It’s a new year and new beginnings. Each year, one out of four American adults set New Year’s resolutions. However, nearly 68% fail within the first 30 days and even more shortly thereafter. Unfortunately, financial professionals are no different. In my 30-plus years of coaching, I have seen many of them make the same common mistakes, sabotaging themselves without even realizing it.
So what’s the difference between these well-intended individuals and the 8% who actually reach their goals?
Whether your 2022 goals are to acquire another firm, launch a new product, improve your internal processes or simply just build your book of business, how can you avoid the “New Year’s Resolution Sabotage?”
Let’s take a closer look at some of the common pitfalls advisors face when setting goals.
The Sabotage
While goal setting is an admirable activity, goal setters can end up being their own worst enemy. For example, an advisor I know seldom prospected for new clients. At the most, he spent one to two hours per month on client acquisition activities. So, for his New Year’s resolution, he was determined to spend 20 hours a week asking for and meeting with referrals—that’s four hours a day on this activity!
Not surprisingly, going from zero to 60-miles-per-hour in minutes usually doesn’t occur (unless you’re driving a Porsche or Tesla). He had set his goal so high that he instantly set an obstacle that would be almost impossible to jump over given his daily workload.
Unfortunately, when he was only able to fit an hour each day on his prospecting activities, he abandoned his goal. Depressed by his failure, he found himself hesitant to set goals in the future.
If instead he had looked at the fact that his one-hour of prospecting each day was a significant increase when compared to the one or two hours previously spent on it each month, he would have felt more satisfied with his accomplishment.
The advisor sabotaged his ability to achieve his New Year’s resolution in two ways:
1. He set an unrealistic goal that would have been difficult if not impossible to reach.
2. He didn’t give himself credit for what he had achieved.
Another advisor felt his energy level was affected because he was overweight. He set an aggressive goal to lose 30 pounds. Starting his diet off with a bang, for three weeks he ate healthier and exercised regularly. Then, on a night out with friends, he ate two slices of pizza. From that point forward, the entire program unwound.