Why do so many business owners feel they have to carry the weight of the world on their own? There is a common

misconception that asking for help is a sign of weakness, yet in the world of professional sport, the highest performers would

never dream of working without a coach. This episode explores the transformative power of surrounding yourself with trusted

advisors who see the forest when you are stuck among the trees.

I share my personal realisation that being an accountant is about far more than just tax and numbers. It is about becoming a

trusted advisor who understands your deepest personal goals and helps you build a business that actually delivers them. We

unpack how to move from a generalist mindset to building an arsenal of experts who can help you tick off every item on your

bucket list.

What You Will Learn:

• Why the pride of doing it all yourself is holding your business back

• How a coach or mentor provides the perspective needed to escape the day to day grind

• What it means to move from a tax agent relationship to a trusted advisor partnership

• Why your bucket list should be the primary driver of your business strategy

• How to build a network of experts that covers everything from health to travel

• What to look for when interviewing a potential business coach or mentor

Notable Quotes:

• It is less about asking for help and it is more about getting guidance.

• You cannot be good at all those areas, so do not be afraid to reach out in the areas that are not your area of expertise.

• The bucket list is nothing without you being able to actually achieve the bucket list.

• Sometimes the vibe is just not there, and it is okay to change who you are dealing with to stay aligned.

Key Takeaways:

• Professional athletes use coaches to maximise their potential, and business owners should do the same.

• A trusted advisor brings a wealth of experience from different industries that you can adapt to your own business.

• Your personal goals and bucket list must be linked to your business budget and planning.

• Building a circle of trusted experts makes achieving large goals, like a three month trip to Europe, much more

manageable.

• It is essential to review your professional relationships regularly to ensure they still serve your evolving needs.

For more resources on aligning your business with your life goals, download our episode workbook at

bucketlistaccountant.com.au or via the link in these show notes.

bucketlist

#businesscoaching #trustedadvisor #accountant #mentorship #businessgrowth #lifestyleplanning #entrepreneurship

Contact details:

David Patterson on LinkedIn

The Bucketlist Accountant: Because financial freedom shouldn't mean sacrificing your wildest dreams.

Subscribe now and get ready to take control of your money and your life!

Co-host: Anthony Perl

Produced by: 'Podcasts Done for You'

The power of trusted advisors and coaching.

2

Join the bucket list accountant himself,

David Paterson, as we explore the

3

vital role of mentors and coaches in

achieving business and personal success.

4

Learn why even the best professional

athletes rely on coaching, discover

5

how a trusted advisor connects your

business performance to your bucket

6

list dreams, and gain insights

into building a network of experts

7

to support your lifestyle goals.

8

This episode provides a roadmap for moving

beyond simple accounting to creating

9

a life of purpose and fulfillment.

10

I'm your co-host Anthony Perl.

11

Let's get into making

your bucket list happen

12

David, I think we should talk about a

topic that is something that you and I

13

have spent a great deal of time talking

about off the air, but I thought,

14

you know, we both agreed that this is

something we should perhaps take to

15

everyone else, is the whole idea of,

uh, having trusted advisors around

16

you and indeed coaching around you.

17

And, and we've both been

advocates of having a coach.

18

We've both had coaches.

19

We've shared a coach at times, and I

think this is an important conversation

20

because I don't think enough business

owners necessarily value this

21

David Patterson: No, I

think you're 100% right.

22

I don't think they do value it enough.

23

I guess there's that pride element

to a degree, where you think that

24

you should be able to do it all

yourself and that you shouldn't...

25

Asking for help for a lot of people

can be really difficult, and having

26

that mentor or coach, it's less

about asking for help and it's more

27

about getting guidance, I think.

28

And it gives you the opportunity to

pull yourself away from the day-to-day

29

of working in the business and allowing

you to focus on the things that are

30

gonna help improve the business.

31

And I think if you look at, you

know, sports people are the ones

32

that come up all the time, but

there's not too many professional

33

athletes that don't have a coach.

34

Probably the only exception I can

ever think of is Nick Kyrgios,

35

and you just wonder how well

that went without having a coach.

36

I mean, he's, he's very

wealthy, but is he...

37

W- was his tennis as good

as it could have been?

38

Who knows, you know?

39

But I think having those mentors around

you are very, very important because there

40

are conversations and th- there are times

where you get caught in the day-to-day and

41

you can't see the forest for the trees.

42

A good mentor or a good business coach

will pull you out of that situation and,

43

and get you to a level where you can see

the forest and see what needs to be done.

44

So I think it's vitally important.

45

Anthony: I think we take that and look

at this whole idea of trusted advisor,

46

and I know particularly in the accounting

space, it's a term that has been thrown

47

around quite a bit, that accountants need

to move from just being an accountant

48

who does your tax to being the trusted

advisor, and with great reason.

