There Is No Ambiguity When It Comes to Being a Good Advisor
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He can run, but he can’t hide.
Joe Louis was one of the greatest heavyweight boxers ever, retiring with a record of 72 wins and three losses. In the run up to their 1946 fight, Billy Conn proclaimed that his plan was to hit Joe Louis and run. Louis issued the now famous retort. Louis was right. There is no place to hide in a boxing ring.
There is no place to hide in your world either.
In a recent newsletter, my friend Richard Hearn of LPL said this:
The magic of sales is that it is so black and white. You make the call or you don’t. You get the appointment or you don’t. You make the connection or you don’t. You earn trust or you don’t. You build a relationship or you don’t. You honor that trust and that relationship or you don’t. It’s all so one-on-one; just you and your client.
Like Joe Louis, Richard Hearn is right. You can’t fake it. Either you produce or you’re gone.
Yes, this dictum is harsh, but let’s embrace it for its lack of ambiguity. As an Advisor, you have too much ambiguity in your life as it is; the stock market, the economy and interest rates among other things. You live with stress continually because you are making decisions continually. And very few, if any, of those decisions are black and white. You are always worrying, hoping you are right.
Ambiguity is exhausting because it breeds uncertainty and uncertainty breeds stress.
Your clients’ money is always at risk, its eventual safety dependent upon your decisions. You are rarely allowed to relax.
Yet, while certain elements of this business are ambiguous, the challenge we face is not.
The correct way to succeed is straight-forward. Either you do things right or you don’t. Either you do the right things or you don’t. Either you see enough people or you don’t. Either you build a good business or you don’t. Embrace the clarity.
There is no ambiguity when it comes to being a good Advisor.
There are no decisions to make. Just do the right thing. Always fall on the side of what is right. Be honest at all times. Work as hard as or harder than you’ve ever worked. Protect your relationships. Make it your goal to meet new people.
Your success as an Advisor is the one thing you can control. If this is to be your livelihood, if you have to make it, if there is no Plan B, you’re in luck. Your fate is in your hands. And I’m sure you wouldn’t want it any other way.
Seeing the world only in black and white is not a good thing.
There are a lot of gray areas that need to be considered. I’m not suggesting that here. I’m simply pointing out that this one aspect of your life, a very important one indeed, is unambiguous.
Cherish the lack of ambiguity. You don’t need to waste time wondering what to do next in order to become successful. Figure out how many families you need to impact in order to meet your goals and devise a business plan.
Execute the plan every day, each step bringing you one step closer to your goals. Hard work is black and white. Honesty is black and white. A clear vision of where you want to end up is black and white.
If your vision gets clouded, if the path becomes ambiguous, revisit your goals.
There is total clarity in wanting to be successful. Your goals are a constant reminder. Just do your job.
