They Have to Want to Be Helped First

Growing up I had a neighbor, Lou, who could have been the poster child for the evils of bodily abuse. He smoked at least two packs of filter less cigarettes a day and by the 11 o’clock news had conservatively gone through nearly a fifth of bourbon on a nightly basis. The only exercise he performed was walking to and from his car to buy the abovementioned vices. I won’t even begin to guess as to his diet.

Looking back, it was sort of a medical miracle that he lasted until 62 when his heart, lungs and liver collectively surrendered.

Afterwards I asked my father why he never even attempted to stop, or at least reduce his tobacco and alcohol intake and he simply shrugged his shoulders and said, “Someone has to want to be helped first.”

Lou obviously did not.

I often encounter that kind of apathy – albeit business-related as opposed to physical – when speaking to CPA firms who continue to roll merrily along literally without a care in the world about succession planning or do something so absurd as to wonder how they ever passed one of the most difficult professional exams currently administered.

Case in point, I had a 63-year old client who had actually given some thought to slowing down and then promptly turned around and signed a 7-year extension on his office lease. To compare that medically, that’s like suffering a heart attack and then purchasing a carton of Marlboros to help with recovery.

Another firm owner who was hugging 70 and felt maybe it was time to begin transitioning out, went out and incredibly, acquired a smaller firm where the owner was 73 and exiting within six months. Let me repeat that. He merged a firm in where the owner was leaving and he would now have to not only continue to service his own clients, but somehow find the additional capacity to take on his newly merged in client list as well.

And I could go on. But I think you kind of get the idea.

So when I speak to a client who has reached out to us, I try to keep an open mind – not to mention maintain diplomacy – when they regale me with stories of embarking on inconceivably stupid strategies.

Like my dad said nearly 40 years ago, someone has to want help first. Otherwise it’s a colossal exercise in futility trying to convince them of the alternative.