Welcome to the October 2007 Edition of the Removing Your Roadblocks E-Newsletter.

Click on the following link to hear the message:

A Quick 30 Second Voice Message

Don't miss a single issue of Removing Your Roadblocks. Read On To Continue To Receive Our Free E-Newsletter!

Our subscriber count has skyrocketed in the last year and with that in mind we will be saying goodbye to our old newsletter delivery system. The new system will give a more accurate delivery method, ensuring that each of you receives the E-Newsletter. The new system requires that you verify your subscription and we are asking each of my subscribers to do just that as soon as possible. Just fill out the form below and we'll take care of the rest. You will receive the next E-Newsletter from the brand new system.

To Continue to Receive Your Free E-Newsletter "Removing Your Roadblocks" Please enter your information below: Name: Email:

Simon Reilly
The Financial Advisor Coach
sreilly@leadingadvisor.com
1 877 248 6019

This edition of the E-Newsletter Includes:

• Thanksgiving - These Testimonials Make It All Worthwhile
• Rick Mercer - The Book...If Rick can write a book with his travel schedule then so can I!
• The CUMIS Group
• Book Writing Strategy
• Draft Book Cover
• Unmet Needs Are The Core of Our Program
• The Clear Values Scorecard™
• Book Cover Feedback - What Is Yours?
• Then It Is Back To What I Love To Do
• Leading Advisor Published In The Advocis Forum Magazine!
• What's Next?
• Rick Mercer Made The Book Real Easy For Me
• The Gist of The Dip
• Book Introduction
• The Inner Workings of Giving Thanks & Gratitude - 10 Tips

This edition of The Removing Your Roadblocks E-Newsletter is offered with the hope that you will gain value through my experiences over the past few weeks.

It's Wednesday, October 03, 2007 at 4:20pm CST and I've just left Winnipeg, MB on a WestJet flight to Comox, BC via Calgary, AB. Laura will pick me up at the airport and we will have dinner at TOMĀTO TOMÄTO in Courtney, BC.

TOMĀTO TOMÄTO was recommended by Andy Leitch of Canaccord Capital Corporation. Laura and I will then drive home to Parksville, BC. We have heard a number of good things about the restaurant and I thought that it would be a treat for Laura and I given that I have been away for a week. I trust that there will be a day when Laura and I will travel together on my future speaking excursions.

Coming up, I'll have two days of coaching calls on Thursday and Friday in advance of the Canadian Thanksgiving Long Weekend.

Then it is three days off for rest and relaxation.

Following this, I'll have three - four days of Product Development Days completing the assembly and writing of my book in advance of having it ready for the editor on October 15th.

Thanksgiving - These Testimonials Make It All Worthwhile

I received the following unsolicited testimonials on Friday, October 5, 2007, in advance of the Canadian Thanksgiving Long Weekend. My client's comments really help to make it all worthwhile.

"You know you were right! The first time we talked you explained that working with you would make me feel more clear, confident, more fulfilled - that everything is just happening easier. And...you were absolutely right - I do feel more clear, confident, and more fulfilled - that everything is getting easier.

I look forward to our next call - especially the part about, "Let's discuss inspiring your business."

Edna Keep
Certified Financial Planner
Assante Financial Management
Regina, Saskatchewan

"Simon Reilly has been a great advisor and life coach. Mr. Reilly has enjoyed the good and the bad times in his life and has overcome dramatic adversity to become successful in a myriad of ways.

Simon has made a decision to appreciate and experience life fully with a positive attitude that embraces a simple, spiritual approach.

Through his work, I have learned to clear bad feelings and attitudes.

Further, I have learned a step by step approach to problem solving that is much easier then would you would imagine.

Simon offers a holistic approach to coaching that is a most-welcome change from the usual success motivation dogma that is so common-place.

Working with Simon will give you the opportunity to change your life."

Kent Cummings
Cummings Financial Incorporated
London, Ontario

"There are very few people that I know in this world that can share what we talk about. That want to talk about this kind of stuff and take it even further by sharing the knowledge to grow through and beyond these issues.

To me, what you have is a very rare and special gift.

Thank you again and enjoy your Thanksgiving."

Chris Morris
Morris Financial Services Ltd.
Calgary, Alberta

Rick Mercer - The Book...If Rick can write a book with his travel schedule then so can I!

Rick Mercer

It's 8:20pm EST on Friday evening, September 28th and I am staying at the Hilton Lac-Leamy, Gatineau, QC where I will be presenting a custom 2 ½ hour workshop presentation of Removing Your Roadblocks To Success on Saturday morning to The CUMIS Group.

