Break a slump by establishing momentum

At some point in their careers, advisors hit a slump. So how do you get out of this rut? An MDRT member shares what he did to rebound.

Steven Yam Seng Yee, CIAM, ChFC, a 26-year MDRT member from Singapore, recalls a slump when he was only halfway toward requalifying for MDRT with two months left in the year. The pressure was on because his wife, Shirley Lim-Yam, ChFC, CLU, now a 23-year MDRT member, just joined the business, qualified for MDRT membership and planned to attend her first MDRT Annual Meeting with her husband. Yam had to hit his goals if he was to accompany her. He practically disappeared from the office during those last couple of months, hitting the road with the motivation to meet new prospects so he could accompany Shirley at the meeting. After almost four decades of riding peaks and valleys in this profession, his elixir for rebounding is to build momentum with activity. Rather than dwelling on the numbers you must attain to reach a goal, focus on what you can do today.

“To get back on track, I look at how I can win today,” Yam said. “To me it’s about getting back into the winning spirit, because the moment we are in a momentum, we’re in a winning spirit, and I’m winning one day at time with the activities that I’m saying I want to do.”

His first step is going back to the basics and asking himself why is it important to stay in this profession? Why am I an advisor? What’s in it for me? Yam explains that if he can’t answer the why, then staying in the slump is too easy. The answers to his whys are supporting his family and fulfilling his calling to take care of clients. If an advisor is still disheartened by how far away accomplishing their goals seem to be, then control the controllables, such as the attitude you bring into each day and focus on activities, not the numbers that remind you how short you are of your goal.

No advisor controls whether a prospect will do business with them or not, but everyone can control who they call. Yam explained that if he reaches out to 10 people but only closes one deal, he doesn’t see the rejections and ignored voicemails as a sign that there is something wrong with him. Rather, he sees the 10 calls contributed to his one success because nine calls perhaps taught him how to handle difficult personalities or sharpen his presentation to land the single sale. 

“When I focus on activities instead of looking at where I am in a slump, I’m looking at getting back on track and winning one day at a time. Then I feel more confident, and it’s easier for me to get back on track,” Yam said.

This was excerpted from the 2023 January/February 2023 Round the Table article “Break the slump.” You can read the full article online and learn about more MDRT members who struggled with a slump and came back.