49

Because having that expertise around

you, having someone you can trust, and

50

indeed, you know, that's what I love

about the conversations that we have

51

on the podcast, is it's so much about

personal things, bucket lists that

52

are so central to what you're doing.

53

But you need that trust factor, and

you need to have someone that can

54

advise you to make sure that your

dreams and goals are being achieved.

55

It's too hard to do it on your own.

56

David Patterson: Oh, it's way too hard,

way too hard to do it on your own.

57

And I think from my perspective as

an accountant, one of the benefits

58

that we have is that we're dealing

with a wide range of businesses,

59

different industries, different sizes.

60

Um, so we get a really good overall

view of the issues that businesses

61

face and the problems that they have.

62

And, and whilst they may be different

businesses, you can adapt certain

63

situations to people's own business,

and you can use other business as an

64

example without saying who they are.

65

But you can say, "I had another

client who had this situation.

66

This is what they did.

67

Maybe we could use that or adapt it

a little bit and bring it into your

68

business and see what the changes are."

69

So I think the fact that we have such

a wide range of businesses that we

70

work for certainly gives us experience

and knowledges that others don't

71

have that we can pass on to clients.

72

So I think it's r- yeah, you

tap into that and, and use it

73

Anthony: Yeah, and I think that's

such an important space to be aware

74

that you need trusted advisors around

you in lots of different aspects.

75

But indeed, I think that the great thing

about having that strong relationship

76

with someone such as yourself is

that you've got lots of connections

77

around you as well, and in places

that people may not necessarily think

78

are obvious, which is what I love

about the whole concept of the bucket

79

list that we talk about on this show.

80

Because the obvious one is, you know,

David, do you know a bookkeeper?

81

I'm sure you know several that

you can put them in contact with.

82

The next obvious one might be a legal

one, but there's lots of others that

83

are not so obvious that you can have

connections with that are central to this

84

whole concept of a bucket list, which is

so much about how you live your life, how

85

you want your life to be in the future.

86

David Patterson: 100%.

87

And I think if I just take a step back,

when I was younger, I can remember

88

partners in the firms that I was

working for talking about wanting to

89

have a one-stop shop, like to put a

fence around their clients in a way.

90

And their concept of a one-stop shop

was having a financial planner that

91

they could refer to, having a legal

bloke that they could refer to, a

92

bookkeeper and, and a legal person.

93

So it was all kind of business

service related, which is great.

94

But I think, you know, from an overall

perspective of, of being able to live

95

your best life and give yourself the best

chance of living your be- your best life,

96

there's a whole range of other areas

that you need to be able to tap into.

97

You know, you need to make sure

that you're, you're eating well.

98

You need to make sure that you're

exercising, which unfortunately

99

I'm not doing well at the

minute, but I know it's there.

100

And you need to make sure that your

sort of mental health is on track to,

101

to be able to get through the tough

times and work towards, and being in

102

the best position that you can be in

to do the things that you wanna do.

103

Anthony: I mean, I think that's such

an important aspect, to do those

104

things you wanna do and understand that

having someone there that you trust,

105

that has other people they trust,

that can bring you into that circle

106

and extend that, is so important.

107

I, I know, you know, from a marketing

perspective, you often ask people, "How

108

many people do you know that can help

you get things done for your business?"

109

Because it's so important to be

able to do that and to be able to,

110

you know, in your case, be able to

offer that to people is taking it to

111

another level as far as relationships

are concerned with an accountant.

112

David Patterson: It is, it absolutely

is, and it's certainly not something

113

that I'd thought about in the early days.

114

And maybe this is an element of getting

a little older as well, is you understand

115

the importance of eating well, getting

plenty of fluids, and exercising and the

116

like, as well as knowing the people that

can help you with marketing, and knowing

117

the people that can help you with legal

and stuff, and knowing people that can

118

help you plan for your future, save and

invest, and do all that kind of stuff.

119

The whole thing, each part

of that is so important to

120

helping you achieve your goals.

121

So to have that ring of people

that you can have the confidence

122

in, I think, is very important.

123

And understanding that you can't

be good at all those areas.

124

You know, you can be good in one

or two of those areas, but don't

125

be afraid to reach out in the areas

that aren't your area of expertise.

126

Anthony: I think that's an important

idea just there, is don't be afraid to

127

ask for support where you are not an

expert, and tapping into someone who

128

you trust, who then has these other

expertise around them as an extension, is

129

an incredible asset to be able to have.

130

And I think that's something that

businesses and even individuals should

131

never underestimate, because you've

got to go from, "Oh, I've got this

132

idea," even in something as simple as

we've talked about before, "I've got

133

this idea of going on a holiday," and

how do you actually make that happen?

134

Well, there is the financial

aspect, but there's the...

135

Could be the health aspect,

depending on what you're planning

136

on doing in that holiday.