I have just finished watching Rick Mercer being interviewed by George Stroumboulopoulos on The Hour on CBC Television.

Funny thing is, I was at the SeaAir seaplane terminal in Richmond, BC last Thursday, September 20th and who was sitting outside leaning back with his feet up on a patio table smoking a cigarette and talking on his cell phone??? You guessed it, Rick Mercer.

So George said to Rick, "So you have got a new book, how did you find the time?" Rick said something like, "I was moving my office and looked at all the documents on my computer so I decided to print them off. When I was done I figured I had a good enough stack and I thought that it could be made into a book so I gave it to an editor guy and they somehow made a book out of it!"

The CUMIS Group

October 4, 2007

I want to thank you once again for presenting to our group. Your
presentation was well received with good comments coming out of it and some stating they were going to do some of the follow up work you had suggested - I being one of them.

Thanks again Simon!

Elden D. Morais, CLU, Ch.F.C., CFP
National Manager, Individual Life
Sales and Marketing
The CUMIS Group

Book Writing Strategy

The Steps to get the book "editor ready" are:

1. We have taped and type set and indexed one of my Removing Your Roadblocks To Success Power Point Presentations.
2. I have indexed all of the articles and blogs that I have written over the past three years to the Power Point Presentation.
3. Choose the best of the best excerpts out of the articles and blogs that match the Removing Your Roadblocks Power Point.
4. Have "editor ready" by October 15th.

Step three is the goal for the week of October 8th.

Step three is a design build so to speak and this means the creative process builds as one goes along. I'm not sure how many gaps there will be in the writing until I get into it. All one can do is forge ahead. Then the answer will be revealed. The goal of "editor ready" is up in the air ... it could be the first three chapters. The main thing is progress will be made.

Draft Book Cover

Here is a draft of the book cover that our graphic designer is working on.

Note that the book will have two subtitles.

Financial Advisor Market

• The Unmet Needs Disease™ - How To Prosper As A Financial Advisor By Meeting Your Unmet Needs

General Market

• The Unmet Needs Disease™ - How To Clear Your Roadblocks To Success By Meeting Your Unmet Needs

This is a first draft.

At first glance I did not like it as it looked very harsh.

The Unmet Needs Disease™ - How To Prosper As A Financial Advisor By Meeting Your Unmet needs title is offered as the flip side or "anti-model", as it is called, stated in the negative ... so that our book doesn't sound like everyone else's book.

What I mean by this is we could use the "model" or stated in the positive and examples are:

Financial Advisor Market

• The Clear Values Program™ - How To Prosper As A Financial Advisor By Discovering Your Clear Values

General Market

• The Clear Values Program™ - How To Clear Your Roadblocks To Success By Discovering Your Clear Values

While the title and the graphic may not be 100%, I went ahead with the book cover to get visually inspired to pull myself forward in the creation process.

The book title and graphics are a work in progress, and I'm not going to get hung up on this just now.

I'm simply giving you a snap shot of the creative process.

Unmet Needs Are The Core of Our Program

Here is some copy of the book so that you get gist of what I am talking about;

Unmet Needs "dysfunctionally" drive your behavior. Unmet Needs based motivation is dysfunctional. "Motive - the sense of need, desire, fear, etc." - Webster's Dictionary. What do you want to be motivated by? Need, desire and fear or something that naturally draws you forward. Most Advisors and people in general have Unmet Needs. Unmet Needs dominate and run you until they are identified and satisfied; satisfying Unmet Needs is not an option. Unmet Needs can be satisfied and when satisfied, you can be yourself.

Money - a Value or Unmet Need? Money can be both a Value and an Unmet Need. To be more specific, Abundance and Currency are "Money" Values. Safety and Security are "Money" Unmet Needs. What is the significance?

Unmet Needs are the Fuel for Limiting Beliefs. If one has Unmet Needs, one always has Limiting Beliefs and vice versa. It is not either, or. And this is why it is virtually impossible to identify and consistently change Limiting Beliefs without identifying and satisfying the Unmet Needs at the same time. As an example, when one has Unmet Needs of Safety and Security, one undoubtedly has Limiting Beliefs of: I am not safe and I am not secure. It is impossible to have consistent Positive Beliefs when one has Unmet Needs.

Unmet Needs & Limiting Beliefs are subconsciously and unconsciously running at the core of many financial advisors and contribute to the issues addressed in The Clear Values Scorecard™

The Clear Values Scorecard™

To help you clearly understand your current situation, try The Clear Values Scorecard™. Rate your reactions to each pair of phrases. Decide where you lie on the scale from 1 to 10. Add up your total from each column. Speak to one of our associates to understand the significance of your score.

