Be more intentional in how you spend your time.
For 10 years, John was on the Leukemia Society Board. He just thought it was a great organization and he wanted to be involved. In fact, he was the president. And then, out of the blue in 2010, John got diagnosed with AML, an acute form of Leukemia. Without treatment, he’d be dead in a few months.
“I spent 30 days initially in the hospital, got me into remission, and spent five more months back in the hospital going through chemotherapy and it was a very, very dark period of my life. When I came out the other end of that, I had a perspective that I didn't have before about life and what matters. And that's when time started to become really important to me. That makes you really think about your life and what time you have and how you can control that. We all have a certain amount of time, and we all have to be really thoughtful about how we allocate it.”
You don’t have to go through a near-death experience like John did to understand the importance of time. Instead, just follow these three steps.
1. Get clear on what you value. You can use my free values clarification tool kit to find this clarity—get the tool kit by clicking here.
2. Know your top priorities. I’m still amazed at how few advisors have a formal business planning process. If you don’t, take the time to identify what your top three business priorities are and the leading activities that will drive your desired outcomes.
3. Block your time. It’s not sexy but it works. Block your calendar to ensure you stay focused on your top priorities.
This special industry.
What I love about this industry is that we’re able to put the kinds of big picture revelations John has experienced about health, happiness and time into action—both for ourselves, and for our clients. We have the ability to transform lives, but only if we’re committed to our practices for the long run. I think at the finish line you’ll find a more rewarding practice, clients whose lives have been transformed by your work, and a like-minded community of advisors who will continue to push our industry during the next leg of the race.
Steve Sanduski, CFP, is the founder of Belay Advisor, the CEO of ROL Advisor, a discovery process technology system, a New York Times bestselling author, host of the Between Now and Success podcast, international speaker and blogger.