Would you like your career as a financial planner or adviser to be more financially rewarding?
I sometimes have conversations with advisers who are not enjoying what they do. Some even say they are thinking of leaving the business altogether.
Often, at the root of this is that they are not making enough money.
I get this because I have been there myself. It is not great to be worrying about money because it becomes a preoccupation and tends to repel it rather than bringing more into your life.
So, how do you solve this issue once and for all?
A simple formula for making more money
I was in conversation with my friend and brilliant coach Pam Garcy. She was sharing about a coaching session she had with her own coach.
She wanted to make more money and what her coach said is so obvious that when I share it with you it is easy to dismiss it. Please do not do this.
He simply said:
Do what makes you money!
Doing what makes you money is not mysterious or some kind of secret only bestowed upon the chosen few.
Steve Chandler wrote a book called, ‘37 ways to boost your coaching practice‘. It could just have easily been called, ’37 ways to boost you financial planning practice’. In one chapter he writes:
‘We know what our high-return activities are.
We know what our low-return activities are.
And we know what our no-return activities are.
But then we act like we don’t know.’
Acting like we don’t know
Acting like we don’t know is when we allow feeling comfortable to take priority over doing what we know needs to be done.
For instance, convincing ourselves that administrative tasks take priority over connecting with people and having conversations. Another example is time spent on social media.
I was speaking to a practice owner who observed the way some of his advisers use social media. They post with the intention of getting ‘likes’, but never actually approach anyone directly (because this means they might hear the word ‘no’).
The healing power of telling the truth
Stressing out about money is not solved by doing more thinking about it. It is the thinking that is the problem.
How do you clear money stress?
Someone once said to me that, ‘Telling the truth sets you free.’
It is when we are willing to get truly honest with ourselves about how we are spending our time that positive change begins to happen.
Our priority becomes, regardless of how we happen to be feeling, high-return activities. You become fully conscious and purposeful about how you allocate your time and attention.
So, high-return activities are not done just now and then. Not only when you panic so much that you do it. But daily, consistent action.
What does this action look like?
It is the slow, considered, and caring work of authentically connecting with people, building rapport, being curious, being of service, and cultivating relationships.
PS. One of Stephen Covey’s ‘7 Habits of highly effective people’ is ‘sharpen the saw’. Click here to read about the importance of
