“Early in my career, after a senior member of our team helped me close a wealthy relative, I was finally able to visualize myself as an actual partner of the team,” Kirk explained to his coach. He continued with, “I had architectural plans drafted for the house I’ve always dreamed about, framed it,and I keep it by my nightstand. It really helped me stay focused.”
How many advisors do you know who’ve brought in nearly $300 million over the past three years? Kirk has, and according to his coach, it’s no surprise that he’s now a partner on the team. In fact, he’s done so well that he’s planning to begin construction on that dream home in 2022.
What’s interesting to note is that Kirk, a financial advisor in his thirties, wasn’t asked to join the team because of his digital expertise or his social media savvy, nor was he asked to manage the smaller accounts. He was approached by the senior advisor because he was a goal focused go-getter with the “eye of a tiger.”
Kirk was able to excel not just by setting goals; he curated a routine that fully activates the power of his mind.
He visualizes his goals before he sleeps. He handwrites them every morning along with his daily action plan of the day. For example, Kirk would write:
- I have an excellent meeting with Mr. & Mrs. Big and get all the paperwork signed for transferring their accounts from ABC and XYZ firms.
In other words, his daily to-do list is written out with the desired result of each activity occurring. After he’s finished writing, he closes his eyes and in his words “meditates” on what he’s just written. This routine takes him less than 10 minutes.
Now let me ask you a question: Would you invest 10 minutes a day in a mental exercise if you could bring in significantly more assets? I’m sure the answer is yes.
There’s a reason most people aren’t that goal focused. They take the power of their mind for granted. I’ve seen this repeatedly over my 40 plus year career and it’s a shame. We‘re the only species on the planet with the capacity to envision the future, set goals, and develop a plan of action to achieve those goals. We are capable of making a conscious decision to fully activate our mind to help us achieve our goals, and yet, few make the effort to activate this unique power.
As a financial advisor, you’re blessed to be working in a profession that not only allows, but rewards you for being extremely goal focused. However, this blessing can also be a curse, as it can breed complacency. How? Your goal achievement in years past helps you live comfortably today, unlike in some other professions where daily selling is required to sustain income.
We are creatures of habit and people develop routines in how they use their mind. These mental habits, whether positive or negative, shape how we behave during the day. No one sets out to develop destructive habits; they creep into our existence. Fortunately, they are easy to identify and somewhat easy to correct.
When honest with themselves, most financial advisors know whether or not they’re truly goal focused in their profession. For those of you who admit that you’ve been coasting, for whatever reason, and are willing to believe that you can achieve BIG goals, your first step is to give yourself permission to truly go for it. This may take fine tunings or even drastic changes to your routines
Setting a BIG long-term goal is just the starting point for detailed annual goals. It requires thought and reflection, not simply writing numbers down. It necessitates a buy-in with your heart and soul. It should make you nervous, but also excited at the prospect of achieving them.
From there your strategy and tactics come into the picture. What do you need to do on a daily, weekly, monthly basis to make all of this happen? This is where you’ll be writing out your daily action plan in affirmation form.
All of this preparatory work will take some time and attention to detail. This is where working with a coach can be helpful, both in preparation and accountability.
At this stage you’re ready to activate the true power of your mind.