive your earnout payments in full.

Earnout payments might account for 50% of the full price paid, but they are spread over a few years after the initial payment.

We guide our clients to achieve good exits and consider the needs of everyone involved in this process. 

Some business brokers focus on the gain for the buyer – because *they* are the people who pay them.

 We’re different – we’re paid by you – the seller – and what matters most to us is what matters to you.

So, let’s get into that now.

Part 1: Why do you want to exit your business?

In this first part of the guide, we’ll explore the many factors pushing advice business owners to consider an exit.

And we’ll point to the need to take control of this process to minimise stress and uncertainty.

We all know a good exit involves pleasing multiple stakeholders: yourself, your team, clients, and buyers.

However, across all business sectors, we know that a great many owners experience regret after selling.

So, let’s start right there.

How many business sellers exit happy?

How many business owners leave their business with a ‘high five’ to their team at the door?

Not many!

According to some business sale experts, when you look at small and medium-sized businesses across all sectors, around three-quarters of owners regret selling their business a year after the sale.

Three quarters!

For many, there’s some emotional pain in losing control of a business they’ve built and love.

Unless the owner continues working in the business after the sale, there is also the possibility of losing contact with the team.

Of course, with a good exit, there’s less emotional pain, and it soon fades.

But those pains can be extreme if the new owner ruins what you’ve built.

Apparently, across all sectors, most small business owners liquidate their firms, give them away or work until they die.

While more than 90% of sellers do not receive as much money as expected from the deal.

We think these are disastrous statistics, and thankfully, they’re nothing like ours!

More than 90% of Melo clients achieve a good exit at the first attempt.

And the number is nearer 100% when we include those who, for good reasons, need to enter a second round.

We’re told there are many reasons for this success, but perhaps the biggest reason is that the team at Melo are financial planners, too.

So, in line with Stephen Covey’s guidance (From ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People’), we begin with the end in mind.

We want to know what matters to you.

What do you want for your future?

And what’s got you thinking about an exit?

Are you looking to escape from this sector?

To be honest, we understand if you’d like to escape!

Yes, we love how financial planning transforms people’s lives  – both for the long term – and in the near term to insure them and their families from financial disasters.

But we can’t recall when so much regulatory pressure was applied to this sector at one time.

On top of your day-to-day business management and marketing – you’ve recently had to absorb and act on the following.

• More demanding rules around the treatment of vulnerable customers.
• A new Consumer Duty with four significant sets of demands around: Products and Services, Price and Value, Consumer Support and Consumer Understanding.
• A thematic review of the Retirement Income Advice market.
• The New Sustainable Investment disclosure requirements – to understand clients’ sustainability preferences and recommend suitable funds.
• A new Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SM&CR) with annual checks on the fitness and propriety of senior managers.
• An ongoing review into Consolidators of advice firms with the FCA already acting to stop business expansions where they see risks of consumer harm.
• The ongoing charges review and the need for complete evidence that proper ongoing services are delivered.

And that’s not an exhaustive list.

You must also now decide how to react to the new (potentially low-cost) targeted support services proposed in the FCA’s Advice Guidance Boundary Review – which signals the FCA’s determination to reduce the advice gap.

And that’s on top of all the other PESTL challenges around:

• Political change and the upheaval around new tax rules.
• Economic factors like stubborn inflation, higher risk-free rates and risks to asset prices.
• Societal and cultural factors – like demographics, mistrust of advisers among spouses and adult children of wealth holders, lifestyle changes, and consumer behaviour.
• Technological change – and the explosion of new, AI-powered tools that could transform the productivity of advice firms but require money and time for adoption and training.
• Legal changes since the 2024 election have added Day-One Unfair Dismissal Protection, Fire and and-Rehire Restrictions, Enhancements to Statutory Sick Pay, Flexible Working and more.

So, we really do get it.

The environment is hard for advice firms now.

And this hard environment has driven business buyers to demand more information from sellers upfront, too – making the exit process much harder than it was only two years ago.

What does all of this mean for you?

Well, we would say this, wouldn’t we…

But there’s no question that you need a strong team (on YOUR side) to help you navigate the many tripwires around your business sale.

To land a good exit for all the stakeholders, you need plans, documents, and data to show that your business is ready for sale.

And you’ll need help preparing all that – and smart pitch packs, finding buyers that could be a good ‘fit’ to your business culture and values – and to help you negotiate the best deal possible.

As Jim Collins said – in ‘Good to Great’:

“You are the bus driver.

YOU must decide where you’re going, how you’ll get there, and who’s going with you.

Most people assume that great business leaders start by announcing where they’re going—by setting a new direction or articulating a fresh corporate vision.

But leaders of companies that go from good to great start not with ‘where’ but ‘who.’

They start by getting the right people on the bus and in the right seats – and the wrong people off the bus!

And they stick with that discipline (first the people, then the direction) no matter how hard the circumstances.

In short, you need a very good team to enjoy a good exit.

You don’t want anyone hassling you to hurry a sale,  as some brokers do.

You need time (and sometimes years of it) to prepare your business for sale – to ensure your data is accurate and accessible, to understand the acquisition landscape, and to make any business process improvements that could significantly boost your business value.

We can certainly help with all of that – and more.

And while we understand if you’re stressed by any or all of the above, we urge you to avoid making a dash for the exit.

Rushing this process will only increase the risk that you’ll join the ranks of those who leave without the right money – and with other regrets.

Do you dream of doing something different?

Do you have another project to work on?

In an ideal world, your business will be on top of all the challenges outlined above.

And occasionally, we find such a business -though those cases are rare.

Still, every business owner surely wants to automate (and delegate) enough of their work to feel less need for an escape and have more time to focus on what they’ll do in the future.

So, what are your dreams for your next stage of life – after you exit your business?

This is the question that you and your advisors ask your clients every day, right?

But how much time do you set aside to consider that question fully?

How clear would you say YOU are on what you’d like to do later?

Do you see yourself staying close to financial planning – as an educator, trainer, writer or guide to others selling their business?

Or as a guide who works with families wrestling with the thorny and emotional issues of generational wealth transfers or perhaps to advise on mindful Philanthropy?

Or, perhaps, to quote Monty Python, you’re planning to do something completely different – like running a Vineyard or buying a business which restores vintage cars, sells antiques, manages big events.

Or maybe you’ll buy into and advise other growing businesses as an Angel Investor?

Or perhaps your dream is to open a beach bar on a Greek Island. 

There’s a vast range of options.

Perhaps you already have a special project – and just need more time to progress that.

Some business owners we meet are in that position as they move towards retirement age or an earlier exit from their business.

But many are not, and a full-stop retirement doesn’t always deliver everything everyone dreams of when they plan it.

What makes for a happy life in our later years?

Riley Moynes has some interesting ideas – based on his experiences and interviews with hundreds of retirees.

This former financial advisor suggests there are typically four phases of retirement:

First comes the Honeymoon Phase – a period of excitement and leisure activities.

Then, we hit a period of disenchantment in which we may become bored or depressed due to a loss of purpose.

Next (if we survive phase 2!), we reach what Riley calls the Reorientation Phase, in which we experiment with new activities and interests.

And finally we gain ‘stability’ as we establish a new routine and find long-term satisfaction.

It’s an interesting model, and Riley has a delightful way of explaining it, as you can see if you watch the video here.

That said, we’re not aware of any academic studies to suggest everyone goes through all of those phases.

