2011 Planning – Get Complete

December 2, 2010 by Simon · Leave a Comment

I’m writing this Get Complete blog in advance of writing tomorrow’s 2011 Planning – Empty Your Mind blog.

The term Get Complete means that everything that you say, do, touch is fully complete so that they don’t come back to bite you.

Part of my Get Complete process includes:

Written Vision, Business Plan & Goals – this is where these Planning 2011 blogs are headed
Empty Your Mind – you can read about this in my Friday, December 3^rd, 2010 blog
Coaching Call Follow Up E-Mail – my coaching program includes changing a clients mind about doing the same thing over and over and over again and expecting a different result and I always send my clients a Coaching Call Follow Up E-Mail and that keeps my client and I on track
Computer Defragmentation & Disc Cleanup – getting complete is just like closing all your files on your computer and running the Computer Defragmentation & Disc Cleanup functions – your mind is just like a computer and the ROM memory where the computer software is stored is constantly being used to create, open, re-write and close computer files in the RAM memory and the files in the Ram memory are like a deck of cards that keeps getting shuffled and if you keep sorting and sorting and sorting the files … they started to get more and more disorganized taking up more and more of your RAM memory … and that is when you need to stop and Empty Your Mind.

Filed under: Vision & Planning
Tagged: financial advisor blog, Financial Advisor Coaching, Financial Advisor Training, financial planning, Investment Advisor Training

2011 Planning – Boundaries

December 1, 2010 by Simon · Leave a Comment

Weak boundaries are one of the key reasons that one doesn’t complete their Vision and Goals in advance for the incoming year and now is the time … January 2, 2011 is too late.

Boundaries help you to define who you are and are required in order for you to be you. You must have courage to define your boundaries and be very selfish instead of being selfless with giving and giving and giving so much that there is little left of your spirit to create your vision and goals to inspire you to go forward. Having strong boundaries says that you care about yourself to put the systems in place to create an imaginary energy barrier. When you have strong boundaries you have more energy and clients and associates respect you more.

One sets strong boundaries to stop the behaviours of others that take your time and energy away from you. You cannot grow without strong boundaries because one attracts needy and disrespectful people that waste a lot of time and energy because it is all about them. When you are giving and giving and giving so much that there is little left of your spirit … your business is running you instead of you running your business and this contributes to fear.

I kid my clients with the question; When are you going to stop running a Tim Horton’s Financial Advisor Drive-Through?

When a financial advisor has weak boundaries, they have trained some clients over time to think that they are running a Tim Horton’s Drive-Through.

You know the ones that:

Show up without an appointment
Call and avoid leaving a message with your assistant even though your assistant asks; “What is it regarding, perhaps one of our associates can help you and provide you with quicker service?” and the client’s reply is; “Just get him/her to call me back”.

These clients need to be retrained with:

Your assistant’s reply to the clients that show up without an appointment; “Joe Advisor is not available right now. Would you like to schedule an appointment?” and the client’s reply is; “I’ll drop back in a while” and your assistant’s reply to the client is; “With respect, Joe Advisor is booked solid so you need to book an appointment. Is Tuesday at 2pm or Wednesday at 10am better for you? Just to make sure, let me make sure that we have your contact e-mail and phone numbers.”
E-Mail; Dear Joe Client, Thank you for the opportunity to be your financial advisor and for leaving me a message. To serve you the best, please e-mail me back with your question and I will take immediate action to help you. Looking forward to being of service, Joe Advisor

Filed under: Vision & Planning
Tagged: financial advisor blog, Financial Advisor Coaching, Financial Advisor Training, financial planning, Investment Advisor Training

2011 Planning – Tolerations

November 30, 2010 by Simon · Leave a Comment

In Friday’s blog I talked about Imagifragmentation which can drive The First Deadly Sin Before All Other’s – Failing To Manage Your Projects & Time which is what I talked about in Monday’s blog.

Imagifragmentation and Failing To Manage Your Projects & Time can be fuelled by your tolerations.

Tolerations keep you from growing and going in the direction that you really want to go. Tolerations are distracting and they waste your positive energy and time. Tolerations take your eye off your vision and goals because of what you unconsciously put up with doing mediocre work just to get by because you think that you have too much to do and that you don’t have the time. When one is tolerating one is hypnotised and drawn into the energy in the black hole that tolerations create. When we tolerate we are focused on the consumption of our creative energy because we are reminded of things that are incomplete in our business and personal lives.

