Today I want to share with you two quick tricks to help you make more in less time. Because it's really all about being productive with the time that you have and making sure that you are on task in these summer months - especially when you want to potentially take a little time off, maybe you want to work fewer days per week, maybe you're going to take some longer vacations, etc. These two very quick tips can truly make just a monster size difference for you. And I bet that if you use them, you will start using them year round as well.
#1: Stage things so that you treat those occasional days off as if they're a vacation. And the reason I say that is if you think back in time, what you'll probably come to realize is that the day before you left for vacation, you usually got like two or three days worth of work done in a single day. It's just the way we're wired. Nobody has ever been able to give me a true, cut and dry psychological answer as to why that is the case. But we all seem to agree that it is, in fact, the case. So schedule things on your calendar - use the term vacation, use whatever triggers you need to - to make sure that your mindset the day before you're going to be out (even if it's just for a long weekend or you're taking a Friday off) you treat like you're going on vacation that next day.
#2: The other one, and this is probably even more important, is to identify all of the things in your business. Take a sheet of paper and make a list of all the things in your business that drive the most revenue, the items that drive revenue that you are responsible for. And I'm talking to you generally as if you're a financial adviser. While this is mostly for financial advisors, anyone can do this. Either you are designed to drive revenue in a business, or you're designed to get revenue to the bottom line in a business. You can pretty much categorize every role as falling in one or the other of those. Now, as a business owner, obviously you play both sides of that coin. But generally speaking, you're probably the Rainmaker, so let's focus on driving revenue. I'm going to make a list of all the things that I do to drive revenue. And I'm going to prioritize them from top to bottom: sitting down face to face with clients, running public events, standing at a podium, doing annual reviews, creating the financial plan, etc. And then I'm going to create a second list of every other thing I do in my practice. Everything. If you're the guy who takes out the garbage at the end of the night, write it down. If you're the one who fills the coffeepot, write it down. If you're managing people, you're managing situations, you're processing new business, you're running service calls. You've got all of these different things, so make sure you write them all down. Now, this this is without even getting into staff - you can use the same technique to break down what types of functions each staff member should be doing. But let's push that aside. Let's just assume it's all it's all on your shoulders.
Okay, now here's the trick: Do not spend more than one day a week on that second list. Focus on one day, pick a day that you will generally be working. So, let's say you're going to take you're going to take every Friday off this summer. Make every Tuesday a prep day to take care of all those items on that second list that do not drive revenue. And those prep items only get done on Tuesday. When you walk in on a Tuesday, your mindset is on all of these prep items and that's where you stay all day long. And then the rest of that week focus stays on the first list of revenue-driving activities. If you worked a full, five-day work week, what you're basically saying is 'I will spend 20% of my time on prep work, and I will spend 80% of my time on what drives revenue'. If you're taking a day off, don't let the prep escape that single day. Take every other day and focus on the game day items that drive revenue.
If you can do that, it's what we call game, prep, free. It's a variation that we have off of The Strategic Coach and what they created, which is pretty fabulous, called free, focus, buffer. We have adapted that, and made it a little more specific to our industry. But, generally speaking, if you know The Strategic Coach and you know Dan Sullivan, who became a good friend of mine over the years, you know that concept. It is the same concept, I'm just saying hyper focus on it in a slightly different way this summer.
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The RARE Advisor is a business model supercharged by Recurring And Repeatable Events. With more than thirty years of working with and coaching successful advisors, host Mike Walters (along with other leaders in the industry), discusses what it takes to grow a successful practice. With the aim of helping financial professionals and financial advisors take their business to the next level, Mike Walters shares insights and success stories that make a real impact. Regardless of the stage of your practice, The RARE Advisor will provide thoughtful guidance, suggestions for developing systems and processes that work, and ideas for creating an authentic experience for your clients.
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