achieve your goals Archives - Don Connelly & Associates

Getting SMART About Setting Goals for You and Your Clients

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Anyone who has ever accomplished anything of significance started with a goal. Professional athletes, entertainers, business titans, and the millionaire next door will all tell you that they began with the end in mind, visualizing their destination and then mapping the road to get there.

We’ve written about the importance of goal setting and the significance of writing them down and keeping them in front of you to remind you of what’s possible. However, the process of goal setting is often marred with unrealistic expectations or ambivalence about what you want to achieve, resulting in unachievable or unmeasurable goals.

Financial advisors on the path to success can’t afford to wallow in hopes or pipe dreams. You need clearly defined, actionable goals that reflect your professional and personal ambitions. Although goal setting isn’t rocket science, it does require a deliberate process to ensure your goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. In other words, it requires the SMART goal-setting framework.

Put Success in Perspective, Be Humble and Believe in Yourself

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One of the challenges we all face is staying humble in the face of success. We work very hard to attain success. Stay humble when you do, and you’re going to be successful. I have a story I love about being humble, about putting success into perspective. It’s a story about the Vancouver Winter Olympics.

Watch this video or read the transcript below to learn the story about two Alpine skiers who achieved their two, very different goals at the Olympics.

Want to Succeed as a Financial Advisor? Do These Five Things.

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Helping people achieve their financial goals and provide security for their families is one of the greatest, most rewarding career paths on the planet. But it’s a very tough business to succeed in, especially in your first few years.

Here are the five things you must do, if you want to maximize your chances of surviving your first five years as an advisor.

Five Ways Tracking Can Improve Your Practice

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If you don’t set clear targets or measure your performance, you won’t know if your business is going in the right direction. So, set aside time to identify the areas that are key to your overall success – then take steps to track how you’re doing. Your tracked data will help you understand how to improve or change things for the better so you can progress towards your ultimate goals.

Here are five ways how tracking can help you improve your practice.

To Be The Best Financial Advisor You Can, It’s Essential to Challenge Yourself

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Challenge Yourself To Be The Best Financial Advisor You Can

There are two paths you can follow in your career: One that goes uphill or the easy one, which involves simply getting through the day. Not many people take the steepest and hardest path, which is why so few really achieve success. But if you’re prepared to challenge yourself and commit to hard work, practice and persevere, you will maximize your talent and do what unsuccessful people are not willing to do.

So, step out of your comfort zone and start creating your own success story. Here are a few important self-challenges.

What to Look for in an Accountability Partner

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Unsuccessful advisors may dream of success but they can’t seem to commit to or stick with their ideas. They tend to procrastinate or spend their time struggling to discern between high and low priority tasks. Successful advisors on the other hand have a clear roadmap incorporating concrete goals and they consistently hit their targets. They have discovered the art of “accountability”.

What Happens When You Lack Accountability?

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It’s essential to acknowledge that you alone are responsible for your success as a financial advisor and this means you must be accountable. If you’re not accountable you will never feel in control of your destiny or understand how to turn things around if they take a downturn. No matter how smart or talented you are, if you lack accountability you will not develop the self-discipline you need to change your outcomes for the better.

How Do You Pick Yourself Up When You’ve Been Fired by a Client?

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It can be a challenging and depressing experience especially if clients leave without telling you the reason. But getting fired happens to even the best of advisors at some point. And it’s not all bad news.

In fact losing a client can give you a chance to re-evaluate yourself and determine what you have to offer clients. It can be a perfect time to re-focus, take a good hard look at yourself and change things to do what you need to do to get back in the game.

Stress Management Will Help You Get Your Stress Level under Control

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Stress Management Tips for Financial Advisors

Stress is a two-edged sword and it’s important you find the proper balance. Stress occurs when things happen that disrupt our routine. Too little stress and we’re under-motivated. Too much stress and we could be heading for an early grave.

The stress of building a business, hitting goals and asking for commitments never goes away.

You’re not going to escape it. You must learn to manage it. Your career depends on it.

Your Goal Today Is to Get an Appointment

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What’s so magical about having goals? It’s not so much that we don’t achieve them. It’s that we too often conveniently forget we even have them. With or without goals, we still go in and chip away day after day. Not having goals is not going to cause us to skip a day. I work hard with or without goals. What’s the big deal?