One of the biggest challenges for financial planners and advisers is getting stuck on a plateau they cannot seem to move past.
Can you think of a recurring problem or limitation in your business?
Maybe it is?
*Getting new clients
*Working only with the right clients
*Hitting an income plateau
*Getting bogged down with administrative work
*Boredom with the way you are doing things
Imagine what your life would be like having finally transcended the problem and you are now experiencing all the rewards for doing so.
Why do some problems keep recurring?
The primary reason is that it seems as though the difficulty is contained within the problem itself.
For instance, if I believe that “It is hard to get new clients”, what happens?
It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. I will find myself spending a great deal of time, effort, and mental energy chasing my tail.
So, how do you get past this?
My favourite Einstein quote
There are few true geniuses, past or present, but Albert Einstein was certainly in that category.
Apart from being one of the most influential scientists of all time his insights into how the human mind works were extraordinary too.
My favourite Einstein quote is:
“We cannot solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them.”
To me, he is saying that it is inconceivable that we could find the answers we need on the same level of consciousness in which we see something as a problem.
Yet is this not the very reason we get stuck?
We keep looking for answers in the wrong place or rather in state of mind that we are highly unlikely to see something new.
A new way of understanding problems
The only time we ever truly transcend a problem is when we get new, fresh thinking about it. In other words, we experience a jump up in consciousness.
Imagine a glass elevator on the side of a very tall building. The view from each floor is different and the higher you go the bigger and broader the view. The view at floor 40 is completely different to floor ten.
This is like consciousness. The higher your level of consciousness the more perspective you have.
Something that seemed like a problem at a lower level does not look that way from a higher place and this is what the Einstein quote was pointing to.
With a free and clear mind, without the burden of discouragement, downheartedness, or frustration, you are bringing new eyes to something.
Develop a healthy respect for the unknown
A successful business consultant friend of mine shared how he approaches problems.
He said that if he wants an answer to something and it does not come to him in about thirty seconds, he just lets the subject drift out of his mind.
His logic is that if he knew the answer then it would have come to him straight away. He knows that it tends to be when we are not thinking about a problem that we will get an insight, new idea, or flash of inspiration.
He is happy in the unknown because he understands how the system works.
What feeling under pressure really means
Something that transformed the way I approach problems and challenges in my life is how I now understand feelings.
When I feel internal pressure, frustration, impatience, worry, or despair, I know this is not information about my circumstances.
It is information about my state of mind. In those kinds of feelings, I am not going to have access to new thinking.
So, instead of thinking harder about the issue, which was what I used to do, I now allow my mind to be clear and reflective.
I have found this so much more effective.
What problem would you love to solve?
You can experiment with any challenge you are facing by stopping thinking about it, allowing your mind to be free, and knowing that you are part of an intelligent system.
I would love to know how you get on.
PS. Does hanging out in the unknown seem scary? Read my blog post ‘The most dangerous word in the English language’. Click here.
