Steve Sanduski, CFP®

By the time I was a sophomore in high school, I had saved $2,000 from a paper route and odd jobs—big money for a kid back in 1978.

I told my dad I wanted to do something with it and he said, “You should invest it.”

So on his advice, I wrote a check for $1,000, mailed it off to the Standard Oil of Indiana Dividend Reinvestment Program, and a few weeks later was the proud holder of 12.5 shares of that iconic company.

Then the worst thing that could have happened, happened. The stock proceeded to triple over the next 3 years and I thought I was a genius.

Of course, it dropped from there and I finally sold it when I was a freshman in college for a 150% gain. Lesson learned.

But that sparked my lifelong passion for investing and the financial industry that is still burning bright today.

My 35-plus years of business experience includes:

• Working in Silicon Valley for Hewlett-Packard pre-internet days.
• Helping start a RIA that grew from $0 to $1.8 billion in AUM during my six years at the firm.
• Running Peak Advisor Alliance (now Carson Group Coaching) for 11 years as the Managing Partner as it grew from 0 to 1,000 financial advisor coaching clients.
• The co-founder and CEO of ROL Advisor, a digital tools and training company that serves hundreds of financial advisors in 11 countries.

On top of that, I’ve been A CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ licensee since 1996, a New York Times Bestselling author, and currently host four popular podcasts with more than 400 published episodes.

What I’ve realized over the decades is my flow state is really a “Flow Wheel.” It’s the virtuous cycle of Learning, Translating, and Inspiring people to live a meaningful and financially sufficient life.

In practice, that means I’m a curious, voracious learner and doer who translates what I learn so I can inspire others through coaching, group training and tools, and my podcasts, books, and blogs.

Core Values

Learning – Daily, never stop

Integrity – Always, no exceptions

Fortitude – Things happen, be mentally and emotionally strong and courageous

Transformation – No finish line; an aspiration, not a destination

Useful – To everyone

Curiosity – Life’s spice

Discipline – Leads to freedom

Frames

0 to 1 versus 1 to n

Going from 0 to 1 is about doing new things, innovating. Going from 1 to n is about improving what already exists, incrementing.

I am a 0 to 1 guy.

New shore or new eyes?

When making important life decisions, I lean on two of my favorite quotes.

1. “Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore” by Andre Gide.
2. “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes” by Marcel Proust.

The first quote argues for leaving the safety of the known while the second quote says reframe your current situation and make it better. Both are valid and the creative tension between the two helps ensure I make good decisions.

Hard versus easy

The hard way is more lasting.

Humility

It’s the ultimate strength.

Systems thinking

Everything is connected so I try to connect the dots.

Quirks

I typically go to bed by 9:15pm and wakeup between 3:00am to 5:00am.

I did >15,000 pushups in 2020.

One of my favorite things to do is hike with a 40-pound bag of salt in my backpack while listening to podcasts, extra fun in fresh powder.

I’ve tracked my workouts by day with detailed descriptions since 1976.

I’ve tracked my net worth by month in a spreadsheet since 1994.

I listen to podcasts for 1 to 2 hours a day. (I like to say that I workout so I can listen to podcasts.)

I eat way too much cookies and cream ice cream with hot fudge.

Brandy Old Fashioned > Bourbon Old Fashioned, although I won’t turn down the latter.

I used to program in BASIC, COBOL, and Fortran–sometimes using punch cards.

I actually like living where we have four seasons, seriously.

Trees fascinate me, especially birches and redwoods. If I reincarnate, I’d like to be one.