Every so often, taking a step back and looking at your business from a bird’s eye view is essential.
Much like building a house, the foundation must be strong. And without the right mindset, it’s impossible to determine what’s best for your business and clients.
All advisors, regardless of size, location, business model or any other factor, can readily implement the practices below. I challenge you to invest just a few minutes in one of these five techniques each day over a week.
By developing a consistent practice around these mindset techniques—whether once a month, once a quarter, or once a year—advisors can get greater clarity and awareness.
- Press Pause.
Taking a break every once in a while is the healthiest thing you can do for yourself and your business. It brings balance back to your life, allows you to replenish, and actually fosters a sense of creativity, passion, joy and commitment. The time you take to replenish allows those who support you to step up to the plate. They can revel in the opportunity to grow, create, and become more self-reliant, which in turn gives them a greater sense of purpose and confidence. And lastly, pressing “PAUSE” means that the universe continues to do its thing whether you’re in charge or not. Things unfold as they are meant to. In fact, when you let go, things often have a way of turning out better than you might have planned.
- Heed Your Inner Voice.
We know from our hundreds of daily conversations with top advisors that even the industry’s best and brightest struggle with the “inner battle.” That is, the voice in our head simultaneously sends two conflicting messages: one that cheers us on and the other that holds us back. It’s essential to be mindful of your thoughts but know that they don’t define you. Use a positive mantra or repeated phrase whenever negative thoughts creep in. While inaction is an option, it will likely keep you from finding and achieving your full potential. Learning to trust the “right voice” can allow you to stretch beyond the edges that constrain you.
- Focus on Process, Not Results.
Our industry is obsessed with results. And in our society, that means using an objective measure of success like dollars and cents. For example, you may say, “My business generated record revenue this year, so I had a good year.” And while there is nothing inherently wrong with being outcome-oriented, it obscures the most important part of the puzzle: the process. If you have a good process in place, you needn’t care about the outcome. Good things should follow simply because you are consistently committed to doing the right thing without regard for your own personal financial gain.
- Ask Yourself the Right Questions.
We recently worked with a wirehouse advisor who was one of the top 20 largest advisors in the industry. “I’ve built an incredible business. I make stupid money, but I’m woefully unhappy,” he said. Why? Because he never stopped to ask himself the right questions. For him, the right question might have been, “What does happiness look like for me?” Or “What do I want to be when I grow up?” If he had asked these high-level questions, he might have realized that it wouldn’t matter if he generated $100 million in annual revenue. His true north was doing right by his clients, and he had grown so large that he couldn’t give them the attention they deserved.
- Speak Your Truth and Detach From the Outcome.
This is effectively a 3-step process. The first step is to determine your core values and guiding principles. This requires introspection and honesty and can take years to hone. Step two is being confident in those values and using them to inform every decision you make publicly and privately. The third step is living with the results. Even if they are sub-optimal, they are rooted in sound logic and a process-driven approach.
Staying up to date on an ever-changing industry landscape is critical to compete and thrive. But it’s also equally important to check in with yourself periodically to ensure your thoughts and goals are well-aligned with your path and that your foundation remains strong.
Jason Diamond is Vice President, Senior Consultant of Diamond Consultants—a nationally-recognized recruiting and consulting firm based in Morristown, N.J. that focuses on serving financial advisors, independent business owners and financial services firms.