Robert Sapolsky is a Stanford biologist and is leading the research on a vaccine for stress.

I’m offering some of my own reflections about an article on Sapolsky’s work from the August edition of Wired Magazine entitled Under Pressure: The Search for a Stress Vaccine by Jonah Lehrer.

Lehrer’s article offers Sapolsky’s interesting explanation on the difference between pressure and stress.

Pressure is when an administrator has the responsibility to work with 2,000 people and their contracts.

Stress is when a typist is typing a never ending flow of incoming documents.

The difference between pressure and stress is the administrator has the ability to control the flow of the work, control when they work and has the ability to control the demands of their work. The typist has a total absence of control of their work typing an endless soul destroying pile of documents.

This lack of vision and control contributes to stress and up to four times the mortality rate of a person that has vision and control over their destiny.

When one is feeling repeated stress, the brain’s stress “ amygdale – fight or flight” mechanism swells and repeated stress causes one to feel a constant state of anxiety to the point that the brain can’t differentiate between stress that is real and unreal like violent TV shows as an example.

One must wake up the mind, the super conscious because the fear based mind can’t determine the difference between pleasure and pain, joy and sorrow, love and fear.

Lehrer offers ways to reduce stress and I have added a number of my own;

• Aerobic Exercise
• Avoiding conflict
• Confront Your Fears
• Forgiveness
• Friends
• Giving Thanks
• Journaling
• Meditation
• Sex
• Silence
• Sleep
• Stretching / Yoga
• Reduced Alcohol

All of these strategies help to reduce stress which adds to getting rest.

Remember, rest does not come from sleeping but from waking.

The weekend of August 21^st, 2010 gave me a very real experience on how to apply Sapolsky’s work.

I returned to my hometown of Chilliwack to attend a Celebration Of Life for an old friend that had passed away.

I left Chilliwack 32 years ago leaving under the influence of too many spirits, the cloud of smoke from Mary Jane along with my own demons. I was depressed and miserable and the only way to survive was to leave.

I’m happy that I attended the Celebration Of Life and appreciated the time and energy that my old friends invested to make the passing of our friend a celebration of the unique skills and talents that our passed friend brought into the world. I’m also happy that I got to meet many old friends that go back to my early teens and they really showed their appreciation about seeing me and I did in kind after all of these years.

Yet, with all of this appreciation, I left Chilliwack all those years ago and I really did not want to go back and I could not put my finger on the feelings to exactly why.

My return visit helped me to understand that I was lost all those years ago, I had no vision or purpose in life and I felt that I needed to leave town just to survive.

I was stressed!

This stress propelled me to change.

Over the years I’ve learned to forgive myself for my lack of understanding of myself.

I’m celebrating my life and vision along with the opportunity to help others find meaning.

The ability to find meaning through vision, mission, objectives, strategies and actions counteracts stress.

There will be no dreams and vision in their absence so learn to dream big and have a big vision.

Once you decide what you want, life will scale your dream back to the parameters of your reality … so keep dreaming big.

The true joy in life is recognizing that your purpose in life is a mighty one.

Your stress is just a feeling that nothing can be done because of a lack of vision and a lack of action.

The lack of action is killing you with the stress of inaction.

This last two weeks in August are a time for me for Rest ž Reflection ž Reorganizing ž Renewal ž Re-Visioning and Re-Branding.

It’s a Free Day ( day off ) for Laura and I at Leading Advisor and weather depending we are going to do one or more of the following on the long weekend on our;

Summer 2010 List To Complete

• Beach Day
• Bocce Game
• Cycle Gabriola Island
• Cycle Newcastle Island
• Cycle Rathtrevor
• Dinner With Neighbours
• Hike
• ID Hiking Trails
• Kayak Craig Bay
• Kayak Newcastle Island
• Visit Cumberland
• Visit Saltspring Island
• Visit Qualicum
• Tidal Beach Walk

Here is a pic from Saltspring Island from the summer of 2008; “Turn up the chanting, I can still hear myself think”.

These lists are great for when Labour Day rolls around when one has the tendency to ask “where did the summer go?”

Completed Summer 2010 List

• Beach Day
• Cycle Rathtrevor
• Dinner @ Locals
• Dinner @ Neighbours
• Dinner @ The Mahle House
• Filberg Festival
• Fire Pit
• Fish Market
• Hike Englishman River
• Lake Tahoe
• Lunch @ Real Foods
• Niagara Falls
• Qualicum Market
• Visit Helen In Victoria
• Visit Marshall & Patty
• Visit The Usual Suspects
• Visit Nursery for Flowers & Hanging Baskets

Your vote automatically entered you to win a new 32GB iPhone 3G S.

