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If you want to have more influence over today, next month or even next year, here’s where to start.
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When I was training for the Olympics, we were training six hours a day in the water and in the gym. While those two increments were, obviously, vital components for our build-up, just as important were things like rest and diet. They were seemingly small items in the course of the day, but those two items alone really set me up for performance tomorrow. The amount of rest I got had an immediate impact on tomorrow’s training performance. How I fueled my body today had a direct impact on the energy levels that I had tomorrow.

They’re two seemingly small pieces, yet [it was] important for me to recognize that just by getting to bed at a set time, I could already set up tomorrow. Just by eating the right foods, I was coming into that workout tomorrow morning at 6:00 AM totally fueled up and ready to go. It started right now with those things that I could control.

That’s important for us as advisors to recognize. While we have, maybe, four-year objectives, down to one-year, down to 90-day goals, we can begin right now, today, taking care of those initiatives by starting one small step. It might be just writing that first line item down of what it has to look like.

It struck me when I was talking with inmates in jail how oftentimes, over years of bad habits, they had ended up in jail, but they could track back to the very first decision they made to go that way and listen to this person, who wasn’t a great influence, versus following this group of people, who were going to have a much greater impact on their lives for the better. They could often rewind their lives to that one moment when they pivoted left instead of right. It just starts with a small step. It’s going to be either progress one way, or a detrimental result going the other way.

Gary Keller sums it up really well when he breaks down the issue of doing small things and the importance of them [in his book The One Thing]. “Why does this approach work? Because extraordinary success is sequential, not simultaneous. What starts out linear becomes geometric. You do the right thing, and then you do the next right thing. Over time it adds up, and the geometric potential of success is unleashed.”

So, for instance, thinking about getting clients and client feedback, don’t spend time spinning your wheels imagining eight clients having a fantastic client appreciation event, with these people over dinner and getting feedback [from them]. That’s a great thing to do, but you don’t need to have that paralyze you now. Just think about the next new client you’re going to onboard, and imagine saying to them, “After all the accounts are ACATed in, I’d like to meet with you for 20 minutes, and I just want to hear your feedback about this process. Was it helpful? What did you find most enjoyable? What did you find the biggest hassle about our process?”

Or, it might be when you’re thinking about writing out your operations manual. Instead of being daunted by the myriad of aspects you could detail and items that you are going to need to chronicle, just think about the first one. How easily do we have our investment models set up? How are we going to review them? How are we going to trade? Just start with those three alone.

Don’t get overawed by the big picture. Come back to the actions that you can do today.

So,

1. Think about that big picture and where it is that you want to end up.
2. Break it down to, maybe, that 90-day objective and that 30-day goal.
3. Most important, what can you do today?

Just like with enhancing relationships – enhancing a marriage: don’t try and wait until January the first to set new goals. Set a date night this week. Make it Thursday. Take your spouse out and just spend time with them. Do that with your children. See the positive impact it starts to have and recognize there was a seemingly simple step, but one that can be life-changing.

I look forward to bringing you another Distraction-Proof Advisor Idea next week.