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January 01, 2013 at 05:00 AM
A fellow with whom I am acquainted, a married man in his 40s, has just retired after a few years as a broker. Regrettably, the reason for his retirement is not the fabulous riches he accumulated at a young age, but the rather more common problem in this difficult industry: He just didn’t make it. He couldn’t generate enough business. He’s now training to be a therapist.
Even advisors who have managed to build a sustainable business can sympathize with this unlucky fellow’s plight. We know how tough business is these days; we’ve all stared down the abyss. Most of us have our own fiscal cliffs to contend with, if for no other reason than that our clients from whom our revenue comes are facing theirs.
Indeed, the business environment in 2013 is likely to be challenging. Even if we manage to dodge a new recession, we are entering a period of sustained slower growth. But don’t let grim statistics deter you. While the economy and the industry can support fewer financial advisors, you can be one of the myriad successful ones. It’s a new year, filled with new opportunities. And if you are finding business slow, perhaps all you need is to make some business resolutions and stick to them to turn things around.
The start of any new year, of course, is famous above all for new year’s resolutions–an annual ritual of setting goals whose ultimate failure rate is an abysmal 88%, according to one comprehensive study of 3,000 people.
Whether the goal is to lose weight, get out of debt or learn a foreign language, the trouble people run into is not an inability to frame a worthy goal, it’s the ease of getting out of it.
We all make executive decisions multiple times every day. But, executive that you are, you can just as easily reverse that decision. Your goal may be to lose weight, but when staring at the Krispy Kreme donuts your colleague brought to the office, you may exercise your sovereign authority to suspend your rules, whatever they were.
Once you make an exception, it is far easier to make similar ones and soon we find we’re back in the same old rut.
The key to achieving a worthy goal is to make a commitment, not a decision. A commitment is a resolution that involves others, which is why it is painful to break.
If your not showing up at the gym each morning means your work-out buddy won’t have you to spot him when he’s on the bench press, that means you let him down. So you’ll be there.
Soldiers whose instincts might prompt them to flee often display the greatest bravery when they’re protecting their comrade in arms.
If you and your spouse each committed to a single dessert a day, you’re far likelier to hold off on that donut at the office.
Advisors can apply the commitment principle in a number of different areas. If you’re having trouble bringing in new clients and find that you’re usually quick to give up calling on prospects, make a commitment to more effective prospecting in the new year.
