You might think that the most important work a financial advisor can do is related to allocating a client’s investment portfolio, or perhaps helping secure a timely insurance policy or drafting the optimal estate plan. In fact, their most important work is done when clients are in the midst of navigating life’s major transitions.

I have very recently undergone two of these major life events — a job change and a move — in the span of five months. Crazy, right? Who would willingly subject themself to two of life’s most stressful changes within such a small window of time? Fortunately, I had at my disposal three keys to surviving major life transitions, and I’d like to share them with you:

Key #1: Flexibility

“Blessed are the hearts that can bend; they shall never be broken.” — Albert Camus 

In February, I left the company I loved after seven years of life-changing work to lock arms with a national alliance of financial advisory pioneers dedicated to the practice of “building relationships by doing the right thing.” But in order to build a new and rewarding relationship with them, I had no choice but to sever some relationships with others.