6 Mistakes To Avoid Before Creating A Succession Plan or Business Plan
January 28, 2013 by Simon · Leave a Comment
Business Plans – A Tool or Curse?
February 8, 2011 by Simon · Leave a Comment
- We have one, but don’t use it – it’s out of date
- It was so poorly written, we can’t use it
- I don’t have one and I feel guilty and I feel I am not taken seriously
- I’ve tried several times & have just given up!
- They are always too long & never say the right things.
Simon Reilly Makes The Final Round Of Advisor.ca Visionary Poll!
Dear All,
I’ve made the final round for Advisor.ca’s ‘Name That Visionary Poll’.
The Advisor.ca ‘Name That Visionary Poll’ started last April. The first step was nomination, the second step was shortlisting the top twenty and this final round is choosing a winner from the top ten so please click here to cast your vote for me.
There are two ways I could have played this:
- Pretending to be a shy and demure Canadian, because that is what Canadians do, in the hope that people will vote anyway – ”I don’t take part in these celebrity competitions because it’s beneath me”
- Bold, outrageous and provocative – ”asking for the business” – vote for me because I love the exposure!
Another reason that I am doing this is to demonstrate the power of E-Nurture Marketing & Social Media as you are a reader of my Blog or E-Newsletter and we were initially introduced through financial advisor speaking or via the internet.
Honestly, it would cost tens of thousands to receive the exposure that this poll can create.
So I’m asking for your help.
The next step is to vote for one of the top ten finalists and you can do this by CLICKING HERE & PLEASE VOTE FOR ME.
Again, why am I asking?
■ The exposure is absolutely great for my professional career development
■ The publicity is a vindication for all the hard work done with clients and the philosophy and ideas that we share in these and other pages
■ The encouragement to me to keep fighting the fight for quality career and independent financial advisors
■ My coaches and mentors all get to take a break as my unmet need of recognition is satisfied
To vote CLICK HERE.
Please note that given Advisor.ca is a publication for financial and investment advisors, I humbly submit that I do not profess to be a Financial or Investment Visionary as far as financial planning, products and services.
If one were to see me as a Visionary it may be because of doing my best to walk my talk as a Financial & Investment Advisor Coach, Speaker & Writer that uses systems like a E-Nurture Marketing & Social Media in their own practice and this is why I suppose I gained the nomination in the first place for Advisor.ca Visionary Poll.
To vote CLICK HERE.
Your Plans For 2010 – Experiment Or Theory?
January 4, 2010 by Simon · Leave a Comment
Laura and I and our friends Lea & George had a quiet New Years Eve taking in the new Sherlock Holmes movie. I don’t know whether I was tired and could not get into the movie or I’ve been spoiled forever by Avatar’s stunning 3 D standard. The good news is Johnny Depp is coming in March with Alice In Wonderland in 3 D.
The one thing that I did come away with from the movie was this Sherlock Holmes quote played by Robert Downey Jr.; “is it the theory that proves the experiment or the experiment that proves the theory?”
This quote or question resonated with the following activities that I had over the holidays;
- I read a remarkable series of articles in January 2010’s Wired Magazine; FAIL – Screw Ups, Disasters, Misfires, Flops ~ Why Loosing Big can be Winning Strategy
- I invested time in writing a One Page Business Plan
The FAIL – Screw Ups, Disasters, Misfires, Flops article offered that scientists have theories of what is supposed to happen in the experiment yet the results of the experiment often contradict the theory of what was supposed to have happened.
For a moment, if you go down the route of Quantum Physics and change the word theory for belief and buy into the notion that “thoughts are real forces” then you would have to subscribe to the notion that the observer of the experiment and their core beliefs create the result of the experiment. It would stand to reason to be conscious of what you believe before entering into an experiment or business plan.
“A theory is something nobody believes, except the person who made it. An experiment is something everybody believes, except the person who made it.” – Albert Einstein
Isn’t a business plan an experiment?
Then theories are just a bunch of good or ideas until proven by first flushing them out in writing in a good business plan.
Is your business plan written and are you in action this first working day of 2010?
