Distraction-Proof® Advisor Ideas

True success means making time for others. Here’s what it might look like in your business.
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We’ve come to the end of the Olympic Games, and next week I’m going to talk about what athletes now do to prep for the following Olympics. But this season, for an Olympic athlete, is several weeks of downtime. They’re coming back down to earth. You’ve got to remember, we’ve been focused on this one particular highlight for months and months, sometimes several years, and now it’s finally over. We need to catch our breath.

During that time of training, we’ve been, understandably, not so much selfish with our time, but very focused with our time, which means we’ve said no to many opportunities. Whether it was friends or even family members inviting me over, inviting me to go out to dinner, inviting me to go out to the movies, for all these offers I had a flat, “”No, now is not the time. We’re focused on September. After that, maybe.” That was my rote response.

However, after the event and coming down, it was time to give back. Olympians always have opportunities to give back. You’re going to get invited to speak to different groups in your community, regardless of whether you won a medal or not. I had those opportunities to give back.

One event that I and three other Olympians were invited to was at a cancer camp for children. There, I had the chance to meet Dylan and be in a boat with him. He actually wasn’t going to be alive twelve months later. It was a wonderful opportunity to give back. You can also see a picture of me with a lady at a community bowling event. I’d never have the opportunity to do things like that while I was training, and even if I did get asked, I would automatically turn them down. However, after that time of intense focus, I did have the opportunity to give back—I got to meet Dylan’s family, say hi to his parents, and see what they were experiencing. It was a great way to stay grounded.

As a financial advisor, at the RIA I was a part of, we made space to take on four pro bono clients, people who couldn’t afford our services and, yet, wanted learn how to do what we promoted for themselves. They just needed some help, and we could provide that help. So, we did that on a pro bono basis.

I’m not advocating bringing on pro bono clients who are not going to be a right fit for you. For instance, if what they most needed was help with budgeting or getting out of debt, that wasn’t our specialty, and so we would refer them to someone who did take care of those particular issues. But we would take on four people, and we would provide them with specific services to help them learn about investing and related details to enable them to help themselves eventually. Sometimes those people became paying clients; in one instance, the person had a relative pass away, and they unexpectedly inherited a load of money. They became a paying client, which then allowed us to take on a new pro bono client. Don’t plan to take on four new pro bono clients each year, because if you are still working with those initial four clients at the end of the year, you don’t necessarily have capacity to take take on an aditional four.

Doing this pro bono work was a great way to see what other people were going through, people who were keen to learn, but, because of where they were at that particular stage of their lives needed some assistance. It helped us stay grounded and to always have that outward-focused, altruistic approach, a willingness and desire to give and help.

So, to do this most effectively,

1. Take stock of where you are in your business. It might not be the ideal time to do this—you might still be in desperate-growth mode—but, by taking stock, you can see if you have the capacity to help others.


2. Decide what you will do. Don’t try to solve everyone’s problems. Start small—you might decide to take on two or three pro bono clients.


3. Enjoy it. Don’t begrudgingly feel like you’ve got to give your time, that you’ve got to help people out. Enjoy it and recognize the people who have helped you get to where you’re at today. Enjoy it and recognize the fact you’re working on a great team, and this has also helped you get to where you are today.

Look for those opportunities to give to help others. This will help you continue to stay grounded, regardless how big your business gets. Recognize that although assets matter to build your business, people matters most.

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