Tolerations are fixable and when they are fixed you can get the load off your back and you can be a lot happier because your energy is focused on bigger and brighter things.

We all get energy from one place or another. Where do you want your energy to come from? Do you want your energy to come from celebrating what is working in your business or personal life or from crucifying yourself for what is incomplete?

Fixing tolerations takes faith and a willingness to risk that your unmet needs based mind’s negative belief that you don’t have the time and negative emotion of anxiety are just hallucinations.

You have the time for anything that you are committed to and you really do have the time right now in December of 2010 to set the stage for 2011 based on values, positive beliefs and positive feelings like “doing complete work” and that you will receive time and energy three fold for every toleration that you complete on or create a plan of action and as a result you will feel more certain, confident and energized.

Before I talk about examples of tolerations, I want to say “forget how” and that “the solution will find you”.

The first step is making an honest list of your tolerations.

Tolerations

Assistant constantly makes mistakes
Business has no vision or plan
Clients are disrespectful, over demanding or ungrateful
Clients take more than you feel they give back
Computers and printers are out of date
Education is required
Income is up and down
Manager or partner always puts you down
Marketing is inconsistent
Office decor does not inspire you
Office doesn’t have the proper desks or filing cabinets
Office is in the wrong geographic location
Office is messy
Office is too small
Referrals are infrequent
Sales are inconsistent
Staff are not trained
Selling too many products
Serving anyone and everyone
Stress
Time runs you
Under financed

The second step is to make requests / create a plan of action / take the actions to eliminate these tolerations

Get that tolerations rob you of positive energy and feed you with the negative energy that comes with complaining and being a victim.

Be willing to commit to being toleration free.

Filed under: Vision & Planning
Tagged: financial advisor blog, Financial Advisor Coaching, Financial Advisor Training, financial planning, Investment Advisor Training

2011 Planning – The First Deadly Sin Before All Others

November 29, 2010 by Simon · Leave a Comment

Do you feel it yet?

Are you feeling:

Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!! - I have too much to do and I have no time – Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!

The spirit of the season?

source unknown

What is the first deadly sin before the other 7 deadly sins?

Lust
Gluttony
Greed
Sloth
Wrath
Envy
Pride

Failing to:

List your business and personal projects for December
Estimate the time required
Prioritize them for action
Schedule them

Failing to manage your business and personal projects and time breeds:

Wrath – You have too much to do.
Greed – You don’t have enough.
Sloth – You will never get it all done.
Pride – It is not that important ( the tasks that you have been blessed with).
Lust – You will get started as soon as you get _______________ ( the next big thing ).
Envy – You think that everyone seems to have a lot more time.
Gluttony – You try to do too many things at the same time.

The theme for my blogs from November 22, 2010 forward have been 2011 Planning and here are the titles so far:

Filed under: Vision & Planning
Tagged: financial advisor blog, Financial Advisor Coaching, Financial Advisor Training, financial planning, Investment Advisor Training

2011 Planning – Imagifragmentation

November 26, 2010 by Simon · Leave a Comment

Imagi … WHAT!!

According to this Google Search for Imagifragmentation, I’ve just created a new word because the word doesn’t exist! At the same time, does it really matter because I doubt anyone will be Googling Imagifragmentation any time soon?

The word Imagifragmentation came to me at the start of our holidays after being on a number of financial advisor speaking road trips for 20 of the last 28 days before our holiday.

While we are meeting our goals for 2010 with my main focus of coaching, speaking and writing … on top of this there are:

2011 business plan and marketing for coaching, speaking and workshops
Book update
Coaching and workshop product upgrades
Data base update
Powerpoint / speaking presentation creation for 2011
Powerpoint / speaking presentation qualification from Advocis / CLU for 2011
Show reel upgrades
Social media plan
Web site upgrades
Virtual assistant plan
… and that is just off the top of my mind … well not really, these are all 2011 projects

So when all the above was going on and on and on in my road warrior mind … on the first part of my holiday, I offered this post on FaceBook:

Simon Reilly - Laura on the beach doing Yoga … 3rd from left in the back … While I caught up on this thing called sleep

I received the following comment from my friend:

Bob Gignac - Hey – both of you (mostly Simon…) – catch up on a thing called “vacation” – shut the computer, iPhone and Crackberry off – yes, we’ll miss you…but we’ll be happy for you too…..just saying!

