Client success stories: James
James’s story. “I’m throwing money at problems to make them go away…”
Solo senior professional James*, felt as though he was in a permanent state of emergency. Things kept happening out of the blue, and with no option to take time out of his day, he felt his only option was to pay his way out of trouble.
Out of hours heating engineer to fix a boiler fail - £500
Meals out because planning a shop was an overstretch this week - £110
Additional cost of flights compared to when he first looked at them - £400
Forgot to pay parking ticket on time - it doubled: £120
No time to shop around for a better insurance deal, let the increased amount renew: £280 more
Bought multiple Wi-Fi extenders to improve the signal in the home office, hasn’t worked - £300
No time to organise a holiday in advance, booked it at the last minute: £3000
When life is hectic, it can feel as though the only way to fix a problem is to throw money at it.
James’s new job had ratcheted up the stress levels x5. He felt as though he should be flying through life now, but the reality was he was in survival mode.
He badly wanted to live life when there was time off, and enjoy some of the success he’d worked so hard for. He kept missing nights out and trips his friends were taking. Instead his personal bandwidth to organise anything was so limited, it was as though life was only about work.
And if he was really honest, he couldn’t stand home-life organisation anyway. He found it onerous, and it wasn’t his strong suit. It used up precious time off at weekends he’d rather be spending elsewhere.
After his Welcome meeting with a member of the CiD team, he immediately felt re-energised. They created a plan where his car would be valeted at home once a quarter, a grocery delivery would arrive at his home fortnightly, and he was meeting a personal trainer at the gym next week.
They’d found him a speech writing specialist to help him with that Best Man’s speech he’d been putting off, and there is a call arranged with a jewellery consultant to track down that super special watch he would love to treat himself to.
A series of reminders will be coming through by WhatsApp: his nephew’s birthday, car MOT, Tax filing deadline, the dentist, driving licence renewal, unused Avios expiry, order contact lenses...
And next time he needs a holiday, they will be sending him options and ideas well in advance.
Problem: James felt he should be riding high on life - but he always seemed to be paying his way out of a crisis. He simply didn’t have the time (or inclination) to stay on top of his home-life.
Solution: by enlisting the CiD team to stay on top of things for him, he no longer has to keep fixing problems, and he can feel the relief that goes with knowing there are capable hands at the ready whenver he needs it.
Outcome: James no longer feels he jolts from one crisis to the next – he can ping the CiD team via WhatsApp whenever anything crops up. He finally feels he is in control and living the life he’s worked for all these years, and takes delivery of a very special watch next week.
[*Names and details have been altered to protect client privacy.]