I not only received the nomination as one the finalists through shameless self promotion, I shamelessly voted for myself (once) and won the 32GB iPhone 3G S!

If you don’t promote yourself, who will?

If you go into a restaurant, you run the risk of being disappointed when the service person asks you “what would you like” and you reply “bring me what you have” and they bring you left overs.

Part of our coaching program includes e-coaching, kind of like a drive through restaurant where you drive up to a menu board and order / use the tools that are offered.

One of the tools that is offered on our Menu Board is a Weekly Work Out Log that consists of the following questions follow by an e-mail reply from me.

1. Tell me what you consider to be your 5 top achievements this week and why are they significant?
2. What further progress could you make in this direction? What are you resisting doing?
3. How can you use your personal strengths to commit 3 needed actions next week to meet your 90-day goals?
4. How can I help? What will best move you forward with this?
5. How many marketing activities did you partake in? ( examples; attend events for networking, create a list of clients and calling them to ask for referrals, door knock in a business park to introduce yourself etc. )
6. How many calls did you make?
7. How many prospect conversations did you have?
8. How many sales presentations did you make?
9. How many sales did you make?

Some participants use the Weekly Work Out Log and it is not only inspirational to them, it is inspirational to me because their energy helps me to create valuable material for the rest of the participants.

What is the sense in driving up to a drive through restaurant’s menu board and not placing an order?

You will either get left overs or run out of gas.

Where does passion come from?

Some say that passion can be realized through living ones’ values and the values of Irene Reilly were Commitment, Dedication, and Duty.

My Mother was born to Emily and John Dargue in Scunthorpe, England in 1920.

I am sure that Commitment, Dedication, and Duty played a huge role in supporting her family when her Father John, a magistrate passed away at the young age of 55 when the world economy collapsed in1929. Irene was only 9 years old.

It is believed that passion enters through the wound and while it is my belief that my Mother never really got over the pain of the early passing of her Father, she turned the passing into passion.

Passion helped to fuel Commitment, Dedication, and Duty and the passion to help others inspired my mom to become a nurse by 18 in 1938 where she served in England through the Second World War.

My Mother and Father met after the war and my Mother converted from Anglican to Catholicism. They were married in England in 1949 and her Commitment, Dedication, and Duty to my Father’s dream carried her through when she didn’t really want to leave England. We sailed for Canada on my second birthday in 1957 after the passing of Irene’s Mother in 1956.

Irene continued with her nursing career in Vancouver from 1957 – 1959 while my Father tried to find his way in the steel mill less Vancouvertown.

Commitment, Dedication, and Duty played a huge role when we moved to Chilliwack in 1960. Irene worked with my Father in a metal salvage business from 1960 – 1965 in conditions that were just short of horrible. I can recall a freak accident where she nearly lost her leg from severing the main artery in her leg.

Commitment, Dedication, and Duty where inspired by attending St. Mary’s from 1960 onwards and through singing in the Church Choir and as an active member of The Catholic Women’s League.

My Mother’s Commitment, Dedication, and Duty inspired my Mother to teach me my manners and she imparted on me the appreciation for cinema and theater. My best memories of my Mother are the times when she took me to see special films like Dr. Zhivago and The Mikado. 

My Mother rejoined her passion to help others in 1966 when she went back to nursing at Chilliwack General Hospital and worked until she retired in 1975. She lived her retired years in Chilliwack in service to St. Mary’s and The Catholic Women’s League until the passing of my Father John at 85 in 2003.

After the passing of my Father, my Mother settled into Logan Manor in Agassiz where she experienced the tranquil life that she deserved.

I would like to thank the management and staff of Logan Manor and Glenwood Care Center in Agassiz where my Mother was cared for from 2005 up until her passing.

I’m thankful that my Mother’s Commitment, Dedication, and Duty to help others created some good Karma in that she did not suffer horribly from a debilitating illness, but rather she lived until the ripe old age of 90 and passed away quietly in her sleep.

They say that wisdom enters through the wound. God only knows how I found myself to be a financial advisor business coach, speaker and writer.

My Mother passed away on Tuesday, April 27^th right after I finished a speaking presentation to Macquarie Private Wealth Inc. and I had two more speaking presentations to deliver the same week for Canada Life on Thursday and again on Friday.

I thought how can I find the energy to deliver the Canada Life presentations on Thursday and Friday with my Mother’s passing on my mind.

At the same time thinking, “what if I break down in front of the audience”, because part of my presentation includes a story about my Mother that goes back to when I was 8 years old.