I am addicted to growth.	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	I have a written vision and business plan for the next 5 years.
I am not making enough money as I would like.	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	I am fully satisfied with the amount of money I am making.
I feel completely overwhelmed doing things I don’t like to do.	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	I do what I love to do and I delegate everything else.
I have a lot of conflict in my business relationships.	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	I am effective at managing my business relationships extremely well.
I have to get myself pumped when I am selling.	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	I feel naturally excited about my work and I enjoy the selling process.
I feel that I am not getting as many new clients as I want.	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	I am getting a lot of new high quality clients.
I do too many favors and I sell too many products.	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	I am focused on profitable products and a niche market.
I feel I am not getting enough referrals.	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	I am getting lots of great qualified referrals
I beat myself up when things don’t go right.	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	I always celebrate my successes and learn from my setbacks.
I do not feel that I am achieving my true potential as an advisor.	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	I feel that I am achieving my true potential as an advisor.
ADD COLUMN TOTALS											YOUR SCORE ________

Book Cover Feedback - What Is Yours?

Again, here is the cover that our graphics designer came up with.

Kim Black our friend and extraordinary Technology Expert offered these versions of the book cover which is a lot more inviting ... it is amazing what just changing the picture can do. Kim Black has been an enormous help over the years producing and maintaining our Web Site, Blog, E-Newsletter, Power Points and that is just the short list.

Here is another book cover that Kim & I came up using a photo of a huge bolder in middle of the road which demonstrates a real Roadblock!

Hi Simon,

Wrong photos.

You need a road - a roadblock preventing progress, the road ahead but no way to get through.

I liked that "boulder in the road" graphic I think I saw - but I guess a man-made roadblock would be a better metaphor?

Chris Barrow

Hi Simon:

Successful financial guys are tired and battle-weary. They need hope and these kind of titles would attract me as a reader.

All the best,

Kent Cummings

Hopefully, these titles or similar types of titles with great energy will arrive in your heart.

That's it, it's the energy and karma of a title.

I had to open Osteen's book because of the title. I was prepared to dismiss it and him because he is a young man but his book is one of the best ever.

The Way of Peace in a World of Strife. - Finding your unmet needs and fulfilling them for a richer life.

Finding Peace in Perilous Times - A Financial Planner's handbook to bring joy and optimism back into your life.

Meeting Unmet Needs - A professionals primer for bringing peace and
contentment back into your life.

Reclaiming Your Unmet Needs for Peace and Prosperity - Relearning the most important things that you've forgotten.

(Of course, the prosperity that you're teaching involves awakening to gratitude.)

Have a good evening.

Kent Cummings

Then It Is Back To What I Love To Do

With the book off to the editor, then it's back to what I really love to do; coaching, speaking, and marketing the book and the speaking. STP - See The People.

I am so looking forward to NOT having the book writing on my mind as it has been occupying space in my memory for far too long.

The foundation of somewhere between 50 - 100 speaking presentations of Removing Your Roadblocks over the past 19 months allows me to kick it up a few notches to marketing my speaking to higher profile national and international speaking presentations to associations and companies.

I was in the Las Vegas Airport after the presentation that I did for Pro-Seminars speaking with an attendee of my presentation. I was talking about our marketing plan and that I believe we need a book to enable us to attract larger association and company speaking opportunities as the people in charge of booking the speaking ask you if you have book. The attendee replied, "You don't need a book, you already have a strong enough speaking presentation and resume".

That was back on Thursday, September 13th. We now have 25 larger association and company speaking opportunities that we have identified and that we are prospecting. One of them is the Advocis Calgary Spring Sales Congress in May of 2008.

We continue to draw interest from Advocis Chapters in; Calgary, AB, Edmonton, AB, Thunder Bay, ON, Toronto, ON, and Winnipeg, MB. I'm thinking that it is time for me to circle back and reconnect with speaking opportunities that I have in Vancouver, BC as I am 50 - 100 speaking presentations more experienced since I last presented. Sometimes you have to go away and become an expert before you can be taken seriously. At the same time, I did a presentation five years ago and I really sucked.

We have received some excellent speaking testimonials along the way and I must pay attention to requesting more of them.

So...

If you know of or are a member of an Association that brings in outside speakers, please let us know.

If your Company holds office meetings, quarterly meetings or annual conferences where they bring in outside speakers, please let us know and Laura will follow up with you.