Each of us is unique in how we react to life’s challenges, and, as you’ll know, it’s essential to remember our uniqueness – when considering our future life plans.

So, there are no golden rules about our golden years.

The formal research on happiness in retirement shows mixed results:

A Harvard Study found that socially connected retirees who find new sources of purpose are happier.

Another study dispelled the myth that we’re happier with a gradual (vs. abrupt) journey into retirement. (What matters more is whether the transition is chosen or forced)

And, while studies find that later years working boosts happiness, the outcome depends on whether we’re working for personal satisfaction rather than financial necessity.

In summary, for now, in terms of happiness after work, we know that maintaining social connections, finding new purposes, and feeling control over the retirement transition are all key factors.

So, it’s wise to discover the happiness challenges around stopping work before you do so.

Sadly, this is not what most people do – and many sleepwalk into this challenging period of life.

So, in part 2, we’ll explore why this happens.

We’ll see why we’re all terrible forecasters of what might make us happy in the future – and how we’ll react to significant life events.

We’ll also share two proven ideas for overcoming this classic planning trap.

And these might help your financial planners build closer relationships with your clients today.

Part 2: Why are we so hopeless at forecasting our futures?

The evidence is in.

We’re very poor forecasters of what will make us happy in the future.

Too often, we predict our future needs based on what we want today, and we’re influenced by the ‘end of history illusion’ – an extraordinary paradox we outline here.

You’ll also find two proven ways to overcome these planning traps – which could help your financial planners with their client work today.

What do you value most in life?

If you search ‘How to work out your values’, you’ll find nearly 3,000,000,000 results on Google!

Three thousand million!

We’re not sure how many of those pages offer wise guidance, but we all know it’s hard work to discover and describe our values.

So, we were pleased to find a new perspective on this challenge in the book ‘A Path Through the Jungle’ by Professor Steve Peters.

Peters is the author of Chimp Paradox, a Psychiatrist and was the Mind Coach to the British Olympic Cycling Team that won Eight gold medals at the 2012 Olympics in London.

And he says we should clearly distinguish between ‘what we value’ and our ‘values’ – which are more of a moral guide to our conduct.

We’ll probably only have a short list of values (as a moral compass) like these examples from Peters’ book.

• Respect for others.
• Justice and fair treatment.
• Loyalty.
• Compassion and kindness.
• Integrity.
• Respect for the uniqueness of each person.
• Equality without prejudice.
• Promotion of peace and goodwill.

Our values help us to know we’re doing the right thing. So, they give us peace of mind and inner strength in challenging situations.

Of course, it’s for each of us to develop our own set of values – which may be different to those listed above. And, as Peters has made clear (in this Diary of a CEO podcast), it’s wise to remember that not everyone adheres to that list!

Our ‘values’ are based on our personal judgements – which draw on our group and personal beliefs – and we generally only get a real sense of someone’s values from their actions.

Our moral values are quite different from the things we value, and Peters urges us to avoid muddling up these two lists.

The list of things we value could be significantly longer – and might include:

• Being accepted by others as a friend.
• Having enough time to spend with family and friends – and our partner if we have one.
• Being a supportive friend to all of those people.
• Our relationships (and the banter) at work.
• Giving our time or skills (or money) to help others.
• Being entertained  – with music, drama, books or sports.
• Entertaining ourselves with our hobbies and interests – and our work.
• Entertaining others!
• Achieving a state of calm and contentedness.
• Having a quiet and private space to find that calm!
• Having long breaks from work.
• Creating new (Physical, Intellectual or Artistic) things.
• Having good health.
• The good health of others – and our pets.
• Getting a lift from exercise or moments of awe in the natural world.
• Our special possessions and keepsakes/reminders of special times.
• Making a lovely home.
• Our skills and our knowledge.

And much, much more.

This list might include physical objects, works of art, valuable ideas, people, practices, habits and states of health and mind.

So, while it might be a long list, Peters says these are the things we believe will make us feel secure and happy, so it helps to know what they are – and give them some priority in our life now.

The challenge is to know what we might value in the future.

What will we want to have, become and do (or not do!) for ourselves and our loved ones 5 or 20 years from now?

These are the things that should inform our personal financial plan, of course, but research shows we’re particularly bad at forecasting what will make us happy in the future.

So, let’s explore this thinking challenge now – and outline some solution ideas.

What’s this forecasting problem all about?

Like many questions of Psychology, this is a big and complex area. So, we can only skim the surface here and recommend these books for further reading on this challenge of planning a happier future life.

The first is by Professor Dan Gilbert, a professor of psychology at Harvard University who is well known for his research into these areas.

The second is by Hal Hirshfield, a Marketing and Behavioural Decision Making Professor at UCLA and described by other academics as “one of today’s leading behavioural scientists”.

So, as we’ll see, our brains can let us down, but it’s worth remembering their immense power.

According to Gilbert, we humans are unique in our ability to think ahead in a more deliberate way than other animals using their instincts.

We can play thought experiments.

We can imagine futures that are different from today.

We don’t have to learn every life lesson through experience.

So, we don’t have to bang our thumb with a hammer to know that’s a bad idea.

So, yes, we can imagine – you just imagined doing that – didn’t you?

The problem is that our minds don’t pay attention to everything happening in front of us right now.

We don’t have an infinite memory capacity, so when we go on our mental time travels to the past – or to imagine the future – our views are often hazy.

It turns out that those views also depend on our moods – with low moods causing us to remember and predict more negative events.

Places and people’s faces are not well-defined in our mind’s eye.

So, we fill in the details with images and ideas that fit our story – and those details are often not a good reflection of what was (or will be) true.

The fact is that most of us are poor at forecasting how we’ll feel about change in the future. 

We might think we know the circumstances and events that will delight (or upset) us.

However, our predictions are often wildly wrong, and there are various reasons for this – including these three:

First, we’re generally quite adaptable and resilient. So, both positive and negative experiences have less of a lasting impact than we’d expect.

Second, we’re affected by something Psychologists call ‘The end of history illusion.’

The End of History Illusion!

The end of history illusion is a fascinating paradox.

It describes our tendency to recognise our significant personal growth and change over the past, say, 10 years – while not expecting that we will change much in the future!

Yes, go figure!

Studies show that those in their 30s and 40s are more susceptible to this illusion than those in their 50s and 60s – although most of us (from young adults to grandparents) are affected by this illusion to some extent.

We seem to regard the present moment (whenever it is!) as a watershed moment when we’ve finally become the person we will be for the rest of our lives!

It sounds like a silly view of life to adopt – but this is how we tend to think.

Why do we think like this?

We can’t be sure, but some Psychologists speculate that we evolved this outlook as a rational self-protection device.

Acknowledging the possibility that we’ll change significantly in the future may feel like a threat to our positive self-image and sense of stability.

So, it’s natural (albeit annoying when we see it in others!) that we feel confident and ‘complete’ as we are.

And this means alongside teenagers, we all need an occasional reminder that we will continue changing and growing into our futures.

The third reason we’re awful forecasters of our future happiness is that our imaginations are influenced by our current feelings – which draw on our current circumstances and beliefs.

We all know how this works.

If we’re hungry when grocery shopping, we buy far too much of the wrong types of food.

If we’re overworked now, we might dream of a life without work – which might suit some, but it does not make everyone happy.

If it did, why do we regularly see billionaires working into their 70s, 80s or 90s?

Similarly, our financial plans might go wrong if we base our future income needs on what we earn today.