137

Absolutely.

138

There's the, you know, there's

the travel agent aspect.

139

There's, there's, you know, getting things

prepared, clothing, or any number of other

140

different things that fall into that.

141

And so when you start looking at it,

it's actually a large amount of potential

142

connections that come off the bucket list.

143

David Patterson: Oh, 100%, 100%.

144

And, you know, like you were saying,

and, and I had mentioned it, but

145

a travel person, you know, the...

146

There's so many...

147

And it's not saying that you're

drawing on these people all the time,

148

but to know that you've got them in

your sort of arsenal, so that when

149

you do need them, you can call in

and say, "Hey, I need this," or,

150

"I need to book a trip to China.

151

How do I do it?"

152

Or, "I need to lose 15 kilos so

that I can do the Kokoda Track.

153

What's the best way about doing it?"

154

You know, at, at certain times in

your life, the experts that you need

155

will pop up, and if you've got that

pool that you can draw on, it makes it

156

so much easier to be able to get the

advice and implement it and achieve it.

157

Anthony: Hey, everyone, just a

reminder, check out the show notes.

158

There is lots of information in there,

including a link you can click on to

159

download a workbook from this episode,

dedicated to just this episode, and

160

it will have information about all

of the tips and tricks that David has

161

given in the episode, things for you

to fill in and think about so you are

162

on your journey for your bucket list,

action steps, as well as some key

163

takeaways and quotes from the episode.

164

So you don't wanna miss that one.

165

Please go and check it

out in the show notes.

166

A reminder again at the end of the

episode, but it's one not to miss.

167

David Patterson: I think just to paint

the picture for people that are listening,

168

and there'll be some people who might be

listening for the first time, and welcome.

169

Anthony: I think this is the concept

essentially of going from having a

170

budget item that might be in your

personal or business budget that says

171

holiday, to actually having a bucket

list that says, "I want to go on a

172

three-month holiday to Europe, and I

want to travel here and walk around here

173

and do this and that as part of it."

174

And it's how do you

actually make that happen?

175

Because as we said, there's the

financial aspect is one part,

176

but what shoots off of that?

177

And I think that's the one great thing

that I love about the concept that

178

you have, is that the bucket list

is nothing without you being able

179

to actually achieve the bucket list.

180

If it's just a random bit of paper

that every now and then you look

181

at, there's little point to it.

182

Having an actual plan to deliver that,

and whether that is needing a fitness

183

trainer or a travel agent or any number

of other different things, is important to

184

be able to have that and to have someone

who has those trusted advisors that

185

can help you make that happen is huge.

186

David Patterson: Oh, absolutely it is, and

there's a lot that you've said in there.

187

A- and sometimes it sounds boring and

sort of limiting, but if you're planning a

188

three-month trip to Europe, plan out what

you need to do and look at it and know how

189

much it's gonna cost, and build that cost

into your business budget, so you have a

190

line item for European holiday, you know?

191

Understand or through that mapping

process, realize that there's gonna

192

be a lot of walking involved through

these countries and, and that's

193

gonna be a lot easier if I'm fitter.

194

So I need to do a little bit more, so

I maybe need to find myself a personal

195

trainer so that I can get a little

bit fitter so that the walking's easy,

196

and I'm not getting to the end of the

day on the trip completely knackered.

197

Just knowing these are the spots

I need to go to, this is the best

198

time to go here, this is the best

time to go there, and really map it

199

out and get the people in that can

help you do that so that experience

200

becomes the best experience it can be.

201

'Cause in a lot of cases, the, the

three-month trip of Europe, what

202

we're talking about, is a once-off.

203

So let's plan it and make sure that it's

the best trip that we can possibly make.

204

Anthony: Yeah, a- and it's so important

in thinking about all of those things,

205

is that initial relationship with a

trusted advisor, and knowing that that

206

person also, I think it's so critical

to know that, as you alluded to at

207

the beginning, that you have a coach,

and that you wanna make sure that your

208

trusted advisor, your business coach,

wherever they fit into that equation,

209

also has someone looking after them,

because y- if they're not, then they're

210

going to have some limitations because

nobody's perfect, nobody has everything.

211

You need to have that degree of,

of things happening for you, and I

212

think that's gotta be part of the

process of choosing who you want to

213

deal with and who you want to bring

into your circle of trusted advisors.

214

David Patterson: Oh, absolutely.

215

And I know at the moment I've probably

got two, and I'll call them mentors rather

216

than business coaches at the minute,

but two mentors that are helping me with

217

what I'm doing, and I know that both of

them have got mentors that they use that

218

are helping them do what they're doing.

219

And it, to me, it's an added level of

comfort to know that they're using someone

220

that they trust and that they believe in.

221

It kind of gives me an added

level of confidence and trust in

222

the people that I'm dealing with.

223

So I think everyone needs them.