"I consult with advisors across Canada. Your content hits the nail right between the eyes! There is someone out there that really gets it."

Michael Tourond
Best Practices Chair, Advocis Greater Hamilton Chapter
Director of Communications, GAMA Canada
Tourond Financial
mike @ tourondfinancial.com

Leading Advisor Published In The Advocis Forum Magazine!

Our profile is also being magnified because The Advocis Forum Magazine published Are You Emotionally Retired And What To Do About It in the October Edition. http://www.advocis.ca/content/programs/archives07/FM-oct07.html

I offered Michael Tourond's testimonial because Michael saw me speak at the May 2007 Independent Financial Brokers Summit in Toronto, ON and Michael was responsible for our article being published in The Advocis Forum Magazine. Thank you Michael!

What's Next?

I am starting this E-Newsletter rather early as the September E-Newsletter did not get out until the end of September and I will be very busy after October 18th with 3 speaking presentations in Toronto, ON, two for The Independent Financial Brokers and one for Pro-Seminars and one speaking presentation in Thunder, Bay, ON for Advocis NorthWestern Ontario Chapter .

So it is a bit of a selfish e-newsletter as I want to focus on getting the book "editor ready" by October 15th.

So the assembly and writing of the book is back in full gear again now that Summer is over.

Again, I've just returned from being away since leaving last Thursday, September 27th for Gatineau, Quebec to present a custom 2 ½ workshop of Removing Your Roadblocks To Success for The Cumis Group's Pinnacle Conference. Laying over till Tuesday, October 2nd, where I presented Removing Your Roadblocks To Success to Pro-Seminars in Kitchener, ON and then onto Winnipeg, MB for a presentation on Wednesday, October 3rd.

I've had a great experience on this trip gaining an understanding that my goal of marketing my speaking to higher profile national and international speaking presentations to associations and companies is already in the works because I explained my goal to both Pro-Seminars Kitchener, ON and Winnipeg, MB audiences and I was immediately rewarded with speaking leads and opportunities from key decision makers from Banks, Investment Companies, Managing General Agencies and Pension Fund Companies. Of course these leads will require follow up which I will do while creating a Job Description for Speaking Sales & Marketing Associate which we look forward to hiring in the near future.

Rick Mercer Made The Book Real Easy For Me

Rick Mercer's comments ...

"I was moving my office and looked at all the documents on my computer so I decided to print them off. When I was done I figured I had a good enough stack and I thought that it could be made into a book so I gave it to an editor guy and they somehow made a book out of it!"

... Reminded me of the introductory comments that are in The Dip, by Seth Godin.

The Gist of The Dip

The gist of The Dip is about "getting" that quitting is a winning strategy. In essence, know when to quit or take a mini retirement to revaluate and outsource, outsource and outsource.

• Quit the wrong stuff.
• Stick with the right stuff and be the best in the world at that. If you can't be the best, why bother. Diversification is a lie. It is about your definition of "your world" versus "the world". No mediocrity at anything. Ordinary is not good enough. Strategic quitting versus reactive or serial quitting. The Dip provides you with the realization that something is worth doing. It is about the challenge. Know what you are getting, know if The Dip is too big or too deep, know when you are heading towards a cliff or a dead-end.
• Have the guts to do one or the other. Quit the wrong stuff. Stick with the right stuff.

Book Introduction

This leads me to the idea of writing the following Introduction to the Book,

This book is based on the hundreds and hundreds of articles, blogs, client conversations and speaking presentations that I have completed since 2005.

The Unmet Needs Disease - How To Prosper As A Financial Advisor by Meeting Your Unmet Needs

Unmet needs are the source of all of the limiting beliefs and limiting emotions that are contributing to the issues that are identified in the following Clear Values Scorecard.

I believe that the material in this book is the missing link to understanding the roadblocks that many financial advisors are facing in the industry and are the key ingredient to building a thriving financial advisor practice.

I think that I sucked myself into thinking that that the Book had to start off with "Once upon a time, there was a values based advisor that had three mean and ugly financial advisor partners that operated their practices from fear and scarcity" and again thinking that the book had to end off with " ... and they all lived functionally and happily ever after."

This dovetails into being holed up in airports, airplanes and hotels from Thursday, September 27th - Wednesday, October 3rd assembling my book by matching all of the existing articles that I have written to the type set version of Power Point version of Removing Your Roadblocks To Success.

When I was speaking with my beloved wife Laura on the phone about how lonely it can be for both of us when I am out on the road Laura said, "That is what writers do, they shut themselves up in hotel rooms for days so that they can focus on their writing".