I’ll leave you with the follow quotes;
“A theory can be proved by experiment but no path leads from experiment to the birth of a theory.” – Albert Einstein
“All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Everybody’s a mad scientist, and life is their lab. We’re all trying to experiment to find a way to live, to solve problems, to fend off madness and chaos.” – David Cronenberg
“It doesn’t matter how beautiful your theory is, it doesn’t matter how smart you are. If it doesn’t agree with experiment, it’s wrong” – Richard Feynman
“No amount of experimentation can ever prove me right; a single experiment can prove me wrong.” – Albert Einstein
This last quote from Einstein goes into answering the question of why so many business people don’t have a business plan … they are afraid of being wrong.
“I learned this, at least, by my experiment: that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. He will put some things behind, will pass an invisible boundary; new, universal, and more liberal laws will begin to establish themselves around and within him; or the old laws be expanded, and interpreted in his favor in a more liberal sense, and he will live with the license of a higher order of beings. In proportion as he simplifies his life, the laws of the universe will appear less complex, and solitude will not be solitude, nor poverty poverty, nor weakness weakness. If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.” – Henry David Thoreau
Pay Attention To Compliance, It Isn’t Going To Go Away
November 26, 2009 by Simon · Leave a Comment
While preparing for last week’s Compliance & The Elimination Of Rogue Behaviours financial advisor speaking presentation for Advocis Ottawa, I came to me that Compliance isn’t the issue.
The issue is we are being fuelled by The Culture Of Fear that we have been hammered with in this new millennium from questionable wars, oil shortages, the environment, the economy through to the fear of a pandemic and possible inflation on the horizon.
In the middle of all of this is the rogue behaviours of a few financial advisors have been overselling questionable products with excess commissions to unqualified clients.
Compliance is not going to go away so learn to pay Attention.
Pay Attention to Attention Management so that your valuable time and energy isn’t sucked away majoring in minor things.
Pay Attention to building the following components of your business to include a big vision to add value to those you serve which in turn will yield a bigger income that will fund the team and the systems that you need to remain compliant.
- Values, Positive Feelings, Positive Beliefs
- Vision
- Business / Marketing Plan
- Budget Cash Flow
- Goals
- Hiring & Delegation
- Customer Service
- Product Focus
- Relationship Management
- Time Management
- More Profit
- Attention Management –> Quitting
To remain Compliant you have to Quit the Routine that is killing you and pay more Attention to Compliance.
39 Blocked
September 14, 2009 by Simon · Leave a Comment
A car is picking me up for the airport and I will be traveling until 8pm ET today to North Bay, Ontario so e-mail will be returned on Tuesday.
Here is a picture of my Week At A Glance “Timanager” Action Planner for the week of September 13th – 20th that includes all of my travel, coaching, speaking, personal activities and time blocks for projects work that are listed below ( time blocks = X for travel time and hotel room time that can be used for project work ).
One can go from “I have too much to do” and “I have no time” to “look at all the time that I have this week on the road to complete creative projects!!!”
I’m on the road this week to speak at Advocis North Bay, Ontario and Advocis Kingston, Ontario on Wednesday and Thursday. I’m flying Monday to acclimatize to ET and flying home on Friday afternoon.
Aside from the speaking and a few client calls this week, because it is a telephone coaching off week, I have 39 Hours of Block Time that I can invest in the following creative projects;
Projects
- Speaking PowerPoint Upgrade & Prep
- Speaking Camera Dry Run
- Optimism Research
- Market The Clear Your Roadblocks Coaching GYM
- Film Speaking Presentations For Show Reel Footage
- Schedule Appointments With Speaking COIs
- E-Mail To Invite Participants To The Clear Your Roadblocks Coaching GYM
- Follow Up MDRT Vancouver 2010
- Associate To The Sales Goals That We Wish To Attract
- Sales Page For The Leading Advisor Clear Your Roadblocks Workshop & GYM
- Sales Page For One On One Coaching & The Clear Your Roadblocks Coaching GYM
- Article On “Free”
- Upgrade The Leading Advisor Clear Your Roadblocks Private Web Site for participants of The
- Clear Your Roadblocks Coaching GYM
- Order Camtasia
- Work With Kim Black On Marketing & Web
- Mind Map Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace and Twitter And Upgrade Same
- Reflect On Marketing & Sales Training For Laura
- Decide On IFB Fall Speaking
Routine
- Client E-Mails
- Team E-Mails
- Blog
- Give Thanks
Time Management Re-Visited Part 1
August 13, 2009 by Simon · Leave a Comment
13 Simple Steps to Time Management – Part 1
1. What are your beliefs about time?
Are you saying?
