How to get what you want – Become the Master of Change – Part four

He was talking about making change happen, but I think that, if you have one firm spot on which to stand, you can make yourself the master of change by being, and remaining, personally relevant and effective. The questions are, “what is my one firm spot” and “how do you achieve mastery?”

It’s not possible to be totally prescriptive about it, but I have developed a formula for personal relevance and effectiveness that has stood the test of time, and enables me to withstand, accommodate, welcome and benefit from change in my life. I’d like to share it with you, although you will need to develop your own “one firm spot” to make it truly personal.

Get focussed

The first element of my formula is “Get Focused”. This has three components. 

1. Set goals. I know it’s trite, and everyone says it, but there can be nothing more important that being clear what sort of person you want to be. To be this person, you will need to have things (like achievements, including objectives, targets etc); and to have things, you will need to do So, there’s a causal link between Be, Have and Do. You can plan from Be to Do; and you can implement from Do to Be. Without setting goals, at the Be level, you are directionless, and any actions are really irrelevant.
2. Get motivated. Motivation comes from within - within yourself and within the roles you play in your life (as an Adviser, as a parent, as a sibling, as a son or daughter, as a friend). It is not possible to graft motivation onto what you do; it is intrinsic to the very role itself. Money can be seen as a motivator, but it really isn’t - money represents movement, as it’s not intrinsic to the role - it’s grafted on, so it’s a poor motivator. What this means is … find a set of roles in your life that truly motivate you; make you happy; make you feel fulfilled; and then do them as much as possible.
3. Live within your means. Again, trite, I know, but what could be more important than managing your gross habits within your net income? I read in a book once, “A man’s expenses rise in direct proportion to his income, unless he protests to the contrary”, so it’s not just a matter of forever earning more and more, but rather whether you can set a budget for your expenses which is lower than your net income.

Persistent flexibility

The second element of my formula is “Persistent Flexibility”. This has two components.

1. It was Calvin Coolidge, President of the United States, who said, “Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not. Nothing is more common that unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not. Unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not. The world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence alone is omnipotent.” Now, he said this a long time ago, but are you prepared to disagree? Persistence does not mean stubbornness. Persistence means directing your activity towards your goals, even if you have to change direction from time to time to overcome or circumvent barriers. Neither banging your head against a brick wall, nor flogging a dead horse are productive methods of making progress.
2. This can be a double-edged sword. You can see flexibility as a way out of persisting towards your goals - changing your goals in the face of obstacles. But, I don’t mean this. What I mean is that the world will always move on, and to remain relevant and effective, you will need to learn, so you can change and adapt to succeed in an ever-changing world. Entering into a programme of learning new stuff and refreshing your current skills and knowledge will help you remain relevant and effective.

Delight your clients

The third, and final, element of my formula is “Delight Your Clients”. This has three components.

1. I’ve found, over the years, that in my personal relationships, whether with clients or others, that trust is the key to effectiveness. Not everyone will like me, I know that, but I want everyone to trust me. And, to make that happen, I try to be two things to them - reliable (under-promise and over-deliver, not the other way round), and open (so that they can take my words at face value, and don’t have to look for hidden meanings).
2. Again, not everyone will like me, but I hope to win their respect. I do this by giving them my full attention when in a face-to-face situation (I don’t take phone calls, look at my watch, I look them in the eye etc); and I try to treat them as I would wish to be treated. I want to delight my clients - not merely satisfy them - as this is not enough. I want them to think they have the best adviser money can buy; that there is no reason to look around for an alternative, because they will not be able to find one.
3. Give them my best shot. I truly believe in what I’m doing - it motivates me and it’s taking me towards being the person I want to be. So, when I’m with other people, I want to persuade them to follow my lead - I want them to buy financial products and services that will help them become financially secure. To do this means I am prepared to put myself on the line, and take the risk they may reject me, because my belief may not be theirs; and my strength of belief may be insufficient to persuade them. But, I believe my clients deserve this, and will value me more for it.

These three elements - Get Focused - Persistent Flexibility - Delight Your Clients - have stood me in good stead over the years. Together, they have enabled me to build a strong platform - my One Firm Spot - from which I can be the Master of Change in my life. Change happens to me, just as it happens to all of us - it’s not whether it happens that’s important, it’s how we deal with it that singles us out as winners or losers. If you’re like me, you will want to be a winner.

I challenge you to take my One Firm Spot, and develop it for your own personal use

To do this, you can

1. Spend some time deciding what sort of person do you want to BE
2. Then decide what you want to have (achieve) to be this person - perhaps think about the different roles you play in your life and use this to guide you
3. Then decide what you need to do to have (achieve) this list
4. Make a plan - it may involve change, even changing some of your habits, so expect some difficulties along the way.
5. Persist in your efforts, remaining flexible in what you do, rather than in what you want to achieve and be

So, you can be the Master of Change in your life.

A Final Note… it’s easy to think that the current health crisis can derail you, but, if your one firm spot is truly that - firm - than you can learn and adapt to the situation without losing sight of the bigger picture - the person you  want to be. This is a great opportunity to play the role of parent in a more caring way; to be a friend as well as an Adviser to your clients; to stay fit and healthy (and not to put on weight!), and so on, depending on your one firm spot.