4 Things That Could Get You Stuck in a Rut
You won’t get stuck in a rut by chance. There’s always a reason behind a lack of career progression – from letting fears rule actions to lacking a career vision.
Here are four behaviors to avoid if you want to prevent yourself from getting stuck in a rut.
1. Fear of rejection
If fear of rejection is immobilizing you, then you won’t get any appointments and you won’t grow your business. You are not alone in sharing this fear but successful advisors know they need to face it down.
If you are to progress in your career, you need to be able to put things in perspective and understand that rejection must be an acceptable part of your job.
When someone says ‘no’ to you, they’re not rejecting you as a person, they’re simply rejecting your ideas. If you stop seeing rejection as a personal affront, you’ll find it easier to shrug your shoulders and move onto the next call.
2. Fear of being wrong
When fear of failure takes over it could stop you in your tracks. You could see your confidence diminish, and it will show. As a result of your lack of leadership you could even lose you the trust of clients. They may stop listening to you or following your advice which could lead to them making bad decisions regarding their investments.
If you don’t believe in yourself, how can others put their trust in you? You can’t be right all the time – you can only make the best judgement at any one time. But if you know you’re truly acting in someone’s best interests, that’s all anyone can ask of you and no one, least of all you, should be critical.
3. Coasting along without any vision
One major reason you could get stuck in a rut is because you’re simply coasting along on auto-pilot without any clear vision of where you want to go. To get yourself back on track you need to take the reins when it comes to your career.
Many advisors have a blind spot where their long-term career vision is – and without knowing where to it’s impossible to find the motivation to achieve success. If you suffer with vision problems, try the following:
Firstly, remember your glory days. Think back and identify when you were most satisfied with your career. How did you feel? Did you contribute something important – if so can you get this aspect of your work back and make what you’re doing now more satisfying?
Think about your ideal career path. When you get where you want to be what, specifically, will make you totally happy? Identify your career goals and consider whether you have the skills and training to achieve them. If not, get a mentor to help you.
List potential obstacles, then look at these problems from a ‘half full’, rather than a ‘half empty’ perspective. When looking at a tricky problem, change it around and make the problem an opportunity. If your competitor is doing better than you, take a look at what they are doing right and apply this to yourself.
4. Self-sabotage
Without even knowing it you could be in the habit of self-sabotaging and doing things you shouldn’t be doing. This could include ‘partying’ the night before a presentation or hanging out with negative people, comparing yourself negatively to other people – or procrastinating to the point you never get anything done.
By doing these things, albeit unconsciously, you are harming your career, and keeping yourself stuck at an average level. Take action by looking inward. It may sound strange, but could you actually be afraid of success?
If you want to avoid getting stuck in a rut, remember that you, and you alone are the master or mistress of your own destiny. Focus on the task in hand and take things one at a time. Try to live in the moment and feel a sense of accomplishment in everything you do, no matter how small. Use visualization to re-gain mental control. If you make the decision to be positive, there’s little chance of you getting stuck in a rut.
Develop the soft skills you need to take your business to the next level – join Don Connelly 24/7 today.