224

You know, everyone in business

needs a coach or a mentor to

225

help them get through, um...

226

They'll get through without it.

227

They'll get through so

much better with it.

228

Anthony: That is very well put

and an extremely important point.

229

And I think with all of this, when

you talk about this relationship with

230

a trusted advisor, is that like any

relationship, you have to review it.

231

And sometimes those relationships need to

be changed because they're not delivering

232

what you need and things have changed

for you, for them, and that's okay.

233

I think it's important.

234

It's not...

235

It doesn't have to be like a marriage

where you feel there's a certain

236

permanency to it, and it takes a

lot of effort to want to move on.

237

Sometimes you, you have to do that to

make sure things are always aligned.

238

And I think that's a message perhaps

to people just thinking purely in

239

the simple terms of the relationship

they have with their accountant.

240

Is their accountant forming

that relationship that they

241

need as a trusted advisor?

242

They may be very good at what they do and

delivering, you know, your tax and, and

243

those things, but are they the trusted

advisor that you need in your business?

244

If the answer is no, then you

need to think about where you go.

245

But how do you actually, I guess, work

out who is going to be right for you?

246

How do you...

247

You've, you've got to make some

kind of list really, a, probably

248

a bucket list of what you need to

find the right trusted advisor.

249

David Patterson: 100%, and having a

really good understanding of, of...

250

And sometimes you don't fully know what

it is you need, but to, a- as best you

251

can, get a, get an understanding of

what you're going to this person for.

252

What other areas that

you're trying to fix?

253

Are there specific areas

that you're trying to fix?

254

And have them down.

255

And it, it may be that you, I'm gonna

use the word interview, but you may

256

need to talk to two or three different

business coaches, or four or five.

257

You may have to have conversations

with four or five before

258

you find the one that fits.

259

And I think how do you

know the one that fits?

260

I mean, the short answer

to that is you don't.

261

There's an element of faith that you

have to have and jump in and try it,

262

but you've also got to then jump in

and try it with a clear idea of what

263

you're hoping the outcome to be.

264

If it's a period of time where that

outcome's not being achieved, then

265

maybe that person's not quite right.

266

And I have no doubt that during

the relationship with them,

267

you'll have gleaned information.

268

So at no point in time

is, is it a waste of time.

269

I think you'll get snippets out

of most conversations you'll

270

have with coaches and mentors.

271

But be ready and be prepared, like

you said, to change who you're

272

dealing with if it's not quite fitting

in with what you're trying to do.

273

Or if it just doesn't...

274

You know, sometimes without, you know,

um, to quote The Castle, "Sometimes

275

the vibe's just not there," you know?

276

Anthony: Absolutely.

277

I, I, I guess we'll finish up with

this conversation with just asking

278

you to recall a story perhaps of, of

one of your clients that's come w-

279

to work with you and, and had that

realization that, wow, this is different

280

level to perhaps where I expected.

281

They might have come originally thinking

that you're just an accountant, and

282

then realized that, hang on, we're

in a different league here, and we're

283

talking about things and achieving

things that we perhaps didn't

284

realize we could do at the beginning.

285

David Patterson: Think without

using any one specific.

286

I mean, as soon as we start talking about

their bucket list and what their goals

287

are, and then attaching those goals to

their business, the relationship's already

288

different because they've never been

asked what their bucket list goals are.

289

They've never been asked

what their goals are.

290

They've never had those goals

linked to their business.

291

They've never worked on their business

with a view of achieving those goals.

292

You know, people that are trusted

accountants who are doing the advisory

293

work tend to focus on the numbers be-

I mean, rather than the emotional side

294

of things, the personal side of things.

295

So as soon as people come in

here, the personal side of

296

things is what we focus on first.

297

So from the first time we meet, it's

different and it's, it's things that

298

they haven't talked about before, which

is why it's sometimes hard to get that

299

conversation going because they've never

had that conversation before, so they

300

feel a little reluctant to share too much.

301

But then as the relationship

builds, you find that they

302

start to share more and more.

303

Yeah.

304

It's really right from conversation

one when they realize it's different.

305

Anthony: If I can just wrap things up for

everyone listening in to this episode,

306

if you can get one really good trusted

advisor around you, the great thing is

307

they will be able to connect you to other

trusted advisors to help you get done what

308

you need to get done in your business.

309

Start off with one that is going to

connect with what your bucket list

310

is in whatever format that takes,

because that's the key to starting it.

311

David Patterson: Absolutely.

312

Well said.

313

Couldn't say it better.

314

Anthony: The Bucket List

Accountant Podcast is brought

315

to you by David Paterson and his

team at Bucket List Accountant.

316

Go and visit their website

for more information.

317

Details of course in the show notes.

318

I'm Anthony Pearl, your host

from Podcast Done For You.

319

We look forward to having your

company in the next episode