In October last year we took part in a ‘values challenge’, as part of an inspiring event organised by Ramsay Patterson. We were encouraged to choose just one of our organisation’s values and think about how that value could be better embedded on our organisational culture, then decide on one step to take to help make a change. The challenge was brilliantly useful at sparking new thoughts and ideas in all sorts of areas, as well as re-enforcing some of the actions and practice

It seems like only a few days ago that we were preparing for the Christmas break and thinking ahead to plans for the new year, but here we are in March already. I haven’t been writing the blog as regularly as I had intended because we have had a busy start to the year and client work has had to take priority. We have also been making efforts to improve our internal process and support systems to ensure that, as we grow, we continue to be able to deliver the levels of service

When I founded Find Peace of Mind 12 years ago I was starting from scratch. I already had a few years’ experience as an Independent Financial Adviser but no start-up capital and certainly no marketing budget. I chose a career in financial planning because of my negative first experience of the industry. I wanted to deliver a more positive and empowering experience for others so the company name came fairly naturally. It described what I wanted to help my clients to do. When i

The word ‘ignorance’ has been prevalent in recent days to describe the lack of appreciation of the consequences of our actions. Be it the treatment of the true meaning of Easter by The National Trust and Tesco’s; or the failure to apply basic human decency to a passenger by United Airlines, there will always be an outcome, intended or otherwise if we show or apply ignorance in what we do or the decisions we make. As my wife and I stood, by pure coincidence, in the Plaza Mayor

As I sit down to type this, our very own business strategy adviser Ray (AKA Dad to me) is in Norway preparing to undertake the Red Bull Ragnarok 2017. The Ragnarock is an endurance snow-kite race, its name is taken from an epic battle depicted in Norse mythology, where only the heroes of the battlefield survive, just as only the toughest of riders will complete the required five laps of the gruelling 15-20km course using only a kite and skis or a snowboard. At almost 63 Ray w

It’s Sunday and it’s mother’s day, if ever I had an excuse to laze about in bed then today was the day. But instead I woke up early, keen to get going, motivated about the day ahead and what progress I could make. I managed to sneak downstairs without waking my children and set to work reviewing the first draft of my book with a nice cup of tea. Having secured my first ‘test reader’ yesterday (eeek!) I have renewed incentive to maintain progress. I’m on a mission to connect p

The fun and festivities of Christmas give most of us a break from the routines that occupy our daily lives. Before we get too far absorbed back in to the daily grind, the new year presents an ideal time for us to take a step back and consider whether there is anything we can change in our daily lives to make them more fulfilling and in tune with our higher values. Identifying what you value most in life and how you can therefore adapt life for the better isn’t as straightforw

My first experience of Independent Financial Advisers was what ultimately led me to a career in Financial Planning. Not because the experience was a good one, in fact the opposite. It was summer 2002 and I had just finished university. I had secured a job on a graduate trainee scheme with a leading actuarial consultancy which I was due to start in the September. My now husband and I were looking to buy our first property and were put in touch with an independent mortgage brok