Don’t Compare Yourself to Others – Focus on Your Own Success
Comparing yourself to other advisors and idealizing their qualities while underestimating your own abilities is a self-defeating habit, yet many advisors constantly do this. Believing that there are other advisors out there who are “better”, “more accomplished” or “more successful” than you can set you on a downward spiral because you feel you can’t measure up.
To prevent yourself from comparing yourself in this way remember that successful advisors are never ‘an overnight success’. There will be advisors who are further down their path to success but they were in your position once. Rather than constantly looking around them they simply decided to focus on getting their individual careers off the ground – and so should you.
Don’t compare yourself to others – learn from them
While making unfavorable comparisons is unfair to yourself, taking the time to understand what makes successful advisors tick is a useful exercise. They all tend to share certain traits and they all have an excellent work ethic. In order to succeed they had to work hard and while their setbacks are not widely celebrated – you can be sure they happened.
Use their experience – and learn from their mistakes. Let their success inspire you to create a successful career for yourself. If you do you will one day be the one inspiring others.
Set your own roadmap
In order to succeed you need to have a clear vision of where you want to go. You need to set concrete goals and create a personalized roadmap to get you there.
Set goals around action rather than for immediate results. For example, make it your aim to call ‘X’ number of prospects on the phone every morning, or make it a goal to set ‘X’ number of appointments every week.
Write down these goals and once you’ve completed them congratulate yourself and tick the boxes off on the road to success.
Reminding yourself how far you’ve already come and focusing on your own personal successes, no matter how small, will keep you motivated and happier.
Stay on track
Don’t let a bad day, week, month or even year tempt you to give up. Stay enthusiastic and persevere and you will succeed. Don’t develop a ‘fear of failure’. Failure is inevitable at times. All those successful advisors faced setbacks and came out the other side and so can you.
It takes a long time to build something valuable. Work hard every day even if you don’t see an immediate improvement. Build your soft skills. Accept there will be no overnight success but that you will be rewarded a hundredfold in the future.
Consistency and persistence are the keys, so stick to the plan – and just as importantly enjoy the journey. As Warren Buffet once said “Games are won by players who focus on the playing field, not by those whose eyes are glued to the scoreboard”. Good habits will lead to good results so figure out what works best for you and stay with your plan.
Contrast – don’t compare
Comparing yourself to others doesn’t take into account your individual differences, your life and outlook. It’s essential to understand your own strengths because they will be different from others and no two routes to success will be the same.
Take what’s good from your own personality and apply this to the job ahead. If you’re not the most extrovert of individuals don’t consider this a failing. Your sensitivity to others around you can help you observe and listen empathetically to clients and give you the ability to form deep relationships. Center yourself and realize that you need to stay true to your own path.
Believe in your own destiny
Rather than constantly comparing yourself to others look at it this way: “you’re not behind, you’re just on your own path” . Instead of putting yourself down, reframe your thoughts and establish a more accurate representation of yourself. Celebrate your own personal journey. Believe in your own destiny and know that you own it.
Make the first step – join Don Connelly 24/7