The Inner Workings of Giving Thanks & Gratitude - 10 Tips

Thanksgiving Long Weekend - I'm thankful that I have taken the Saturday & Sunday and I'm on my way to making Monday three days in a row of non-business activity,

1. getting lots of extra sleep
2. puttering around the house getting it winter ready - storm doors and weather-stripping
3. meditation
4. journaling
5. reading
6. who knows, we may even go to a movie

Here is a link to The Inner Workings Of Giving Thanks which was published in the Saturday, October 6th edition of The Vancouver Sun. I have also in included Gratitude: 10 Tip as the bottom of this quote from: The Inner Workings Of Giving Thanks.

Henri Nouwen, the late Catholic psychologist and spiritual guide, began to deal with this challenging issue when he wrote: "To be grateful for the good things that happen in our life is easy, but to be grateful for all of our lives - the good as well as the bad, the moments of joy as well as the moments of sorrow, the successes as well as the failures, the rewards as well as the rejections - that requires spiritual hard work."

Gratitude: 10 tips

The Vancouver Sun Newspaper

Published: Friday, October 05, 2007

Sometimes gratitude comes easily. Often it's surprisingly elusive and difficult. Here are 10 suggestions for cultivating a practice of gratitude:

1. Keep a daily gratitude journal
Writing down your thoughts and feelings deepens them. Studies show people who keep gratitude journals tend to be happier, healthier and more successful at achieving goals. It is affirming to see much of your life as a gift. In your daily journal, try to not to be repetitive about those qualities or people for which you feel blessed. Recall them with vividness. Don't let the list grow stale.

2. Remember the bad
This may seem counter-intuitive. When you remember the worst things that happened to you, you remind yourself that you survived, made your way out of the dark and are now in a more pleasant place. Remembering what went wrong is an example of "counter-factual" thinking, a reminder of how things are now compared to how they could have been. As the saying goes: "It could have been worse."

3. Ask yourself three questions
This Buddhist technique involves answering three questions:

1. What have I received from ------------?


2. What have I given to -------------?


3. What troubles and difficulties have I caused?

The first question helps us avoid dwelling on our problems, the second helps sidestep a feeling of entitlement and the third asks us to reflect on our hurtful actions, which helps us realize we live by grace and good fortune.

4. Learn prayers of gratitude
Prayers of thanksgiving are among the most common types of prayer. Even if you are a secularist or a Buddhist who doesn't believe in a supreme being, you could follow the lead of Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh who each day offers a meditation of thanksgiving for "the wonders of life." If you find yourself having trouble offering thanks, try hoping "for the ability to be grateful."

5. Get in touch with your senses
The most cited trigger of happiness by people who keep gratitude journals is good health. Eighty per cent of journal writers in one study of gratitude cited feeling thanks for everything from not being fat to having eyes that can see and nostrils that can smell. When in doubt, bring attention to your breath, which is freely available to all, to reflect on being alive.

6. Use visual reminders
It may sounds corny and even mawkish, but wall plaques, fridge magnets or sticky saying "Give Thanks" or "Today is a Gift" can be effective reminders for overcoming two of the biggest barriers to the reality our lives are made easier by others: Forgetfulness and lack of mindful awareness.

7. Make a vow to practise gratitude
Swearing an oath can be a powerful motivator. When we break it, we feel moral failure. So when we vow not to take so many things for granted or count our blessings, we are greatly increasing the likelihood we'll change our habits.

8. Watch what you say
The words we use influence how we feel and act. They create reality. Cognitive therapists observe that depressed people constantly use negative self-talk, such as "Nobody likes me" or "I'm such a loser." Instead of focusing on regret and lack, grateful people tend to use words such as "blessed," "fortunate" and "gift."

9. Go through the motions
Sometimes pretending to be happy or loving can make us so. Same with gratitude. Going through the motions of saying "thank you" or writing letters of gratitude can make us more appreciative. If we stand around waiting for a feeling to move us, we might never get going.

10. Think outside the box
Gratitude can be practised in odd ways. For instance, the Dalai Lama talks about being grateful for his enemies, including the Chinese government that has oppressed his Tibetan people. Chinese authorities, he says, taught him patience. Sometimes we can also feel gratitude for those we help - since thankfulness is not really complete until it's expressed in outward action.

(Adapted from the work of psychologist Robert A. Emmons, of The University of California, Davis).

Thank you for sharing your time.



Simon Reilly
The Financial Advisor Coach
sreilly@leadingadvisor.com
1 877 248 6019