Bob gave me the pattern interrupt that I needed to put my iPhone down and I did.

As I got deeper and deeper into our holiday, my mind slowly started to slow down and I started to reconnect with my big picture imagination and the simple feelings that come from being a human being versus a human doing.

I remembered an advisor with a sparkle in his eye that was the best part of 80 years old coming up to me at the end of one of my financial advisor speaking presentations commenting about my thoughts on imagination and he offered me this quote;

“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.” – Albert Einstein

So at this juncture, as we near the end of 2010, I’m investing time to restore my imagination and spending December being a human being versus being a human doing and this includes less time on Web 2.0 which is Social Media.

In my mind:

Web 1.0 is Web Site, Blog and E-Newsletter.
Web 2.0 is FaceBook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

Web 1.0 is enough for me for now as my Web Site, Blog and E-Newsletter are automatically posted to FaceBook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

I believe I’m using the same strategy as marketing and blogging expert Seth Godin … post a blog and automatically post to FaceBook, LinkedIn and Twitter … that is it. Check out Seth Godin’s November 24^th blog entitled Where Do Ideas Come From?

I want to restore my Imagination for bigger things for 2011.

My thoughts are coming off of this very sobering quote that is included in my 2011 Planning – Take A Think Week Blog …

In an age where we are connecting to everything through our phones, internet, facebook, twitter, etc; we are constantly being interrupted. A couple of years ago, I heard a statistic that having a Blackberry is equivalent to smoking two joints because you are always being interrupted, and never really “here”. Just think about that for a second.

Filed under: Vision & Planning
Tagged: financial advisor blog, Financial Advisor Coaching, Financial Advisor Training, financial planning, Investment Advisor Training

Plan · Play · Profit – November 2010

November 25, 2010 by Simon · Leave a Comment

This Year’s Best Practices

Plan · Play · Profit | November 2010

Welcome to the November 2010 edition of our Plan · Play · Profit E-Newsletter!

Laura and I got home on Saturday, November 20^th from an 8 day holiday in Nuevo Vallarta that followed me being on a financial advisor speaking road trip that had me on the road for 20 of the last 28 days speaking to thousands of financial advisors in 12 different cities which all started back on October 16^th.

I managed to produce my October Plan · Play · Profit E-Newsletter on October 22 while I was on the road, and I am feeling stretched to produce my November 2010 edition at this late date.

I’ve two reasons for not being rich in content rich at this time.

One reason is I was on a tour bus for the second week of November speaking at 4 different cities, and while I enjoyed the conversation while on the road and at dinner each night there wasn’t a lot of time to write.

The other reason that I am not content rich is I have been taking courses to be licensed and certified to facilitate The One Page Business Plan® and I will be introducing The One Page Business Plan® in my December 2010 edition of our Plan · Play · Profit E-Newsletter.

Why have I been taking courses to be licensed and certified to facilitate The One Page Business Plan®?

I believe I have mastered how to Clear Your Roadblocks and once the roadblocks are cleared, it is time to put ones’ Vision, Mission, Objectives and Actions onto one page so that it is in writing, clear and holds one accountable to meet and exceed their dreams and goals.

You can read about The One Page Business Plan® Philosophy, Methodology, Why It Works and The Benefits in the following overview:

The One Page Business Plan® Overview

Alignment…Accountability…Results

Philosophy

Every business leader must have a plan
It is essential that it is in writing
Using your words, not boiler plate
And one page is enough!

One Page Planning Methodology

Uses key words & short phrases
Five elements that work together
- Vision
- Mission
- Objectives
- Strategies
- Action Plans
Provocative, simple guiding questions
- Vision What are you building?
- Mission Why does this business exist?
- Objectives What result will we measure?
- Strategies How will we build this company?
- Action Plans What it the work to be done?
Never start with a blank page
Fill in the blanks prompters
Lots of examples
Creative graphical tools
Focus on what is important
Create ownership & accountability

Why One Page Business Plan® Works

Makes a complex process simple.
Focuses people on what’s important
Versatile – works equally well for projects, programs, depts., divisions, companies.
Consistency – all use the same format
Easy to update to reflect latest thinking
Creates common language
Process is very intuitive.