This is an enormous challenge for high earners – where the approach can make escaping from work look horrendously expensive.

And this planning failure puts many young people off pension saving altogether.

So, we must take care when planning our futures – and try not to assume that what we’ll want in the future can be forecast by what we want today.

A great plan does not require us to work long days for decades before taking a big break.

We may not have the energy, health or inclination to do what we dream of doing now – when we’re 20 or 40 years older!

A “plan for tomorrow and live for today” approach makes much more sense – to us.

In the future, it’s unlikely that our happiness will depend on the success or otherwise of a plan we made 20 years ago.

We’re generally more resilient (and kind to ourselves) than that, especially when the going gets tough – and thank goodness we are.

We must remember that our forecast errors (based on what we want today) can cause us to overpay (in many ways) for our futures.

How can you overcome these forecasting challenges?

Some psychologists compare this struggle – to understand the needs and wants of our future selves – as being like talking to a stranger.

So, it might seem impossible, but there are two proven approaches to help.

Future planning trick 1: Exchange letters with your future self.

The first idea, outlined in Hershield’s book, is to write a letter to ask questions of our future self – to help us reflect on our long-term goals and values.

For example, we might ask:

• “What are you most proud of?”
• “What do you wish you had done differently?”
• “What are your biggest regrets?”
• “What brings you the most joy?”

These questions help us to consider the perspectives and needs of this future self stranger – and result in more thoughtful decisions in the present.

The exercise can also help reduce stress by giving us a broader perspective on our current challenges.

The aim is to develop a conversation with this stranger.

Yes, it sounds like an odd idea – but it’s proven to work. 

So, why not give it a try?

You could ask this other person what activities they plan to start, do more of, do less of or stop – now that they’ve sold their business.

Maybe your exchange of letters will reveal their desire to continue working, if only part-time, for many years.

Or maybe it will not.

You’ll only find out if you have that conversation – with your future self. 😉

Future planning trick 2: Get some neighbourly advice.

The second idea comes from Professor Dan Gilbert’s book, ‘Stumbling on Happiness’.

This is about talking with others who’ve been through the experience we’re heading into.

And Gilbert suggests that we pay particular attention to those in the thick of the change we’re heading towards.

Those who dealt with an event decades ago will remember less about those times – and any negative memories will have faded faster than the positive ones.

So, they may see that distant past through hazy and rose-tinted spectacles!

Now, if you’re thinking it sounds obvious to ask for experienced advice, we’d agree.

Whether we’re thinking about having children, starting a new career, leaving our job (or our partner) or heading into retirement – we all know we can learn from those who’ve been there and done it.

Or rather, you’d like to think so.

However, according to Gilbert’s research – very few of us do this obvious thing.

We get stuck with the assumption that what we’ll want in the future is what we want today.

What’s more, we assume that our reactions to future events will be unique to us personally.

So, we see little value in hearing about the experiences of others.

Of course, we are unique in multiple ways – but we’re similar in many ways, too.

For example, most of us share:

• A desire for freedom – in our speech and our actions.
• A desire for meaningful personal relationships.
• A desire to belong (and contribute) to a community that’s larger than us.
• A desire for purpose and meaning in our work.
• A desire to create and innovate through art and problem-solving.
• A desire for joy and happiness.
• A recognition that other emotions like sadness and fear are valuable, too.
• Some self-awareness  – to reflect and learn from our thoughts and feelings.
• An ability to grasp abstract concepts – to imagine, reason and plan – albeit imperfectly at times!
• Some core ‘values’ about the right and wrong ways to behave.

And we have hundreds more things in common as well.

Our challenge, as Gilbert points out, is that these similarities fascinate us less than our differences – which help us distinguish between friend and foe and Jack and Jill !

You can read the research about ‘The Surprising Power of Neighborly Advice’ (2009) here.

And if you’d like some of our ‘neighbourly advice’ (we’ve been there and done it – and regularly help others do the same) say ‘elo melo’.

Our contact details are at the end of this guide.

The market for selling advice firms is always shifting, and it has changed significantly in the last couple of years, largely due to regulatory changes and reviews.

At Melo, we live in this challenging market with our business owner clients daily.

So, we don’t wear the hazy and rose-tinted spectacles of those who exited a few years back when the market was easier.

Just sayin!

Now, in this next part of this guide, we’ll explore some key questions to help you design a work life that’s right for you.

Part 3: How will you design your future work life?

There are many complex factors to consider when selling a business.

And, at Melo, we can guide you through those when you’re ready to start.

The big challenge, as with all financial planning, is that we tend to delay starting the process – in part because we’re unsure about what we’ll do after we sell.

So, in this and the next part of this guide, we outline some questions and a model to help you build more certainty about that.

Can we offer you some golden rules for your future?

Not exactly – and, as this miner’s proverb says, once you have the gold from selling your business, you will make the rules! 

In any event, as you tell your financial planning clients daily, there are no golden rules about what’s right for your future.

What matters to you is unique to you – and each of us is unique in a great many ways.

For example, psychologists now suggest we have 25 or more facets to our personality alone. More on that shortly.

Beyond that, we each have our own unique sets of:

• Emotional styles (Resilience, Outlook, Social Intuition, Self-awareness, Sensitivity to Context and Ability to maintain attention)
• Attitudes – to every question under the sun – many of which come from our unique life history.
• Habits and hobbies.
• Fascinations and Motivations.
• Ideas that make us laugh.
• Circumstances: Physical, mental and financial.
• Looks and vocal accents.
• Educational attainments and other skills.
• Character strengths (Courage, Wisdom, Humanity, Justice, Temperance and Transcendence/Gratitude)
• Talent strengths
• Values and what we value – as explained in our previous post.

We may also have unique roles as family members and/or friends to various people in our unique groups and communities.

So, we don’t have any instructions for you—just invitations to explore some questions about redesigning your work life.

Some of these ideas come from our own experiences, but most draw on the experience and research of experts – in career counselling, life design and psychology.

You can learn more about all these subjects in these books.

Here, we offer twelve ideas and questions to consider on your life planning journey.

And, we’d love to know your thoughts on these – and any others you’d add to this list.

1. Are you looking for enough obstacles?

Most of us want to boost our chances of thriving in life – and reduce the risks of crises.

And relatively new research shows that a key to our success (in any life goal – from losing weight to passing exams or acquiring more clients) is to focus on the obstacles in our way.

The widely shared idea of visualising our future success (rather than the work required) does not tend to deliver good results.

Who knew?

Indeed, the evidence shows that the old ‘vision boarding’ game can make things worse for those who most need help.

S0, we need a better approach to our vital life projects, and Psychologist Gabrielle Oettingen has found one.

In her four-step (WOOP) thinking process, we’re encouraged to:

1. Start with a ‘Wish’ about what we want to change.
2. Think about the best ‘Outcome’ – and how we’ll feel when we achieve it. (The dreamy bit!)
3. Think harder about what ‘Obstacles’ could stop us from doing what’s necessary for that outcome.
4. Develop ‘Plans’ for our actions when those obstacles appear.

The ‘WOOP’ approach (which also works wonders in a financial planning context, by the way) turns traditional positive thinking on its head.

Here, we’re encouraged to look for (not avoid) obstacles on our projects – so we know what we’ll do when those obstacles crop up – as they surely will.

Of course, one obstacle might be our lack of expertise to explore our options on complex questions.

Questions like how to make a sound plan for selling your business—although you know we can help you with that!

