February 3, 2009
Advisor Perspectives welcomes guest contributions. The views presented here do not necessarily represent those of Advisor Perspectives.
Getting through last year’s downturn was the biggest test of mental toughness that most advisors will ever face.
After all, you could have done all the right things – have client meetings, talk to clients and prospects on the phone, return calls promptly – but if you weren’t reasonably positive, you were unlikely to be successful.
Most of the time, being a financial advisor ranks among the very best careers around. Once you’re over the hump of building an initial client base, few jobs offer the unique combination of being able to make a positive impact on so many lives, the freedom to take lots of time off and an above average income (in some cases way above average).
And then there are periods like 2008. Your response to those market events was the ultimate measure of your discipline and fortitude - as the old cliché goes, it’s periods like 2008 that separate winners from losers.
Last year, just showing up at the office and returning calls taxed many advisors to the utmost, physically and mentally exhausting them by the end of the day.
One advisor I spoke to put it this way: “When I arrive in the office in the morning, it feels like I strap on a harness and spend the day trying to drag a two-ton rock up a hill. Eight hours later, I take the harness off, go home, have a drink and then repeat the process the next morning.”
Staying positive last fall was Job One – a positive attitude allowed you to be effective in everything you did. Just recognizing the need to be positive wasn’t enough, though –explicit strategies need to be in place to ensure you’re operating at peak effectiveness.
Of course, the challenges of staying positive didn’t end on December 31. As we meet with clients over the next while and continue to deal with volatile markets, staying positive and motivated will be just as important.
Here are twelve strategies to help you get through the challenges of the period ahead. As you think about your resolutions for 2009, consider whether you need to include explicit strategies to stay positive.
- Set out key priorities each day
Feeling overwhelmed and out of control drains energy. Spend ten minutes at the beginning of each day laying out the critical things you have to do that day – or consider making this the last thing you do before you leave, so you hit the ground running when you arrive in the morning.
- Set minimum goals for daily activity
Making more than one or two phone calls can be difficult on some days. Set a minimum threshold of activity for each day, below which you won’t drop, no matter how hard it may be.
- Tag team difficult meetings
In a recent advisor roundtable, a couple of participants mentioned that they asked another member of their team to sit in on particularly difficult meetings. Having a second person to reinforce your comments, to bounce ideas off and to diffuse tension can make a big difference in a meeting’s dynamics.
- Make the toughest calls first
We all have calls that we hate to make or hate to return. The longer you put off making or returning tough calls, the more daunting they become. In the process, they hang over our heads and drain our energy. A simple rule of thumb: if you have a tough call to make, make it first thing in the morning. If you get a message that requires a difficult response, return it right away.
Display article as PDF for printing.
Would you like to send this article to a friend?
Remember, if you have a question or comment, send it to .