Like my Mother and her instilled Commitment, Dedication, and Duty, the passion to help others inspired me to go out and deliver two excellent presentations that made a difference in people’s lives.

God Bless Irene Reilly.

I’m reminded of this when I speak looking out at a sea of no hair or grey hair.

I sometimes wonder if the financial advisor niche is just getting too old to change with many financial advisors doing the same things over and over again in their businesses expecting a different result and God only knows what kind of an affect this is having on their clients.

This came to mind again this past week catching a glimmer of a radio interview with John Gray talking about his new book Venus On Fire Mars On Ice and I believe I heard John say that today’s 40 year old has the testosterone level of yesterdays 70 year old.

So I have been wondering about venturing out into another niche especially when seeing financial advisors attending meetings just to get CE Credits when it is a toss up between Bingo.

But which niche?

How long will it take to develop another niche?

I’ve been working with financial advisors since 1995 and truly committed to the niche for the past five years.

Do I branch out into another niche or run roots even deeper into the financial advisor niche?

I answered my own question last week by doing a Pros and Cons analysis on this and the answer is to run roots even deeper into the financial advisor niche.

Run roots even deeper into the financial advisor niche into Financial Advisor Generation XY because this niche is into growing their business versus being distracted by where hair isn’t growing and where hair is growing where it didn’t grow before.

I recently spoke at Advocis Vancouver and a sharp witted Generation XY financial advisor came up to me at the end of my presentation with his smart phone in his hand and said “I notice that you are a strong believer in journaling to affirm a positive metal attitude but what about doing the same thing by typing into a computer or texting on a smart phone or iPad or Slate ( Tablet PC ).

I affirmed my reason for journaling to affirm by offering the quote by Confucius; “I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.”

“Do what you were brought up with, do what is easiest for you, do what comes natural – the key is DO” I replied.

The sharp witted Generation XY financial advisor smiled and made the gesture of the chisel and the hammer and we both smiled.

So this is the first chiseling about Leading Advisor Generation XY.

My commitment this year was to eliminate scraps of paper and sticky notes.

While the journal writings are not pretty, they contain;

• Coaching client notes
• Coaching ideas
• Draft article, blogs, e-newsletters, twitters
• Goals
• Marketing ideas
• Mind maps
• Product ideas
• Prospect notes
• Time management when I am on the fly
• To do lists

All of which enter into the Empty Your Head Process

NO LOOSE ENDS!!

Man invented a pen and journal so that he could choose his thoughts and not be hypnotized by the madness of his fear based ego mind.

This is a great book and an easy read filled with great ideas.

Here are Lloyd’s thoughts on attracting the kind of high net worth clients that you want;

• clients are busy with life and busy with business, they have a life and not interested in micro managing

• don’t like to take the time to DIY

• natural delegators

• have more money coming in

I took the liberty to write the following high net worth prospect referral letter using Lloyd’s ideas.

Dear _____________,

Bill Gates referred me to you and suggested that I contact you.

I work with successful people that have a busy working life and / or a busy personal life.

You are someone that wants to make informed investment decisions but you sometimes don’t have the energy or interest in doing the research to do so.

This is because you are busy enjoying the life that your investments allow or you are replenishing money to invest through the business activity that you enjoy.

I’m looking for clients that are natural delegators that appreciate managed money and want to work with someone to do the work behind the scenes.

Please find attached my Client Testimonials, Resume’ and Client Reference Letters.

I will contact you in the next 72 hours.

Best regards,

__________________

P.S. My clients appreciate informative articles on lifestyle, reinventing retirement, relationships, and seniors care and I will stay in touch with an article from time to time.

Testimonials from Advocis North Western Ontario –

Thunder Bay, ON – November 20, 2009

“Simon brought to attention a lot of things that have fallen off my presentation over the years. What excitement from the speaker, very lively presentation.”
Mary J. Murphy
Sun Life Financial

“Good, clear, lively and practical ideas, that can be easily implemented immediately. I have a renewed understanding on how our unmet needs can prevent us from helping our clients with their financial needs.”
Vonnie Cheng
Own Life Financial

“Simon spoke with great passion and makes you want to move. I truly enjoyed the parable; life insurance can have a real impact.”
Tony Casasanta
Sun Life Financial

“Simon’s presentation really holds your attention, and his sincerity comes through, a very good presentation.”
Ron Zorzes
London Life

“Very energetic and to the point, he hits all the buttons. After hearing Simon, I have a renewed belief in my business, a boost of adrenaline that I needed.”
Greg Imhoff
Desjardin Financial Security