And it’s worth noting that we need to feel capable (or supported) to feel comfortable to engage with complex challenges.

We need what psychologist Albert Bandura calls ‘self-efficacy’ – a belief in our ability to execute tasks successfully.

Without that sense of competence, we rely too heavily on the slippery asset of motivation – as BJ Fogg illustrates beautifully here.

So, keep the ‘WOOP’ process in mind as you review your business and life plans, and keep asking:

What are the obstacles to progress?

This may all sound utterly obvious, but the evidence (in Oettingen’s book) is clear.

We (and our clients) make much more progress when, after dreaming about completed goals, we immediately think hard about the obstacles to our progress.

2. Are you embracing your curiosity and re-framing questions?

Experts suggest there are broadly two types of design problems.

First, there are ‘Tame’ problems – where outcomes are predictable and repeatable.

Second, there are ‘Wicked’ problems – where the inputs and outcomes are far more unpredictable.

Designing a new machine or reconciling the numbers in our accounts is complex and gruelling work. But those challenges are tame compared to the wicked problem of satisfying our ever-changing human needs!

Too often, we assume a problem has only one solution—the first one that comes to mind.

It’s only natural. Our brain is an energy-saving device.

It prefers to think fast, not slow.

We grab for quick and simple answers even when we know the problem is hugely complex.

For example, when we want to escape from the grisly tasks associated with our jobs, we might assume the solution is to leave our jobs altogether.

It doesn’t always occur to us to step back and reframe this question – but of course, we could ask ourselves:

‘How could I remove some of the grizzly tasks from my work, so I can focus on the jobs I enjoy most?’

And at Melo, we focus on helping you to escape from the grisly aspects of your job.

After all, your business can’t be sold while it relies on YOU to do all those tasks!

3. Can you see your assumptions?

The pressure of work and our desire for quick answers also means we’re (sometimes) somewhat less than objective or open-minded!

So, occasionally, we hold on to a flawed belief – about an idea, person, group or institution.

And confirmation bias (which many psychologists describe as the mother of all behavioural biases) prevents us from seeing our flawed assumptions.

We favour information that reinforces our existing beliefs – and ignore or dismiss ideas that contradict them.

We’re human.

We also turn to quick answers (‘common sense’ maxims) for guidance on some of our most complex life challenges, such as re-planning our lives.

And looking for common sense answers can create all sorts of problems.

As Albert Einstein said,

Common sense is just the collection of prejudices we acquire by age eighteen!

Psychologist and Nobel Laureate Daniel Kahneman was also no fan of common sense.

In his book, ‘Thinking Fast and Slow’ Kahneman describes ‘common sense’ as being more about judging than thinking.

We make snap judgments on ideas based on whether they agree or disagree with our current beliefs. (Confirmation bias again)

The hard truth is that common-sense maxims can’t help us with complex problems about life, love or work – as these examples prove.

So, we all carry the odd unhelpful belief that leads us to make poor assumptions – like the perfectly natural belief that we can forecast what will make us happy – as outlined in the previous post.

We also acquire misleading beliefs from popular culture.

And, in relation to planning our work lives, one of the most popular beliefs is that you should always ‘follow your passion.’

The only problem is that there’s no evidence to support this ‘common sense’ assumption.

Professor Cal Newport has written a book and delivered a popular TED talk on this – and says the ‘follow your passion’ idea only got embedded into our Western World Psyche 20 years ago.

It started when a video clip of Steve Jobs telling graduates to follow their passion went viral online.

Ironically, Steve Jobs did not start with a passion for his work: his biographers say Apple was something he stumbled into.

Jobs only found his passion for computers after he became more skilled and successful.

Studies show that very few people have a passion relevant to their career choice.

And there’s no evidence that trying to match a pre-work inclination with an occupation leads to happiness.

Our passion grows as we get better at our work – and job satisfaction is more closely related to our intrinsic motivators – which we’ll look at now.

Of course, we may be passionate about various good causes.

And those passions may inform the kinds of projects we want to support – whether financially or through our efforts.

However, a passion for a good cause doesn’t tell us what type of work (or work environment) we might enjoy in the future. These are quite different questions.

4. Are you considering those *intrinsic* motivators?

Try it – they’re electrifying!

AMP: Electrifying?
Oh, never mind.

We spend most of our working lives being driven by external motivators.

We work to generate pay cheques and study for good exam grades, in part to grow those pay cheques or keep others happy. We also complete many tasks to avoid reprimands from bosses, regulators, and partners!

So, extrinsic motivators help us achieve various short-term goals – but, on their own, they don’t offer much long-term joy or a sense of personal growth.

On the other hand, Intrinsic motivators give us personal satisfaction and a sense of fulfilment – so they’re more sustaining.

The theory suggests we all have (to varying degrees) three intrinsic motivators:

First is Autonomy: our desire for control over our actions – including our freedom of speech.

In the work context, this means having (an appropriate) level of freedom to choose how we solve problems.

And unsurprisingly, this freedom tends to enhance our creativity.

Second is Mastery: our desire to become skilled – which drives our commitment to learning and development.

And third is Purpose: our desire for work that contributes to something more than our own needs – and of real value to the world. We’re more motivated by (and connected to) work aligned with what we value and our professional goals.

If we can find (or redesign) a work life with these three intrinsic motivators, we will likely be more engaged and enthusiastic—and, thus, more resilient to the challenges of this work-life transition.

5. What else does IDEAL work mean?

No assessment of an ideal work life is complete without this Venn diagram.

Popular among life coaches – this picture suggests we should pursue work which:

• We love.
• We’re good at.
• We can be paid for.
• Provides a service the world needs.

It’s a neat diagram and a wonderful ambition, for sure, but it’s hard to score well in those four circles consistently.

And, as we’ve seen, we’re unlikely to know if we’ll love a new role without trying it – and getting good at it.

So let’s be kind to ourselves when we’re not in that central zone. In the real world, that will be much of the time.

Also, be aware that this diagram is often (misleadingly) used to describe the Japanese concept of IKIGAI.

However, Ikigai is a very different and easier state to reach, and you can learn what it means here – if it interests you.

In short, Ikigai is about:

• Starting small.
• Releasing ourselves.
• Harmony and sustainability.
• Finding joy in little things – not impossibly hard goals.
• Paying attention to the here and now.

All of which have been proven to be drivers of happiness.

So, be careful with this Venn diagram. It illustrates an ideal and doesn’t apply to those who have made (or will make) enough money to:

• Undertake unpaid work for a charitable cause.
• Do unpaid work (for a while – like writing a book) to acquire a new set of skills.

6. Have you reviewed your skills needs – for your future work life? 

If you’re exploring a completely NEW work-life direction after selling your business, then books like ‘What Colour is Your Parachute’ by Richard Bolles or “How to Get a Job You Love”, by John Lees are worth a read.

John Lees, one of the UK’s most respected career counsellors, identifies five skill categories to help us explore our work strengths – including:

• People Skills: Interpersonal abilities, such as communication, compassion and teamwork.
• Information Skills: gathering, analysing, and using information effectively.
• Skills with Things: Practical skills involving equipment, tools, or physical tasks.
• Enterprise Skills: Leadership and project initiation, direction and management.
• Concepts and Ideas: Skills related to creativity, strategic thinking, and problem-solving.

Richard Bolles’s book includes the famous Flower Petal Exercise – another self-assessment tool designed to help us identify our career objectives and life goals.

