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Financial Advisors: Re-Commit to Your Goals

By ClientWise | September 17, 2013


In previous posts, (hereherehere…and here) we’ve commented on the 12 weeks between Labor Day and Thanksgiving. By our observation, financial advisors who excel during this period, tend to do exceptionally well through the remainder of the entire year.

 

Some of you may have set ambitious goals for yourself for this time frame, yet not followed through completely. (Others may be late for the party.) In either case, it’s not too late to join the fun. There are still 10 productive weeks until Thanksgiving.

 

With that said, here are five stumbling blocks that we see that can prevent financial advisors from reaching their full potential in achieving their goals, and tactics to overcome them:

 

Plan and Goals Too Complex – We observe that the best plans and goals are often direct, simple, and transparent. If your plan runs many pages, has multiple spreadsheets and appendices, it might be too complicated. When setting a goal, focus on courageous dreaming rather than intellectual analysis (which can squeeze the excitement and motivation out of the goal-setting process.)

 

No Plan (or Not Written Down) – If you don’t have a plan in place to actually achieve your goal, you are likely to miss the mark. Start by writing down your goals and posting them where you’ll see them often. Then, brainstorm how to reach your goals, one step at a time, setting deadlines to keep you moving forward.

 

Giving Up Too Easily – Hey…it took Diana Nyad five attempts to swim 110 miles from Havana to Key West. If, for whatever reason, you have not been fast out of the gate in progress towards your goals, your dauber may be down, and you’ve become discouraged. This is especially true if you set your sights pretty high in the first place. To get back on track, break your goals down into smaller, more manageable pieces.  Set intermediate goals, or benchmarks that can inspire you to continue.

 

Doing It Alone – It is easier to reach your goals when you buddy up with someone else to be part of your progress. Having a partner who inspires you to do better and who acts as an accountability check is very helpful if you want to reach your goals.

 

Poor Time Management – Sometimes you will set a goal that turns out to take a larger chunk of time every day than you anticipated, or is a project that takes more focus and commitment than you expected. In many cases, time management is a choice. Analyze your day with a time audit (and your choices on how you are spending your time.) Are you spending time on activities that could be delegated, eliminated, or automated? Where do you want to spend your time…on the bold goals that you set for yourself, or the same boring activities that are cluttering up your day?

 

With a little creative thinking and commitment, you can transform the next 10 weeks into a most successful period.

 

We trust this helps.

 

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