Matthew's Mind

Everyone has strengths. Everyone has weaknesses.

We can talk through different schools of thought around strengthening your weaknesses, or doubling down on your strengths. I’m rather opinionated on that one. But that’s for another time. My only point today is that all of us have our inherent positives and negatives.

And I have double zero desire to judge.

Leave your gavel at home. We have no idea what’s happening inside someone else’s four walls. I can guarantee there’s more to the story than we know. Most times it’s more complex than at first glance too. So I beg you to have employ more empathy.

So if we agree everyone has strengths and weaknesses, and it’s best to not judge others, what’s that leave us with? Easy. One word.

Intent. Intent is everything.

Intent looks at the macro and gives the benefit of the doubt. Judgement looks at the micro and divides us. Shortcomings are fine and being self-aware enough to know yours and even tell us about them is praiseworthy. But please be true in your intent. If that’s not pure, we have real problems.

(On a related topic, but completely different vibe; one of the top producers at Advisors Excel has told me he only needs two things when hiring someone into his firm. He needs to know that one, they’ll work hard and two, he can trust them. That their intent is pure. We’d all be smart to steal that mindset.)