Throughout the years, MDRT members have shared and refined the key fundamentals that drive their long-term success as financial advisors. There’s no secret formula — just six essential principles they have consistently followed. Discover what these fundamentals are and how you can apply them to grow your business, strengthen client relationships and elevate your career.
Success fundamentals
- Set a plan. Plan for today, this week, this month, this year, five years, 10 years. Include your spouse in the plan so they understand that all the hard work is really short-term pain for long-term gain.
- Put timetables on the plan. In this way, plans become goals. Don’t just plan to lead the company in production or become Top of the Table. Plan to lead the company in production this year or achieve Top of the Table in three years. Always set goals that are a little beyond your grasp. Then attain them by breaking the goals down into smaller monthly goals, then smaller weekly and daily goals.
- Lead disciplined lives. The most successful people in any field have the ability to endure the unwelcome to achieve the desirable. In most cases, financial advisors become successful because they were willing to do the things that unsuccessful advisors are not willing to do.
- Enthusiasm. Understand that your highest to lowest enthusiasm levels are directly proportional to the length of time since your last sale. Keep your activity level high to keep the gap between sales narrow.
- Positive mental attitude. Never allow yourself to get down. You will never ask a top advisor, “How are you doing?” without receiving a positive response. Top financial advisors have setbacks like everyone else, but they have the innate ability to turn negatives into positives. They learn from their mistakes and come back even stronger because of them.
- Hard, hard work. The successful advisor believes, as the late U.S. professional football coach Vince Lombardi said, that “The harder you work, the harder it is to surrender.” In any walk of life, the difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra.
Find more ideas and tips to bring you the success you want
- Watch “Goals: You succeed or fail by the day” (MDRT member exclusive)
- Read “5 essential habits for lasting success”
- Watch “Achieve more: Set goals and conquer challenges”
