Through All the Chaos, Emotional Intelligence Carries the Day

At the end of 2024, a new film was released about legendary rock star Bob Dylan. The biopic is titled ‘A Complete Unknown.’ Is there a more fitting title for what we find in front of us in 2025? The film offers insight and lessons on how to remain committed to your goals in the face of disruption.

Dylan’s unwavering, lifelong pursuit of success exemplifies the power of emotional intelligence (EQ). Emotional intelligence is the ability to recognize, understand, and manage your own emotions while also being able to empathize with and navigate the emotions of others. In a recent Forbes interview Dylan attributes his legacy to three important lessons:

• Know your higher purpose and hold it close
• Curiosity fuels decades of endurance
• Curiosity also fuels shorter-term endurance

Dylan’s commitment to purpose and his curiosity for new ideas endured throughout his career. Consider the controversy created by Dylan when he famously introduced an electric guitar into a folk music festival. The thought of doing so was taboo in the industry, yet he had the resolve to see his purpose through. It helped to revolutionize the entire music industry.

I think our industry is ripe for such bold thinking. I happen to believe emotional intelligence and discipline go hand-in-hand. As investors and savers, controlling our emotions increases our ability to make smarter and more informed decisions. So, with proper attribution, here is my take on Dylan’s lessons on emotional intelligence as they relate to my personal path, wealth planning, and investing:

Know your higher purpose and hold it close

My own career had a humble beginning. After graduating from college in 1982, I started as an entry-level account executive at a Pittsburgh life insurance firm. I was handed 3,000 inactive clients and sent off on a mission to help them secure their futures. I was armed with only a used car and a paper map (imagine that!) which proved valuable for someone who was new to the region! I was living Dylan’s song ‘Like a Rolling Stone,’ especially the lyric, “To be on your own, like a complete unknown.”

My sense of purpose was clear… help these people. I made it a point to meet with them personally. It was a discovery process where I began to realize that they didn’t just need an insurance plan; they needed a financial plan. It was my electric guitar moment. Even though things were pretty lean at first, having a plan and a purpose allowed me to serve clients better. Today, our firm still makes financial planning a central part of client relationships – a sound financial plan serves as the compass that guides us to help you fulfill your own purpose.

Curiosity fuels long-term endurance

When I started my own firm in 1994, I became a certified financial planner (CFP). While trying to do what was best for my clients, my employees and my family, I faced many challenges. There were recessions, the dot-com bubble and of course the great financial crisis of 2008.

That was a jarring event, and it compelled us to align our firm with the best investment research partner we could find so that we and our clients could better withstand future disruptions and build more durable portfolios for the long term. We chose Hedgeye Risk Management, an emerging young firm in New Haven, Connecticut. Founded by a team out of Yale University, they have since grown to become a macro research partner to high-level advisors, mutual fund, and hedge fund managers worldwide. I’m thankful for our long-standing professional and personal relationship with Hedgeye. Their disciplined approach and insatiable curiosity drive them to consistently improve their understanding of markets, which has helped us provide clients with deep-seated insight to the most current issues facing investors in real time.

As wealth planners and investors, we will need such intellectual curiosity and discipline to maintain a long-term perspective today as we navigate the near-term uncertainties of key issues such as trade, inflation, market volatility, uncertain interest rate policy, and other challenges.

Critical thinking fuels shorter-term progress

We have learned to refrain from acting solely on first instinct or first understanding of a situation. We must do the research for the most accurate data before analyzing the data, and ultimately taking action.

Today, our firm’s critical thinking exists within a new generation of advisors and company leadership. Our energetic, multi-disciplinary, and multi-generational team challenges each other daily to continue improving on what we do and how we deliver it. While our overarching purpose remains constant – to help each and every client achieve their unique goals – we recognize that we must accept stepping out of our comfort zones to make short-term progress for the benefit of clients.

As in any year, 2025 will bring many ups and downs. But through the benefit of emotional intelligence, we will have the necessary means to endure. As Dylan famously said, “Some people feel the rain. Others just get wet.”

Thanks for reading.

Dave