The Problem is Your "Inner Game"

A batter steps to the plate, takes a few practice swings, and then takes his place for the first pitch.

He knows where and how to stand, how to grip the bat, how to shift his weight when he swings, how to keep his eye on the ball, and how to read the pitch as it leaves the pitcher’s hand.?But if he’s afraid of the pitcher, or worried about his poor batting average, or thinking that he’s in over his head,?he will strike out.

Getting a hit is as much about his “inner game” as it is about talent, skill, and knowing what to do.??How the batter views his world, his own abilities, the pitcher, the other team, and the game itself, will affect his performance at bat and in the field, no matter how many times he steps to the plate or takes the field, and no matter how much he practices.

Financial services and insurance sales also involve an inner game that directly affects your results, regardless of your talent, skill, and what you’ve learned.?Most of the best advisors appear to work less than struggling ones and seem to be getting hits all the time.?But their success—and the lower level of success of their colleagues, comes from how their world occurs to them…how they view themselves, prospects and clients, the home office, the world in general, and the “game” of being an advisor.

The successful advisor sees a world as a safe place with lots of opportunity to create what he wants in his life.?Clients and prospects are easy to work with, and it’s easy to make money helping them get what they need.

The advisors who don’t feel successful or feel stuck at their current level see a different world.?They’re not taking enough of the right kind of focused action. And they tell themselves and others ‘stories’ about the reasons they’re not having the success they want:

?“It’s a tough economy”…”Nobody has any money”…People are afraid to invest”…”Everyone hates insurance agents”…”They lie”…”They don’t trust us”…”There isn’t enough time”…”Getting and keeping clients costs too much money that I just don’t have”…”There’s way too much paperwork”…”All my cases get declined”…”I don’t have enough industry designations”…

If your situation is more like the second kind of advisor, you need to take a look at your “inner game”,?to explore what you?think?is holding you back and identify what you need to do to get past it.?You need to:

• Understand the?thinking?that is preventing you from getting the results you want
• Find ways to focus on thinking that will change your results
• Create your own “success”?system?to replace the system you use now that gets you the results you’re getting
• Create a marketing/management plan that you can follow to give you the business you deserve
• Find a way to hold yourself accountable to keep you focused on changing your situation

Unsatisfactory results are?symptoms?of a foundational problem—an “inner game” problem.?You can call more people, put in a time management program and get organized, and start using new marketing tools, but your results might not change very much…because your “inner game” hasn’t changed.

If your business has plateaued, find a way to solve these inner game issues on your own, or get help with them.?If you want to talk about whether and how I can help you with this, message me here.

In the meantime,?keep REACHING…