The #1 Advisor Challenge That’s Simple to Solve

This tweet recently caught my attention:

Trent’s challenge isn’t unusual. In fact, I hear it all the time. The harsh reality is that it’s a simple problem to solve.?But simple isn’t the same as easy.?Simple can feel quite hard.??

I’ve concluded there are only two types of activities (outside of sleep and stasis): energy draining and energy creating.?Everything we engage in is either additive or dilutive?- there is no neutral.?For many of you, engaging with a prospect is wildly energy creating.?For others, you’d rather eat snails than sell your wares.? For more seasoned advisors, meeting with smaller clients tends to become energy draining over time.?Not because they’re bad people, but because anything you do routinely for 10+ years that doesn’t challenge you is bound to create boredom.??

I love my work.?Engaging with people to build better businesses and lives fills my cup. I can be speaking with one client or to a room of thousands.?It doesn’t matter if I’m talking about kick starting growth with a newer advisor, solving challenges with a team, or scaling growth with CEOs, I can engage with people for 16 hours and not get tired.?I love seeing possibilities, solving problems and elevating people’s experience.??

But if you ask me to write an extensive report, in about 7.6 minutes I don’t feel energized and really just want to put a pencil in my ear. You get the point.??

Add to this energy concept that all of your business activities are either revenue generating or revenue dilutive (neutral is an opportunity cost).?For most advisors, managing client relationships is their primary revenue producing activity.?For many others, it also includes marketing.?For a few of you, it’s sitting in a pure marketing or executive role.??

I can promise you that for none of you, doing $50 an hour administrative work qualifies as revenue generating.?On average, whether newbie or CEO you spend half your time (on average) doing revenue-dilutive work.??

If you want to be more successful while genuinely enjoying it, head this game-changing advice:?spend 70% of your time doing energy-creating, revenue producing activities.?If you view Trent’s post, you’ll see it’s exactly what he (and many others) wants to do.??

I like to say that when you ask better questions, you get better answers.?So this Monday’s friendly Coach check-in ends with two ‘better’ questions:

• How much of your time are you spending on energy-creating, revenue producing activities???
• What would happen if you spent 70% of your time in this lane????

With your answers, you can now sit in this gap and get really clear on what needs to change.??

Your brain might be spinning with reasons why this is just one of those pie-in-the-sky coaching concepts that applies to everyone but you, because your situation is different.??

No, it’s not.?But your commitment might be.?

This is a no-excuse zone.?In today’s landscape of technology and talent to leverage there are just no good reasons for advisors to spend their time on things that dilute their value, success and joy.??

And I’ll note this work is a process, not an event.?Most of you won’t flip a switch and get there overnight, but all of you can be confidently moving in that direction.??

When we simply take the time to get clear on what energizes and grows us and on?what needs to be eliminated, delegated or outsourced, you can then create an action plan that works with your timeline and resources.

Make results, not excuses.