These are wise words but do we always heed the advice they give us? As 2021 gets underway, despite the impact of Covid-19, Michelle Hoskin has sound and practical tips on how you can boost the success of your business and build the life you love into the bargain.
Vision. It’s a tiny word which has well and truly been drowned out by all the noise around Covid-19, lockdown, government decisions and of course more study, more exams and the dayto-day complexities of running a professional practice in financial services.
Without wanting to sound like a broken record (here I go again): we all know that the only way to create any level of success is to keep all those playing the long game firing on all cylinders. We need to make sure that their batteries are properly charged, and that they are feeling so good it’s as if they have been shot out of a rocket as opposed to shot by a rocket!
And that is exactly how I want us all to feel as we bounce: suitably relaxed and recharged.
Bang the drum
So here we go. I know where the drum is and let me be clear – it needs a good old bang to get us suitably fired up to take on what I am sure will be an equally challenging and crazy 2021.
As the innovator, the visionary, the financial planner, the financial adviser, the business owner and of course the leader of your people, you need to hear me.
Look in the mirror
So, let me ask you to look at yourself now. How energised are you? Are your batteries charged or are you running on empty? Are you ready to be shot out of a rocket or do you feel like you’ve just been shot by one? I suspect the latter is true. But how come?
I was once asked to speak at a conference where the theme was ‘energise advice’. Honestly, I actually thought it was a joke. When I was asked how I intended to do that, my response was quite simple. To energise advice, we have to energise those giving it.
And let me tell you, you are going to need more than the usual CPD to gen up on that one!
I see it every day. The fallout from the work that you do and the demands and challenges that you face are slowly but surely sucking every last ounce of energy and life out of each single one of you. Add Covid-19 to the equation and we have a sector of planners and teams who are literally exhausted.
Back to the future
The best thing about the future is that it hasn’t happened yet. The even better thing about the future is that, when it does happen, it is going to be one day at a time. Each of us are faced with enough distractions to sink a battleship right now, so let’s kick the non-essential distractions into touch and start 2021 as we mean to go on.
Now, I might not have a magic wand (well, I do!), but this one is all on you. I believe that, right now, you are holding the magic wand to your business but you just need to be shown where to point it and how to use it.
It’s time to not just survive but thrive. To do this, you need to be firing on all cylinders. Your batteries need to be charged, the barrel loaded and ready to feel like you have literally been shot out of that rocket!
But there is a but
Ok there is a BUT and it is a big BUT.
It has been tough and I’m under no illusions that we are done with this awful pandemic – the pressures will keep coming. No one has had it easy and none of us are getting out of this unscathed. This is why your purpose and what you are trying to achieve have to be greater than the pain you are going to feel achieving it.
Let me ask – who or what is on your mind when you make decisions? Is it you, your family, your lifestyle, your team or even your friends? Or are you making decisions in the best interests of your business as a whole? Decision-making seems to be a real stumbling block for many business owners. I don’t know why that is, as they seem to make such an easy job of it when they are doing it every day on behalf of their clients. The truth is that every decision you make has to do one job and one job only: to take you and all who share your journey with you one step closer to achieving the true vision of the business. Nothing else – just that.
