Not sure whether it is just me - or it’s me growing older - but returning to work after the Christmas and New Year break does feel like it’s becoming more difficult.

I start to question my job - Is there is something else I could be doing?

For most of us who work in the Financial Advice industry, the last couple of years have not been easy.

The continuing bad press, which appears never ending, can make it difficult on occasions to be completely honest about your business or employment when people ask what you do for a living.

This reluctance to be honest about your employment contributes to feeling a lack of enthusiasm, leading to you questioning the worth of your role in society. This is especially poignant when returning to work after a two or three week holiday.

For me, it has taken a week for the enthusiasm to return.

Why, you may ask, has the enthusiasm returned?

I started to realise that, regardless of the bad press, the huge raft of government changes and new legislation being introduced to ensure our industry is more professional and accountable, underlies the fact that we provide an invaluable service to the Australian community. For most people working in the industry, we have been doing so for many years.

I still feel an enormous amount of satisfaction and pride when I have been able to help people navigate complex government legislation, achieving the best possible outcome for themselves or their parents.

I talk to many advisers who always go the “extra mile” in helping their clients in sometimes the most difficult circumstances – loss of loved ones, loss of property, loss of job or retiring comfortably.

We should all feel very proud of the industry in which we work and the comfort we provide to our clients. We should never feel reluctant to let people know where we work and what we do.

So will 2020 be bigger and better? You bet it will.

On a personal note, 2020 will be a big year for me and Donna.

If you have been a regular reader of the Realise Your Dream blog, you will remember I have mentioned on a couple of occasions that part of my retirement plan is to travel Australia in a motorhome.

A week prior to Christmas, our very large, 7 metre empty shell of a van, arrived in Australia, which does not sound all that exciting. But we have been waiting for the van to arrive in country since we ordered it in July 2019.

I can assure you that in its current state, Donna and I would not be able to travel Australia. An empty shell would be most uncomfortable and either very hot or very cold depending on where you are.

So, what is the next step?

On 13 January, a company in Sydney will start to build the internals – bed, fridge, stove, shower, toilet, storage and the necessary electrics. This process will take at least 6 weeks, which I know is not a long time. However, for me it will feel like a lifetime.

Projected finished date – early March 2020.

No, I am not retiring on this date. Donna and I will continue to work as we now need to pay for the van before we hit the road for our long trip around Australia! But I can tell you there will be lots of small trips and, to ensure that we waste no time, I have already booked sites for Easter weekend and the long weekend in Queensland at the beginning of May.

You should always have a plan and always remain optimistic about your life and expectations – van will be finished by March 2020!

So yes 2020 will definitely be a bigger and better year for both the industry and me personally.

What are you plans for 2020?