Painting the flower picture helps us reflect on our personal needs from work, including:

• The values and skills of the people we enjoy working with.
• The firm’s size and culture.
• The working conditions, hours, and organisational structure.
• The transferable skills we can apply – and acquire.
• The specific knowledge areas that interest us.
• Our desire for leadership responsibility.
• Income and other benefits.

These books (and John Lees’s skill card set) can help anyone navigate a work-life transition.

More importantly, they can help us all explore our motivated skills, the type of work that gives us the most satisfaction.

This self-awareness is crucial whether we’re exploring a future of employed work or one where we design a new business.

It also helps us to uncover any further training or coaching needs.

7. Have you explored your personality recently?

There are various personality self-assessment tools available, but we suggest you explore one based on the OCEAN model of personality.

The word ‘OCEAN’ is a mnemonic for remembering the traits of:

1. Openness
2. Conscientiousness
3. Extraversion
4. Agreeableness
5. Neuroticism (emotionality – in plain English)

Professional psychologists recognise the OCEAN model as valid because it’s backed by extensive research, offers a more detailed assessment of our personality, and measures traits on a continuum—unlike the MBTI, for example, which ignores any spectrum of differences.

Various teams of psychologists have developed expanded versions of this OCEAN (aka BIG 5) assessment to offer deeper insights into our personalities. 

For example, the HEXACO Personality Inventory (HEXACO PI) includes a sixth dimension of honesty and humility.

Despite the big name change (from OCEAN), the HEXACO model is similar.

The Psychologists swapped the ‘E’ for an ‘X’ for eXtroversion and replaced the ‘N’ for ‘Neuroticism’ with an ‘E’ for ‘Emotionality’ because that word is more readily understood.

The HEXACO model unpacks each of the main traits into four facets – as shown here:

1. Honesty-Humility: Sincerity, Fairness, Greed-Avoidance and Modesty.
2. Emotionality: Fearfulness, Anxiety, Dependence and Sentimentality.
3. eXtroversion: Social Self-Esteem, Social Boldness, Sociability and Liveliness.
4. Agreeableness: Forgivingness, Gentleness, Flexibility, Patience.
5. Conscientiousness: Organization, Diligence, Perfectionism and Prudence.
6. Openness to Experience: Aesthetic Appreciation, Inquisitiveness, Creativity, Unconventionality.

The model also has altruism as a standalone facet to give a 25-point scale

You can take the HEXACO PI here for FREE.

If you plot your scores on a chart, you’ll get something like this – which we’ve plotted for an imaginary person called ‘Sam’.

Why would we look at our personality in such detail?

Well, look at the Green line of Sam’s scores compared to the median of those who took this assessment.

Clearly, it could help Sam to be aware of their tendencies to be highly socially bold while less than gentle in their communications with others.

You can read the fascinating scale descriptions for the HEXACO PI here. 

Please note:

These self-assessment tools are designed to help us understand ourselves – so we don’t need to tell anyone else our scores.

That said, it can be enormous fun to share these insights with trusted friends and family members. And it can help us build and maintain bonds of mutual understanding.

Most importantly, be aware that there are no good or bad test scores.

The value is in seeing how we differ from each other (and from the ‘average’ person) on these (agreed-upon) facets of personality.

Our scores can also offer valuable Insights into the type of work and environments in which we might thrive.

For example, someone like Sam, who has a low score on the ‘Sociability’ trait, may not thrive in highly social environments, such as open offices.

Conversely, you may do better in such offices if you have a high ‘Sociability’ score.

Just be aware that simpler (binary output) personality models (like MBTI), which, for example, label us as either extroverts or Introverts, are unhelpful.

Sound models, like HEXACO, give scores on a scale for each of our traits.

And then there are Ambiverts!

Fascinatingly, it’s also estimated that around half of all people switch between introverted and extroverted states in different situations.

And those who do are described as Ambiverts!

What’s more, research shows that such people have a significant advantage in sales roles.

You can read this research by Professor Adam Grant here. 

It could be extremely useful for your recruitment thinking too.

8. Have you identified your personal needs from your future work life?

Our suitability for future work roles is one thing.

Our motivated skills and those Intrinsic motivators are quite another – so it’s vital to consider these in your plan.

It also helps to highlight the gaps between what you believe you need from work and what you have now.

At Melo, our ‘Exit Readiness Report’ and ‘Business Effectiveness Review’ services help you identify sales readiness and business process gaps.

The idea is simple – to help you find the right buyer and secure the right terms for yourself, your team, and your clients.

It’s only natural, then, that we’d urge you to take a similar (gap analysis) approach to assess your personal needs from any work you might do in the future.

A personally focused exercise may also help you prioritise business process improvements to make your work life easier in the short term.

And in the next (and final) post in this series, we’ll outline this work-needs assessment tool.

9. Are you exploring several different futures?

Another myth/assumption to avoid (highlighted in the book Designing Your Life) is that there is only ONE best version of YOU.

Physicists might argue about whether we live in one of many parallel universes, but there is no doubt that there are many possible work roads we can follow.

And we can add value and find happiness in many of them.

So, it’s best not to get too hung up about finding the one perfect version of you.

We just need intrinsically motivating work that meets most of our needs most of the time.

That said, research (from Professor Dan Schwartz at Stanford) also suggests that we benefit enormously from starting our new work-life exploration with three ideas rather than one.

It turns out that having several possible roads to travel results in more and better final solutions.

If we start with just one idea, we tend to refine it (over and over) and miss out on potential innovations.

The key, however, is to start with, say, three viable options.

There’s no point in listing a crazy plan B and an impossible plan C – to make plan A the only one we take seriously.

So, the expert advice is broadly as follows:

Your plan A might be what you already have in mind. Perhaps it’s what you’re already doing – but with more of the work you enjoy and less of the stuff you don’t!

Plan B might be the work you’d consider if Plan A were no longer available – perhaps because of regulatory or technological (e.g. A.I. driven) disruption to your market.

Then there’s Plan C, which might be more of a wild card.

It’s something you’d do if money were no object, which it might not be in the future.

And for ideas on Plan C – you might want to consider some career aspirations you had in the past which became roads not taken.

We love this poem – don’t you? 

Are any of those ‘roads not taken’ roles still available (and of interest) to you, now?

Do you have the knowledge and skills to move directly into one of those roles – or will you need to develop them?

You may not find a specific role in the ‘road not taken’ exercise… but it may offer clues to what you really want from your future work life.

10. Are you planning to try before you buy?

Ultimately, aside from luck (which contributes significantly to some endeavours), we agree with Da Vinci.

We’re impressed by the urgency of doing things – and trying things out.

Career counsellor John Lees seems to agree, pointing out that many successful career transitions are’ Inside Jobs.’

The applicant is already ‘inside’ or connected to their new employer before the job opens up.

This may mean they’re working as an ‘experienced intern’ or are well-known to the firm’s key people.

So, the suggestion, once we’ve listed a few work lives that interest us, we explore them in one of two ways:

First, through conversations with those currently doing that work, which, as noted earlier, also helps us avoid the bad forecasting trap.

Second, we can invest some time in the new role or observe others do it to test our assumptions about what’s involved and whether we’d enjoy it.

11. Could you remove some of the gravity problems?

Considering all the questions above, you may have encountered one or two ‘gravity’ problems.

These are the things you cannot change – and must work around.

Just remember to re-frame (one of our favourite games!) these gravity problems – to test how stuck you are with them.

For example, our personality is not a gravity problem.

