Your Job Is to Find the Pain and Make It Go Away
Imagine if you were in long-term back pain and you were sorely in need of relief. Your diligence has led you to a doctor who assures you that, if you allow her to perform surgery, the pain would not merely be alleviated; the pain would be gone. She explains that there will certainly be some short-term discomfort, but any inconvenience will be worth it in the long run. You will be overjoyed when you are pain free.
You have decisions to make.
Do you continue seeking out other doctors? Do you proceed with this doctor? What must this doctor do to make you decide to proceed with her?
Listen to the audio episode or read the transcript below for the rest of this analogy and to learn what it has to do with your job as a Financial Advisor.
You are never going to know even a fraction of what the doctor knows.
At some point, you are going to have to take a leap of faith and put yourself in her hands. What must the doctor do to get you to take that leap of faith? It’s not just about her as a surgeon. It’s also very much about her as a person.
The first order of business is to hear the doctor out.
You are determined to be cautious and to choose carefully. You want the pain to go away, but you’ve lived with it long enough that you are in no hurry to do something impulsive.
She tells you about herself, her story.
She tells you why she is doing what she is doing. Yes, of course she is paid well. But you are comforted to learn she didn’t become a doctor solely for the money. She derives satisfaction from helping people manage their pain. Helping people is her mission. Her goal in life is to find the pain and make it go away.
She tells you about other people she has helped and how they now are leading better lives since they took her advice.
Pain is hard to put into words, so she paints word pictures for you, pictures that allow you to understand what she is trying to say. She is a doctor, a wordsmith and a storyteller. You find that you like her. You also think that she is really smart.
You could do nothing, you think. You’ve lived with this condition for years. But, in the back of your mind, you know that this pain is not going to go away. The longer you wait to deal with it, the more exacerbated becomes the problem. You owe it to yourself and your family to get as close to one hundred percent as possible.
You will never become an expert in pain management, so you have to, at some point, yield to the doctor’s expertise.
Do you trust her? Is she going to get it right? What happens if she gets it wrong? How badly do you want to get rid of the pain?
After a lot of discussion, you are convinced she is qualified.
She is experienced, reputable and board certified. You accept her professionalism. Now it’s time to decide on her as a person. When all is said and done, you have to trust her. Is she the kind of person you trust?
Her appearance is impeccable. She is comforting. She is calm, she is rational, she is bright and you like her. You trust her. It just feels right. You give her the okay. Let’s proceed. She’s going to find the pain and make it go away. You’re in good hands.
Sound familiar?
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