Get Out of Fear and Into Action

I've been having conversations with clients and prospects about fear lately. Have you allowed fear and doubt to creep in and stop you from doing the brave and scary things you need to do? Fear is debilitating condition that can dominate our lives and prevent us from finding the financial success we are seeking. 

Fear works against us by allowing doubt to creep in, then difficulty to make a decision causes us to put off taking action.  If you find yourself thinking any of the following, you may be allowing fear to stop you:

* Do I have the knowledge to help my clients?

* Can I make it in this business?

* I'm too busy to follow up with this lead now

* If I follow up I may have to perform and then I could fail

* They never called me back so why should I call them again?

* I can't afford to hire an assistant

How to overcome fear and break out of self destruct:

* Face your fears – List your fears on a piece of paper. Are they real? Carefully examine why you have this fear. Is the fear founded on the old you before you made a vow to change your life and make more money? Is the fear based on an old "truth" that is no longer true. If you made a good living when you had a "job" and now you are a business owner or independent contractor you have a fear that you can't make it then make a vow to eliminate the fear. Most fears exist because we don't know what will happen. It's the uncertainty that creates fear.

*Action cures anxiety – Get busy and start doing the scary things and you will cure the anxiety. If you have a fear of public speaking, join Toastmasters. If you have a fear of change, make some changes!

*Reprogram your thoughts daily – Create a visual image of what you want to accomplish and focus on it daily. For example, I have an illustration of 16 chairs on a standard size piece of paper. I have listed the names of my existing clients on some of the chairs. This illustrates the empty chairs I would like to fill. I see this daily and it propels me to fill these chairs and moves me to success.

*Write affirmations and put them in your top desk drawer or on your desk wall. Tell your subconscious mind what you want and reinforce it daily.

*Take control of your thoughts. Every time you find a negative thought coming into your mind, banish it with a strong counter statement such as "I AM SUCCESSFUL" or "I WILL GET 10 NEW CLIENTS."

Look fear in the face and take control; you can do it!

Suzanne Muusers

Coach for Independent Financial Advisors

Advisor Goals for Growth

We are quickly coming up on the last quarter of the year. This is a time for reflection - on the past year -and planning for the New Year.  Have you had a good year? Did you achieve your goals? Are you happy with your practice growth? I'm celebrating the publication of my second article in Practice Management Solutions!  Here it is: "Set Motivational Goals for Practice Growth." I encourage you to print out the article and use it to plan next year's growth. There's a handy side bar at the bottom of the article which gives you some examples for achieving three sample goals.

If your efforts to plan success this year were on the weak side, take time to plan out next year. By engaging in efforts to think about growth now, you'll be ahead of the curve. Before you know it the holidays will be here and you'll put planning on the back burner. Get it done now and get it out of the way.

Here are some questions to get the creative juices flowing:

* What would your practice look like if you reinvented yourself for 2011?

* What will your brand require to set your practice apart?

* How can you position your brand so that it's not like every advisor out there?

Here's a great book to help plan your reinvention: Blue Ocean Strategy – How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant. Order it from Amazon.  

For next year, think about vision, motivation, goals, and success and what that looks like to you. We've been through a horrendous two years. It's time to get moving and reach for that which has been out of reach during the Great Recession.  The way to do that is to take full control of your life now.  

Suzanne Muusers

Motivational Coach for Financial Advisors