Psychologists do not describe low or high scores on a (sound) personality assessment as strengths or weaknesses.

Introversion, for example, is not a weakness in business and is now more widely understood as a strength.

Quieter, more focused people are essential for dealing with complex business challenges.

They also tend to stick longer at the deep work necessary to develop outstanding pieces of work.

That’s not to say that extroversion is a disadvantage: it’s certainly not in other regards.

This is just an example of a gravity problem assumption worth testing.

Also, the evidence (from Albert Bandura) shows that we engage more in challenging tasks when we learn more about what’s involved.

So, talking with others (who’ve been down the road you’re travelling) is a great way to check if your challenges are more solvable than you think.

And the same applies to your financial planning clients, of course.

You’ll have met many clients who assumed their tax challenges were a gravity problem – until they obtained your advice.

Are we right?

So, please test the boundaries of your gravity problems – to see what more is within your control.

12. Are you committed to deciding what you’ll do?

In his book, ‘Happiness by Design’, Paul Dolan (Professor of Behavioural Science at the London School of Economics) suggests we’re happier when we’re Deciding, Designing and Doing.

Yes, we’ve suggested starting your future work-life exploration with some options – but there are enormous benefits to committing to one option before too long!

Research suggests that keeping our options open for too long is a bad idea.

Harvard Psychologist Dan Gilbert (in his book, ‘Stumbling on Happiness’) points to a study with participants asked to choose one painting (from a selection) to take home and keep.

One group was told they could later change their minds and swap the painting for another.

A second group was told they could not change their minds, and this group reported being happier with their choice.

Once we decide on (or only have) one option, we can get more comfortable with what we have.

Studies also show (unsurprisingly) that holding onto multiple options undermines our working memory (and ability to focus on other projects) as we keep churning over our options.

And some people get caught in an optionality trap, habitually collecting options, avoiding decisions, and missing opportunities.

In short, while having choices seems to offer more security, it can lead to paralysis by analysis, which ultimately hinders our progress.

At the heart of all this is the tension between our desire to be free to choose (one of our intrinsic motivators) and the problems that come with too much choice.

You can also learn about the wider societal issues related to this in this TED talk by psychologist Barry Schwartz, author of The Paradox of Choice. 

Of course, no work-life choice is forever. Ultimately, our work choices can be changed, if not always reversed.

But it does help us make decisions and commit to them if we work hard in the work-life design phase.

So, that’s what we’ll explore in the last part of this guide.

Part 4: What do you want from your future work life?

In this final part of this guide, we’ll list twelve features of work you may want to consider in your planning.

We’ll also offer you a way to assess your options with a simple model – which you can also use to assess any gaps in what you get from your work now.

So, even if you don’t plan to work after selling your business, it might help you focus on business improvements to make your life easier in the near term.

Why would we highlight our happiness gaps?

Intuitively, we all know a good gap analysis can be motivating.

We take this approach in financial planning.

We ask potential clients what money they’d like in retirement or to leave to a dependent partner with young children – in the event of an untimely death, injury or illness.

We also create some modest discomfort by showing the client how much money they’re (currently) on track to have in retirement or to leave to their loved ones.

This approach tends to focus the client’s attention, and we suggest you take a similar approach when planning your future work life.

Of course, this is less about money and more about other factors – which we’ll explore in a moment.

First, to understand why this works, we need to explore the drivers of happiness and the value of moderate unhappiness in our motivation.

And thankfully, we have some GREAT resources on which to draw.

Action for Happiness’ created this GREAT DREAM mnemonic for remembering the ten keys to happier living.

Action for Happiness (founded by Professor Richard Layard with the Dalai Lama as Patron) is a ‘movement’ of more than 700,000 people from 200 countries who want to take action to create a happier and kinder world. And they offer practical, evidence-based skills for happier living.

Their ten keys to happier living are:

• Giving – doing kind things for others.
• Relating – connecting with people.
• Exercising – and generally taking care of our bodies.
• Attention – paying it and being aware of how we respond to various situations.
• Trying things out – to feed our desire for learning and adventure.
• Direction – having goals to look forward to.
• Resilience – finding ways to bounce back.
• Emotions – enjoying the positives and reframing/learning from more challenging emotions.
• Acceptance – being comfortable with ourselves and others.
• Meaning – having roles that align to our values – and what we value.

Of course, each of us finds happiness in a different combination of these drivers, and that mix varies over time and in different contexts.

We’d also add the experience of ‘Awe’ to this list.

Awe is a relatively new area of research for Psychologists, which is surprising given that we’ve known about ‘awe-inspiring’ experiences for thousands of years.

We’re in Awe when we connect to something wonderful and in some way greater than ourselves – be it a place, person or thing.

Awe – which can come from both grand and small sources – ignites our curiosity and can, therefore, be hugely inspiring.

Think how you’d feel standing at the top of a snow-capped alpine landscape or walking in the Scottish Highlands, Welsh Snowdonia, Yorkshire Dales or even the more modest hills of the Cotswolds.

We also experience Awe when we look closely at a bumble bee harvesting nectar from flowers.

Or when we watch a skilled craftsperson, musician, or professional speaker at work.

So, there are many sources of ‘Awe’ – but it’s only one source of our happiness.

At a high level, however, there’s a deceptively simple way to understand happiness – based on years of research by Manel Baucells and Rakesh Sarin – as outlined in their book, ‘Engineering Happiness.’

Happiness = reality minus expectations.

All else equal, we’re generally happier (about an experience) when there’s a positive gap between our (perceived) reality and our expectations.

The Engineering Happiness book offers many more nuanced insights, but we’ll focus on two relevant to our work-life planning exercise.

First, we’re unlikely to be happy if we constantly elevate our expectations above our reality.

So, one way to be happier is to lower our expectations. And, in part, this explains the happy smiling faces in many poor countries where (by our Western standards) we might think people have little to be happy about.

Second, we can achieve more when we see the value in (rather than avoiding) the discomfort of falling short of our expectations.

In the study, Motivating Personal Growth by Seeking Discomfort (2022), Psychologists showed that we boost our motivation when we see the discomfort of falling short as a signal of growth.

And that’s more fun than getting upset (or catastrophising) about the awkward feelings that come with setbacks.

Where does the magic happen?

There is, of course, a line between productive discomfort and stress.

We do well to avoid setting goals too far above our current reality.

The ‘A’ in SMART goals stands for ‘attainable’. So, small steps are good – we can’t build Rome in a day!

Now, let’s build that simple tool for assessing your future work-life options.

The visual outputs from this exercise may nudge you to make more of the magic happen!

And you may find three uses for this tool. 

First, it should help you assess which of your possible future work lives might provide enough of what you really want.

Almost no work role scores 5 out of 5 on every count!

Second, it will help you assess what you’re getting from work now. And any gaps you find might spur you to automate and delegate tasks that drain your days of fun.

Third, you could invite some or all of your team members to build their version of this tool and discuss their discoveries with you – which may help you spot any ‘irritations’ before they become a crisis.

There are just two steps for building this tool:

1. List everything you might want from your future work life.
2. Score each of your ‘wants’ according to how much they matter to you.

Step 1:  List what you want from your future work life

Stephen Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, says we need to start with the end in mind.

However, in this case, there are many ends to consider – and, at this stage, you’re not committing to or even thinking about any particular role.

You’re just listing what you want from your future work life and setting limits on what that work can demand of you.

