Distraction-Proof® Advisor Ideas

We love watching athletes perform amazing feats of skill, speed, and strength. However, the life of an athlete-in- training is not nearly as thrilling to watch.

I was reading comments by an Olympic coach, recently, who said he believed the most important trait that contributed to an athlete’s success was the ability to handle the boredom of training. His comment struck me as very insightful and got me thinking about traits that are most likely to lead to business success.

Many of you have heard me tell about my training regime for the Olympics (which, with slight variations, is much the same for any Olympic athlete):

Get up at 5:30am. Be at the pool by 6. Swim from 6 until 8. Go home, eat breakfast, and go to bed to rest.

Get up at 10. Get to the gym by 10:30. Lift weights for 2 hours. Go home. Eat lunch. Go to bed.

Get back to the pool by 3. Stretch. Knock out a thousand sit-ups. Stretch again. Swim from 4 to 6 – sometimes 6:30.

Go home. Eat dinner. Go to bed.

And then do the same thing the next day, and the next day, and the next day…

As professional advisors, just like athletes, we need to have our goals clearly defined and written down. While they can be exciting and motivating, to a degree, they’re not enough, on their own, to get us through the tough days. It’s easy to be in love with the thought of the end result, but being in love with the daily process that will get you there is more important. If you can’t derive pleasure from taking the incremental steps, chances are that you’re not going to make it to your final objective.

It’s great to think about the fruits of having more top clients, such as vividly picturing what enjoying more vacation time will feel like. But are you as passionate about each step you need to take to reach that destination?

On days when you’re tired or not feeling good, something didn’t go the way you planned, you’re frustrated by circumstances beyond your control, or one of your clients is grumpy and rude, are you committed to a process you believe in to reach that goal you set back in January?

People are often surprised to learn that most of my best memories from my swimming career have to do with experiences in training: when I could actually feel that I was mastering a small, yet vital nuance in my stroke; or when I finally completed a tough training set that I had tried to complete so many times before, yet had been too exhausted finish.

When you believe in your process and can find satisfaction in what you do day-to-day, you come to enjoy the unavoidable, deliberate work it takes to achieve outstanding results. You deepen your conviction and commitment to reaching your end goal and can more easily spot and avoid distractions before they can derail you.

If you want to build a significant and lasting book of business, you need to be excited about building a system where you’re consistently in front of your ideal clients. You must love the process of searching for better ideas to meet new people and enjoy implementing ways to effectively connect with existing clients.

Get excited about your process – those specific, everyday business-building activities that you can accomplish with excellence. Look for and congratulate yourself on the progress you are making by consistently taking one daily step after another, as you stay on track to your ultimate goal.

So, while I don’t think success is about who can handle the boredom the best, it is about who can remain as revved up about the process (even though it might seem boring to others) as about the end result. To achieve excellence and maintain a high level of achievement, you simply must love the process of the journey as much as you anticipate arriving at your destination.

Enjoy the journey,
Paul