I recently attended the National Speakers Association's (NSA) national convention. It's a place where smart people (authors, speakers and consultants) who help people be more successful in business and in life get together to learn from each other.

Some of the conversations and experiences I had there inspired me to share a few ideas in my column this month that may help you be a more successful financial advisor and a happier human being.

One of my favorite people in the NSA is Peter Vidmar. Peter is a gymnast who won two gold medals and one silver at the 1984 Summer Olympic games in Los Angeles. He is currently the chairman of the board of USA Gymnastics, and this year he turned 50 years old. That's important to note because he's still very fit. And being fit is vital for a man who makes his living giving speeches and demonstrating key principles about success in tights on a stage using a pommel horse as a prop. What's a pommel horse, you ask? See photo. The contraption below Peter is "the horse."

When I first met Peter he was 35. And I thought it was impressive that at age 35 he could still perform on the pommel horse the same routine that had scored a perfect 10 at the Olympic Games, thus winning him the gold medal and making him the first U.S. male gymnast to win any Olympic medal. At age 50, he's still doing that routine! By now I thought he would be telling the stories while showing video of what he used to be able to do on the pommel horse.

We chatted for a couple of hours at this year's NSA convention and I asked him how he's still able to do that pommel horse routine on stages in front of hundreds or thousands of people at a time at age 50. His response was simple. "The reason I can still do it is because I never stopped doing it."

How many ways does that apply to you as a financial advisor?

For some things, personal and professional, you can probably pat yourself on the back because you never stopped doing them and you're glad you didn't because you are strong today as a result. Maybe there are some other areas where you have let important success muscles atrophy and you need to get them activated again so you can achieve your goals. Consider those things that you must never stop doing in order to be successful and remain successful in the financial services business.

Peter has another great saying that I have been quoting for 15 years, "To be a champion you only have to do two things: 1. Work out when you feel like it. 2. Work out when you don't feel like it." And the same is true to be a champion financial advisor. To be successful, you have to do things that produce results on the days when you do feel like it and on the days when you don't feel like it. The financial markets have been volatile. The economy is fragile. Governments are broken. The world is chaotic. Let yourself be distracted by these external events and you will struggle to be a successful FA. Do the work of acquiring and serving ideal clients regardless of all the external events you can't control and you will have the career of a champion.

Watch a video of Peter in action at www.petervidmar.com.

Ken Dychtwald, Ph.D., www.agewave.com, is a gerontologist who has spent the better part of the past four decades studying the aging population, especially the baby boomers.

The implications for financial advisors are numerous and significant.

The conclusion of Ken's work is pretty simple: People are living longer, in many cases longer or much longer than they ever thought they would. Ken describes this as the "longevity bonus." And he asks you and your clients this very important question, "When do you want to spend your longevity bonus?" According to Dr. Dychtwald, people want to spread their longevity bonus over their remaining lifetime, not save it for the end.

Your clients are redefining what it means to "retire." Their thinking about what they do with their life, their time and their money is changing. This means you have to be more adaptable in your planning as your clients adjust when they choose to retire, how they choose to spend their non-work time and how much it will cost.

What about you? How will you spend your longevity bonus? You are in an amazing business that allows you to earn all the money you need to pay for your present lifestyle, have time freedom and help people. It's a perfect business to spend your longevity bonus by adjusting your work schedule and taking more time off every week, month, quarter or year.

Jim Cathcart, a legend around the NSA who is author of the books Relationship Selling and The Acorn Principle, has said many profound and powerful things in his long career of helping others succeed. My personal favorite is, "The future you see defines the person you must be." In other words, you will only be as successful to the degree you have a clear vision about your future, and your future vision of success will be the driving force for you to become the person and FA you need to become in order to make that future happen.

I realize that you drink from a fire hose of information every day, mostly about things that are outside of your control. As mentioned earlier: volatile financial markets, broken governments, weak economy, life in a chaotic world-and prospects and clients who are struggling to make sense of it all. Create a vision for yourself and your business that inspires you to become who you need to become so you can have the life and the business you really want, regardless of external events outside of your control. Learn more about Jim at www.jimcathcart.com.

Are you fascinating? Sally Hogshead, the Chief Fascination Officer, thinks you should know how fascinating you are now and learn how you can be more fascinating. That's why she created the F Score test. According to Sally, there are seven fascination triggers: Power. Passion. Prestige. Mystique. Alarm. Rebellion. Trust. Go to www.fscoretest.com to learn more about how you naturally persuade and captivate. It's not just fascinating, it could help you achieve your goals.

Mike Rayburn and Dan Thurmon were two of the five 2011 inductees into the Professional Speaker Hall of Fame. In the NSA world, this is a BIG deal. Mike Rayburn has been called the "world's funniest guitar virtuoso." While he is definitely very funny and truly a guitar virtuoso, the way Mike can help you be a more successful FA is by challenging you to seriously consider the question, "What if?" It's a simple little question that can be very creatively and powerfully applied to your business and your life. Pick up a copy of his book, What If? at www.MikeRayburn.com.

While you're there, order one of Mike's CDs to hear a unique brand of comedy and music that is sure to make your day ... even on a day when the Dow's off a few hundred (or thousand) points. What if you really can create your ideal life by building an ideal business exclusively with ideal clients? What if ...?

Dan Thurmon has a unique approach to achieving life balance: Forget about it! Instead, he proposes that you live your life "off balance on purpose." Every day, we are inundated with messages about the importance of finding "balance" in our lives. How does this make us feel? Overwhelmed, out of touch and unfulfilled. The problem isn't us-it's the message. Perfect balance is unachievable and, upon closer inspection, undesirable. The perpetual quest for balance ends up limiting growth, progress and the quality of life.

In Off Balance On Purpose, Thurmon frees you from the "balance" dilemma and empowers you to adopt a new approach to creating a happy, fulfilling life: embrace reality, get aligned with your purpose, lean forward and initiate positive changes. These steps will give you the knowledge, strength and motivation to:

Accept and take advantage of the contradictions in your daily life.
Integrate the five vital areas of life-work, relationships, health, spiritual growth and personal interests-into a workable, fluid, sustaining pattern.
Adopt a practical, concrete process for orchestrating changes and staying aligned with your purpose.
Learn more at www.danthurmon.com.

These are just a few of the many great people with great ideas I could have written about this month. I hope these insights that made a difference for me will also make a difference for you.

The bottom line is that no matter what happens with the volatile markets, the broken governments, the weak economy or the chaotic world events, your success is right where it has always been and always will be: in your hands.

For 23 years, Bill and his team have been helping advisors attain top 1% success as measured by value delivered to the client, financial success and quality of life. To learn more go to www.billbachrach.com or call 800-347-3707 to schedule a Success Road Map® consultation.