To be clear, you must draft your personal list of ‘wants’ from work – which may be longer or shorter than our 12-factor list below.

The weight you give to each factor will also be unique to you – and depend on your priorities, circumstances, skills, and attitudes, as well as the weights you give to other factors.

So, many of these factors are interdependent – making this a truly wicked problem to solve.

Now, here’s our starter list of 12 things you might want from your future work life. 

Just add, delete or change the definitions of these factors as you wish. 

Factor #1: Purpose and Meaning

‘Purpose’ is one of our three intrinsic motivators – the other two are Autonomy and Mastery.

Purpose is about helping others, or, as Psychologist Scott Geller says, it’s about community.

Most of us want to contribute to the well-being of others, whether that’s our clients or the wider world.

If you’re exploring new types of purposeful work, the UN’s sustainable goals may prompt project ideas, but let’s remember:

• There’s a difference between the causes we’re passionate about and the types of work we might want to do.
• Various types of financial well-being work (coaching, education, planning, or advice) help people with their health, well-being, and confidence.
• Most financial businesses serve a useful purpose. We’re just not good at communicating this to the public!

‘Meaningful’ and ‘Purposeful’ are terms often used interchangeably, but you may wish to have a separate factor for each in your list.

What’s the difference?

Work that’s (personally) meaningful aligns with what you value and gives you personal satisfaction.

Purposeful work, by contrast, contributes positively to society and has specific goals – driven by a vision and mission.

You may want both in your work life and must, therefore, decide how much each factor matters to you.

#2: Autonomy

Autonomy (or freedom) is another intrinsic motivator – and key to our long-term well-being.

You may enjoy a high degree of freedom in how you approach your work now – and you might want to retain that level of freedom in any future work you do.

Of course, you may need to trade some of that freedom (initially) if you want to train in a new area of work.

Financial Advice is regulated, but so are many professions.

#3: Team Quality

A big factor for some in considering a new work life is a desire to work with a high-quality team – of experienced and qualified professionals who share our values.

Such teams are great for continued learning and growth.

So, whether your future work life is employed or you start a new business, you must decide on the value of working with a high-quality team. 

And it helps to be specific about what that means.

#4: Sociability and Support

Research shows that close human relationships are the biggest driver of our happiness.

And for the evidence on this, listen to Psychiatrist Robert Waldinger here.

He is the current Director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development, the world’s longest-running study of human happiness, which started more than 80 years ago!

This is not to say we must rely on our work environments for supportive human connections, but many people value the sociability and camaraderie of shared office work.

And ‘in-person’ contact is generally more valuable than an occasional online meeting.

This is about being accepted as part of a team, having opportunities to listen to and support others, and receiving some support in return.

We don’t assume everyone puts equal value on the social support of their workplace.

Our need for it, if any, depends on our personality and other factors.

You just need to decide if this is important for your future work life.

#5: Mastery

We don’t know if Elephants genuinely never forget, but we know their work is less complex and regulated than ours!

We must stay abreast of constantly changing tax and investment landscapes, and our knowledge of these (sometimes dull) topics can fade if we don’t deal with them regularly.

Perhaps this won’t matter to you in the future.

However, more broadly, we know that mastery is another intrinsic motivator. So, whether in Financial Planning or other domains, we know many people like to gain (or maintain) their knowledge and skills.

The question is whether ‘Mastery’ is on your shopping list.

Do you want the chance to use and develop your existing skills or new skills for the rapidly changing world of work?

Either way, it may fascinate you to review your skill set – because it probably includes a good mix of:

• Motivated skills: those you love and look forward to using but, perhaps, don’t get the chance to use as often as you’d like.
• Power skills: relating to teamwork, communications, innovation and collaboration – which take a long time to build – and are not about to be replaced by AI.
• Wallpaper skills: which you use every day and take for granted.
• Uncelebrated skills: which you regularly use when outside of your work – but few people know about.
• Unexplored skills, like writing, which you may have always wanted more time to develop.
• Imagined skills: those you admire in others – and would like time to explore.

Revealing these skills is a great team-building exercise for your current team, too!

So, you might want to include ‘mastery’ (in some form) in your list of future work goals.

Just be sure to define it in your own words – and think about which of those (underused, undervalued and unexplored) skills you might want to master.

You never know what work-life ideas might occur to you when you do.

#6: Solitude

According to Professor Cal Newport, long spells of quiet time alone are essential for doing deep work.

To be clear, Solitude, in a work sense, is not about being lonely—it’s about enjoying proper, distraction-free time (social media absent) so we can focus on solving problems and creating innovative works.

Having time alone with our thoughts helps us to refine complex ideas.

And, as we all know, we often have our best ideas during these quiet times – which may be at our desk, on a walk or while dozing in bed.

The need is for undistracted time – where we’re not pretending to multitask!

Of course, desk-based deep work (where creative outputs are required!) can be exhausting if it’s not your cup of tea.

And it’s hard to mix with a full-time client-facing role if that’s your preference.

The question is whether YOU want lots of solo time (to do deep work) built into your new work life.

#7: Creative opportunities

There’s much to like about creative and problem-solving work… if you have enough quiet time!

This type of work helps us develop and maintain our cognitive flexibility – and gives us a sense of achievement.

It triggers our brain’s reward system to release dopamine (a feel-good chemical), which reminds us to repeat those actions.

So, creative work can lead to an upward spiral of positive feelings. And, ideally, you’ll have some opportunities for it in your future work life.

Perhaps you’ll get to:

• Create (or have input to) client communications – or educational content.
• Develop new products or service propositions.
• Design the detailed processes that enable those services and make everyone’s life easier.

Alternatively, you may prefer to direct these projects – and have others attend to the details.

Or perhaps you’ll get all the creative activity you want outside of work – with music, dance, art or cooking…

Or by writing a blog to share your valuable ideas – which might lead to you writing a book.

Either way, we urge you to think about whether creative opportunities at work are important to you.

#8: Writing that book! 

Don’t you love this advice – about the type of work to pursue – given to Indira Gandhi by her grandfather?

And yes, there are many unsung heroes in the world of work.

Those who give a lifetime of effort and brilliant Insights but receive little or no public (or business) recognition.

It might seem that many are OK with that – they know this is how it goes!

However, some want to share their ideas with the wider world – and if that’s you, factor this into your ideas about future roles or business ventures.

Establishing a personal brand for your business offers enormous potential benefits, but there are risks (to you and any future fellow shareholders) if you get this wrong.

You may find it frustrating, for example, if your future work situation restricts your ability to express all your ideas in a book.

Of course, there are risks to publishing our ideas – which we can’t cover in detail here, except to say:

• Writing and publishing a book requires a huge commitment in time and effort – unless you engage a ‘Ghostwriter.’
• Going public with (publishing) our work creates pressure for high standards – which is stressful.
• The market is crowded with books – so it’s hard to stand out and get traction.

Also, be aware that few non-fiction books sell in large numbers – although that’s no problem if your book is your ideas shop window (a calling card for your business) which it is for many.

On the upside, there are many benefits to building a personal brand.

Aside from the boost to self-esteem, a good book can:

• Establish you as an authority in your field
• Serve as the ultimate marketing tool for attracting new clients and professional connections.
• Provide you with all the valuable content you’ll ever need for your marketing.
• Help you to secure public speaking engagements – if those interest you. Books sold in bulk for those events offer a good source of income, too.

For now, note whether publishing your ideas is an important dimension of your future work life.

If it is, start talking to some (proven) suppliers who help entrepreneurs and experts to write and launch books.