Benefits

Less time is spent on planning…more on implementation
Plans are more effective; the business leader and each manager has one that integrates to the consolidated plan.
Communications are stronger between depts. because everyone sees each other’s plans.
With short learning curve, focus is on planning, implementation and results…not learning complicated methodology.
Results are more predictable; everyone knows the plan.

Here are the best E-Newsletters on Best Practices that I have written this year:

Thank you for the opportunity to be of
service.

Simon Reilly
The Financial Advisor Coach
1 877 248 6019

Please visit www.LeadingAdvisor.com for more Financial Advisor Resources and Training

Filed under: Newsletter
Tagged: financial advisor blog, Financial Advisor Coaching, Financial Advisor Training, financial planning, Investment Advisor Training

2011 Planning – Take A Think Week

November 24, 2010 by Simon · Leave a Comment

Thanks to my technology guru, Kim Black, for sharing this super article with Chris Barrow my coach who posted this on his blog recently. This relates to the theme of Planning 2011 and is well worth a read…

Take a Bill Gates-Style “Think Week” to Recharge Your Thinking

Entrepreneur and blogger Michael Karnjanaprakorn highlights the value of taking time off specifically to relax and clear your head, highlighting several notable creators—including Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, and Steve Jobs—who regularly take “think weeks” to invigorate their thinking.

Note: Taking a whole week to focus on your own personal development may seem like an “in my dreams” scenario, but you don’t have to travel across the globe to enjoy some of the same benefits of a “think week”.

A couple of weeks ago, I headed down to Montezuma, Costa Rica to spend a week at Anamaya Resort for my “think week”, which consisted of a lot of yoga, meditation, reading, and eating. If you haven’t taken a week off to reflect on your past and your future, it’s something I highly recommend. Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, and Bill Gates have done it. You should too. In fact, there have been articles written on the “think weeks” that Bill Gates takes every year:

Essentially, for many years, Gates went into seclusion for two, one-week “Think Weeks” a year. Family, friends and Microsoft employees were banned from his retreat.

A lot of the innovations that evolved out of Microsoft came from these “Think Weeks” that Bill Gates would take every year. While I was in Costa Rica, I reflected on my personal goals and aspirations, which allowed me to reset and recharge by really taking a 50,000 view of everything that was going on throughout my life.

I created a life to-do list, did a lot of research on happiness (where I learned that it’s about the frequency, not the quality of positive experiences.) I focused on my personal development (not career development). I went for a hike in the woods. I learned how to cook organic food. I read 3 books I’ve been meaning to finish forever. I did yoga and meditation everyday, which cleared my mind. And I sat for hours and just stared at my beautiful surroundings during the morning sunrise.

It was an enlightening experience that allowed me to make a clear decision on what I wanted to do next with my personal and professional life.

By disconnecting from the world, time moved really slow. I really got to enjoy the moment, which we often neglect in our chaotic worlds. This is the time worth cherishing, which is more valuable than the time that flies by because you’re working hard on something “you’re passionate” about.

As many of you know, I’m the Co-Creator of The Feast. We just finished our fourth conference last Friday, which was a huge success. If you didn’t get a chance to attend, I highly recommend watching the videos on our Livestream. (And thanks to everyone that attended!)

Unfortunately, the conference portion of The Feast will cease to exist as I believe the value of conferences are diminishing (I have also limited myself to attend one conference in 2011). Instead, our team will organize “Feast Retreats” for 20 people (max) where we will ban cell phone/WiFi usage throughout the weekend. My goal is to share what I learned during my time off with The Feast community. There will be lots of yoga, healthy eating, and personal development to show the value and power of taking time off.

So, as you start working, hustling, and bustling on your ideas, take a step back and think about the power of time off. If Stefan Sagmeister can take a year off every seven years for his sabbatical, you can take a week off every year for yourself. Like Caterina Fake says, “Working on the right thing is probably more important than working hard.” And, I mean, who doesn’t want to go hang out in the jungle in Costa Rica for 10 days? It could be the difference between burning yourself out, success, and maximizing your personal happiness and well-being.

Taken from The Power of Time Off [Michael Karnjanaprakorn]

Filed under: Vision & Planning
Tagged: financial advisor blog, Financial Advisor Coaching, Financial Advisor Training, financial planning, Investment Advisor Training

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