Pasadena: “I just completed the Pasadena marathon,” proclaimed Jay as we began our coaching session. “I honestly wasn’t sure I could do it. If you would have told me a year ago that I would run a marathon in twelve months, I would have told you not to hold your breath.”
Jay had good reason to be excited. Over the past twelve months he transformed his life personally and professionally. When he first engaged The Oechsli Institute in a coaching relationship, he was stagnant. From a professional perspective he was a seventeen year veteran who had created a successful business – but he hadn’t been growing for a couple years. From a personal perspective, although he felt fairly healthy, he had gained weight and hadn’t exercised in a couple years. Initially, Jay’s excuse, or rationalization, was the financial tsunami. He felt like he didn’t have time to exercise and was just trying to keep his own head above water. Needless to say, this had been a radical transformation.
We’re not physical trainers; however we did help Jay set some serious goals, consisting of not only business goals such as new assets and new affluent client acquisition targets, but personal goals as well. One of Jay’s personal goals was to run a marathon. It was something Jay had always aspired to and from Jay’s perspective, he associated running a marathon with the peak of physical fitness. Jay has been neglecting a vital function to his professional success (physical fitness) and he was starting to realize it.
But why is it important for an advisor to focus on a personal goal, such as physical fitness, when trying to grow their business?
As you know, our ongoing research on the affluent and elite financial professionals has enabled us to create a model which we have deemed the “New World Advisor.” The New World Advisor model outlines seven characteristics of elite financial professionals who meet the expectations of today’s skeptical affluent investor. One of these components is balance. This is a component that can be easily overlooked, but as you will notice in our model, we place it at the base for it is the foundation to elite performance.
New World Advisors must have the mental and physical energy necessary to perform consistently at an elite level. Physical fitness is to the human body what a tune-up is to a car engine - it allows both to perform up to their potential. Contrary to this, an advisor who harvests negative energy and neglects physical fitness is miles away from meeting their potential. Let’s take a look at the statistics…
Average Days Per Week of Exercise
0-3 62.7%
4 13.8%
5 15.3%
6 3%
7 5.2%
Our research indicates that 62.7% of advisors are not getting the physical exercise they need. From this, we can deduce that more than half of financial advisors do not have the energy necessary for elite performance - consistently executing the high-impact Rainmaker activities.
This is not to say you need to run a marathon in order to be physically active, however the majority of financial advisors, not unlike the population in general, do not get enough exercise.
Incidentally, Jay’s business was also excelling. He was bringing in new clients at an accelerated pace (he’s become a Rainmaker) and at this writing has over seventy million in his pipeline. These two achievements should not be viewed in isolation. New World Advisors understand the importance of taking care of the balance in their lives and the correlation between personal success and professional success. This dual goal focus forced Jay to have an elevated level of self discipline and prioritize his days like never before – he had to carefully organizer his time to exercise regularly and execute the high-impact rainmaker activities.
The beauty of it all, is that Jay’s physical fitness routine afforded him the necessary energy for his Rainmaking efforts. His demanding days of social networking, meeting with clients, holding intimate events, and numerous organizational involvements are fulfilled with the necessary energy and passion.
This begs the question…
Are you amongst the 62.7% of advisors not getting the physical exercise their body needs and craves? Do you tackle everyday with vigor and energy? Are you meeting your professional goals?
As we concluded our session I asked Jay how the balance component had affected his personal and business life. “I feel great. I’ve never had more energy and confidence. I’m convinced it’s having a positive impact on both my clients and prospects.”
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