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| > The Practice > Practice Builder |
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| Two Little Secrets (and One Big Secret) for Your Business |
| by
Allyson Lewis
| 07-16-09 |
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A wise man once told me, "If you want to be different tomorrow than you are today . then you must choose to be different."
There are a few rare times in life where we can choose to be different. This is one of those opportunities. Today, you can choose to be smarter, more productive, more organized, and more effective. I will discuss two little secrets and one big secret for how you can choose to enlarge your business in the next 90 days.
Little Secret Number 1--You Must Love Your Work
Loving your day-to-day work is an amazing secret. It's not even a contest. If you take two people with the same IQ and the same skill sets and the same length of service and place them in a room together and ask their coworkers who they would choose as the most likely person to grow their revenue in the next 90 days--of course, the person who loves their work will win. People who love their work just have something that other people simply don't have. It oozes out of them. You can see it in their faces, in the way they walk and especially in the quality of their work. They have a significantly higher level of energy. They have excitement and it flows into every aspect of their work and their personal lives.
People who love their work have a foundational understanding of their life's purpose. They can easily celebrate their personal gifts and talents. They know what tasks they do well and they equally understand their limitations. These people regularly surround themselves with books and seminars and many opportunities to grow and strengthen their gifts.
People who love their work are generous with their time and they willingly share their ideas with others. They are contagious.
Loving your work is a powerful way to grow your business.
Little Secret Number 2: You Can Choose to Love Your Work
Life is filled with choices; choosing to love your work should be one of the easiest decisions on the planet. Yet, the reality is that being a financial advisor has been incredibly challenging not for just the last 18 months, but for more than a decade. The unprecedented market volatility, poor market returns, company acquisitions, and an unpredictable economic future have given advisors many reasons to sulk. But, in every town all across the country there are financial advisors who are not just surviving, but they are thriving. In no way are their circumstances any different--they are different.
They have made a decision to wake up every morning and they are choosing to focus on the activities and the people that bring their work purpose and fulfillment--and in return their lives are filled with a level of joy and significance that is all too rare.
These people are no different than you. If you asked them about the circumstances in their lives you would find that each of them has experienced times of hardship, sadness and loss. Yet, in spite of--or possibly because of these circumstances each of these amazing people has made several very simple choices in life. They have decided to love life.
Just last week I was talking to a friend on the phone. In her 70s, she is full of exactly the kind of joy and excitement we are talking about in this article--to all who know her it is apparent that she loves life. And, just as a passing comment, she said under her breath, " . that is where my daughter is buried." I have known this woman for many years. Her face, her daily smile, the way she fully embraces life--and this is the first time I have heard her speak of her unimaginable loss. She could have chosen to have a much different attitude in life--but she didn't. It has been said that circumstances don't make us the people we become, they reveal the people we already are.
Choose to love your work. Choose to love your life.
The Big Secret--Did You Do What You Said You Would Do?
If you want to significantly grow your business in the next 90 days, then you need a plan. In fact, for everything that you want to accomplish in the next 90 days both personally and professionally you need a plan. You need to take the time to establish clearly defined goals and objectives of what you want to do over the next three months.
Every financial advisor in the country is wondering about what direction the dollar is headed, how the next round of quarterly earnings reports will affect market performance, and how they should be reallocating and rebalancing their clients' portfolios. Advisors are forced daily to react to circumstances they cannot control.
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Allyson Lewis is the author of The Seven Minute Difference. She speaks about improving time-management, increasing productivity, and rediscovering purpose. Visit her Web site to find out more about her newest time-management project, The 7 Minute Life Daily Planner. She also has a blog and a Twitter account.
The author is not an employee of Morningstar, Inc. The views expressed in this article are the author's. They do not necessarily reflect the views of Morningstar. |
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