- I don’t have enough time
- There is too much to do
- I’ll never get it all done
Whatever you believe, you are right.
This reminds me of a quote from John Kehoe, author of Mind Power. ‘Thoughts are real forces’.
What if you were to adopt the belief of;
- I have an abundance of time for anything that I am committed to doing!
In your journal, draw two columns on a page, make a list of all of the limiting beliefs that you have about time in the left column.
In the right column, write down the antithesis or opposite positive belief to the negative belief.
Practice focusing on the positive beliefs on a regular basis.
You can do the same process with your goals also.
2. Plan Your Day
- Make a list of everything you have to do every day
- Prioritize the list into A’s, B’s, and C’s
- Do the most important things first, the second most important things second, the third things third
3. Do Your ABC’s
- A’s are the things that you must do today
- B’s are the things that you would like to do today
- C’s are the things that are not essential for you to do today
4. Check in every 15 minutes
To make sure that you are on track, every 15 minutes ask yourself; Is what I am doing right now taking action towards the intended outcome of my goal?
Some people go so far as to setting an alarm on their watch or computer to keep them on track.
If the answer to the question is no then;
- Stop doing it
- Find someone else to do it
- Record it on a list to schedule for future action
- Forget it
5. Form The Habit Of Allowing 5 to 15 Minutes To Review Your To-Do List
They say it takes 21 days to break a bad habit. What if, for the next 21 days, you formed the habit of allowing yourself 5 to 15 minutes at the beginning of your day, every single day, to review your list – add to it, subtract from it, and re-prioritize it.
Dedicate 5 to 15 minutes to;
- Make your to-do list
- Prioritize it into A’s, B’s, and C’s
- Estimate the time to compete each to-do
- Schedule the to-do in your diary
- Complete the to-do.
6. Use A Week At A Glance 24/7 Diary
For me personally, I find that I like to be able to view my schedule for the entire week. All I have to do is review my to-do list, prioritize it, estimate the time and schedule the time into my Week At A Glance 24/7 Diary.
Do Versus Teach
June 24, 2009 by Simon · Leave a Comment
At the Kelowna airport at 5:15pm PT on Wednesday awaiting an 8:35pm flight to Nanaimo via Vancouver.
Feel ing thankful as the live financial advisor coaching practice visit was a success and I covered everything on the Agenda.
Someone once said; “those that can do and those that can’t teach”.
This live financial advisor coaching practice visit was great for my client and for me because we worked shoulder to shoulder writing the entire plan complete with systems and then some.
I’m settling in for a few hours and I’ll use the time that I have waiting for the flight to write the June Clear Your Roadblocks E-Newsletter.
Wednesday – Friday have a lite schedule of coaching and prospect calls and that is it for the month as Laura and I are taking a Staycation next week.
Here are the Phase 1 Objectives / Systems that we created in the live financial advisor coaching practice visit
Objectives Phase 1
- Create a Vision
- Create a Leadership, Decision, Meeting and Time Managment System
- Earn $552,000 by June 30, 2010
- Create an inspired, enthusiastic, productive and profitable team
- Create an Office Managment System
- Create a Bookkeeping and an Accounting Delegation System
- Create an In House Financial Planning Marketing System
- Create a Prospect / Seminar Follow Up System
- Create a Qualification and Enrolment Sales System
- Qualify Customer Service
Objectives Phase 2
- Create a Financial Planning Web Site
- Create a Financial Planning Marketing Funnel
- Create a Financial Planning Associate Advisor Marketing System
- Create a New Position Job Description
-
-
Dates for 2012 TBA - stay tuned!
-
Now Reading
Planned books:
- Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
- The Book Of Air And Shadows: A Novel by Michael Gruber
Current books:
-
Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
Recent books:
- The Brave: A Novel by Nicholas Evans
- The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway
- The Angel’s Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
- Shadow Of The Wind by Carlos Zafon
- The Outlander by Gil Adamson