You’ll need guidance and support around idea development, book structuring, writing, editing, formatting, illustrating, print and digital publishing options, and marketing.

And it’s essential to plan all of that.

#9: Control or Influence

Will you want control or influence over the core aspects of how your future workplace is run?

Do you want to be the person responsible for (or be consulted on) the services you offer and your pricing and communications?

Some business owners like to retain control over these things in subsequent work roles, while others are keen to escape from those responsibilities and the stress that comes with them.

So, how important will it be to have control/influence over the core business in your future workplace?

#10: Commuting time

Will the location of your future place of work be an important factor for you?

When you’re not out seeing clients, for example, will you want to work from home – or be based at your new firm’s office?

Also, what commuting time would you be happy with? And, if that’s a problem, would you move home to be nearer your new workplace?

These may sound like trivial points, but we know that lengthy and regular commutes are an irritation (or ‘no-go’) issue for many professionals today.

So, it’s worth defining your ideal commuting time – between zero and an upper limit.

#11: Working time

The hours you’ll work each week (and the years of work you’re happy to commit) may also be a big factor in deciding which type of role or ventures you engage with – after selling your business.

Perhaps you’re happy to work long hours for many years to come.

But you know that excessive hours are unproductive and stressful – and they pose risks to our health and family relationships.

So, when considering your new work life, note your preference and limits for weekly working hours, including time for commuting and other travel. 

Also, think hard about how many years (health permitting) you’ll be happy to commit to a new role or business venture.

#12: Income and capital potential

Will it be important to earn income as soon as you start a new work life?

Either way, what income potential (between zero and lots) would be acceptable? 

The answers to these questions may depend on how much capital you realise from the sale of your business – and the answers to your other factors in this exercise.

Remember, you may need to trade a high immediate income for a lean period if you want a new work life (which requires training) or plan to start a new business.

Shares in the business?

If you’re not retaining a shareholding in the business you’re selling (or in your acquirer), you may want to start a new business or invest in one.

It’s a good way to leverage your knowledge and enjoy another (hopefully profitable) entrepreneurial journey, and it can be highly tax-efficient. 

Conversely, when you have a life-changing sum of money, you may prefer a more diversified (sleep easy) portfolio for more predictable returns.

You may also be less than enthusiastic about the significant time and effort required to start (or grow) another business.

As we’ve said, it’s difficult to know how we’ll feel about major life events long before they occur – so we’re happy to discuss our experiences of the serial entrepreneur’s journey.

In short, it’s ideal for some but not right for everyone. And ideas that don’t feel right when you’re selling may feel perfect when you’ve had time to reflect.

Of course, you’ll know that waiting too long to reinvest after your sale risks losing certain tax breaks. And it’s vital to take sound tax advice on that.

Ready to complete step one?

We hope those 12 sections helped you consider what you might want from any future work life.

Just remember, your list may be quite different from our starter list here. So, please add, delete, or change those factors as you build a table with your personal definitions.

Like this one, we’ve prepared for Sam, an imaginary business owner. 

Step 2. Weight what matters to you

The next step is to apply weights to your wants in the table above.

And to keep this simple, we suggest you use a 1 => 5 scale.

• Place a score of 5 next to those factors you consider as your ‘must haves’
• Score 3 on those items you’d ‘like to have’.
• Score 1 on those items which, on reflection, don’t matter that much to you.

Then, score 2 or 4 for factors that sit between those weightings.

For example, here’s what Sam’s factors look like as a bar chart.

As you can see, Sam considers that most of these factors will be important in their new work life.

However, Sam feels little need for the ‘Social side’ of office life and doesn’t expect to be concerned about generating an immediate high income or holding shares in a business after selling their own.

What interests Sam is having more freedom and time to spend on creative works – and gaining recognition for their ideas.

Sam is keen to write a book and become established as a thought leader.

Step 3: Assess your future work-life ideas

You can now use your work-wants table to assess any future work-life ideas that occur to you.

Add a column for each work-life idea – then score that idea against each of your priority factors.

This should give you a clear view of which work-life options offer an acceptable balance of benefits.

No single work life will be perfect – it’s all about the trade-offs between the benefits of each.

And we know it’s hard to assess options where you’re unfamiliar with the work. So, plan to talk (in depth) to others who are already successful in those roles.

What is your table telling you now?

Is your assumed future work-life the same as before doing this exercise?

Is a return to financial planning work one of your options?

It is for many advice business owners who sell up – and this exercise may have confirmed that choice.

After all, there is much to like about financial planning if you’re qualified and love helping clients achieve more with their money.

And remember, building trusting relationships is a happiness driver, too.

Financial planning work also keeps us on our technical toes around tax, pension and investment questions – and helps us maintain our communication and negotiation skills.

Of course, expectations from regulators and consumers only ever seem to rise.

Dealing with clients’ financial anxieties can also be an emotional strain – as can the intrusion on family time if we have too many clients wanting face-to-face meetings at distant locations.

Either way, if financial planning is your preferred future work option, consider what you’d change compared to what you do now – or did before.

Perhaps you’d like to work with fewer (or more) clients of different ages and wealth profiles.

Maybe you’d like to focus on basic advice… or specialise more.

Or perhaps you’d like to move away from regulated advice – to focus on the planning.

There are many choices now.

Are you open to other types of work?

Besides financial planning, there are many roles which could leverage your expertise in Financial Services – including:

• Coaching or training new financial adviser recruits.
• Recruiting – perhaps specialising in financial adviser roles, other specialists or executive positions.
• Consultancy services in Marketing and proposition development, Project Management, Business Development, Compliance, Organisational development, Investment and Advice Platforms – and more.

You could also offer financial education/coaching services directly to consumers, perhaps with the support of employers.

Or you could consider other roles or ventures completely outside personal finance.

How is your work life today?

We don’t believe it’s ever too soon to start thinking about what you’ll do after selling your business.

However, there’s an immediate and valuable use for this table – to assess how you’re doing today – against what you really want from your work.

The bar chart shows Sam’s (somewhat depressing) assessment of their current work life – and they’re not alone.

Many business owners we meet regularly undertake some grisly (administrative) tasks that undermine their general enjoyment of work – and leave them with little to no quiet time for creative work.

It’s, therefore, essential to document processes for administrative tasks, automating or enabling others to complete them without your involvement.

And your business is not sellable until you do.

The good news is that we can help you identify and automate those tasks so you can spend more time on what you enjoy.

Just ask about our ‘Business Process Review’ service – to learn more about that.

Want to talk?

In this guide, we’ve focussed on your personal needs.

We’ve acknowledged the issues that might be pushing you to sell your business – and outlined ways of thinking about a more attractive future work life if you want one.

You know there are many planning (and behavioural bias) traps on this journey – and we’ve reminded you of some of those here.

If you need more help in this area, we urge you to find someone who:

• Can listen – without hurry or judgment to help you explore your ideas.
• Will encourage you to step (a little) out of your comfort zone.
• Offers clear, unbiased insights into your challenges.
• Has travelled this road for themselves.

You know Melo is on your side.

We walk with you (as Camus suggests!) because we’re employed by you, not by a buyer, which means your interests are paramount to us.

So, if you’d like to talk about any issue raised in this guide or learn how (through our Business Effectiveness Review), we could help you find more time to do more of what you want today…

Drop us a line at hello@melo.co.uk or call us on 0113 4656 111.

We’d love to hear from you.