Red-blooded Americans are a self-reliant and it’s a good way to be, right? As self-reliant Americans, it’s almost un-American to admit we do better with assistance from others. I still meet people who won’t go to the doctor or therapist because they feel they just need to “toughen-up.” But if you’re this way, you will suffer the results of this self-reliant attitude with under-performance in your business—less income than you should have, less enjoyment from your work, less time with your family. Those that use the brains and brawn of others enjoy greater results in all areas.
Get Coached
Every successful financial advisor I know uses or has used a coach. I also know that every professional athlete, every Olympian and every well-known actor (at some point in their career) has or has had a coach.
Americans (financial advisors and insurance agents included) are not terribly competent at getting what they want when we do it alone. Here’s plenty of evidence:
• Millions of American on a continuous diet to get thin (called the yo-yo diet)
• People who purchase one exercise machine after another to get in shape (a very good place to hang clothes)
• Financial planners who keep attending professional meetings thinking this will increase their revenues (all I need to do is learn more, they think)
• Single people who complain about how hard it is to meet a “nice gal/guy” (does it ever occur to them the problem maybe themselves?)
• Married people who complain about their spouse (ditto as with the continuous daters)
The list goes on of what people want but don’t have. Is your business (life) the business (life) you want?
The way to get what you want is to get help from an expert. Get a coach. Have someone who has already succeeded show you how to do it! This numskull formula works!
Complete the Cycle
Life is a flow of events. Right now, you may be flowing in one direction. You keep giving to your clients, helping them achieve their goals. You keep emptying the vessel. But how does your vessel get filled? (see Seven Habits of Highly Successful People on this). If you’re a coach to your clients, you also need a coach. You need to complete the cycle and refill your vessel.
A coach helps you get what you want. For example, do you ever have the problem of converting what you know that you should do into action? You know that cheesecake has too many calories, but you eat it anyway. This is good evidence that what you know won’t help you do the right thing. You know how to eat better, exercise, ask for referrals, study for a credential, schedule a seminar, take a sales class, and everything that would get you what you desire. But do you do it? You seem stuck at the same level of accomplishment—good at what you do, but you need to change your actions to move forward—always finding an excuse to not act on your dreams (not enough time, energy, information, blah, blah excuse, etc.). Top producers in all walks of life use a coach to help break that bottleneck to success and it works for those in financial sales too.
When you get off track with your goals, the coach brings you back. When you start seeing barriers, the coach helps you see the way through. When you’re thinking gets irrational and emotional, your coach shows you the logic.
If you want to continue on the path alone, you lose the benefits of someone’s insight that can see what you do from the outside. It’s a view you can never get from the inside just as a fish cannot see the water in which they swim.
Use the assistance of others for activities of your business such as financial marketing and prospecting.
