Archive for October, 2011

What is it about women that make us so masochistic, especially female financial advisors and other successful business women?  I woke up this morning really dragging, I felt it yesterday but just kept on going, and here it is today and I’m still feeling it.  The worst part was I wasn’t listening to my own advice.

I can’t tell you how often I am coaching female advisors about the importance of slowing down, and practicing self care. Most of these women (I include myself in this crowd) think slowing down is going to Hot Yoga (not exactly relaxing) or getting a pedicure while talking on the phone (not exactly the down time I was thinking about).  That’s not slowing down that’s just trying to fool our bodies in thinking we are rejuvenating.

The reality is some day’s life just catches up to you.  You know those days when you are just dragging, can’t find that boost of adrenaline that usually props you up all day.  You think “Why am I so tired, there must be a reason?” You reflect back on the past few days and because you can’t find a logical reason why you are tired you figure you will just work through until you start to feel better.

I did the same thing today until I had a BIG conversation with myself.  While I kept thinking about things I needed to do, wanted to get done my other brain the one that speaks from my soul said “Adri, your tired, stop doing and rest.” So for once I actually listened, I finished what I was doing and crawled back into bed in the MIDDLE of the day.

Later after resting I headed off to the movie theatre to watch a movie my husband would never want to see and eat a big bucket of popcorn that my husband would insist on sharing.  In fact after the movie in fact after the movie I went to one of our favorite restaurants and had a glass of wine all by myself, why?  Because I can.

Do something totally out of character this week, treat your self and let me know what you did, I’d LOVE to hear about it. Leave a comment below to share!

How easy it is to allow what feels good get in the way of what IS good. This tends to be particularly challenging for female financial advisors as we always have a hundred things to do on our list. How many times have you looked at your calendar, you know you need to make some follow up calls but you decide to clear some small nagging problems first. Next thing you know the day is over, you never made those calls and you leave feeling less than satisfied. I know because this happened to me. Since that day I learned that If you truly want to be successful, I mean really successful you MUST learn to overcome these distractions

One day I was headed to the Library for a Focus Friday. This is a day where I pack up my laptop and head to the library for some intensive marketing and business planning work. It was about 9:00 am I had already worked out and set the stage for a very productive day but then the gremlins hit me. On my route to the library I thought about those few errands I needed to run, the grocery, laundry maybe even a quick trip to Marshals (just to make sure I didn’t miss out on something new). The thought of completing those few simple errands made me feel good and I could already feel my mind justifying why I should do those “To do” items first, I could always go to the library AFTER.
Then my success brain kicked in, it was like there was a full on conversation going on in my head. The success brain said “No Adri, stick with the program and do what you need to do first, want to do second” I was so tempted to take that left into Starbucks instead of that right into the Library, the voices in my head were going back and forth until I finally made that Right Turn and denied myself those “feel good” errands and went directly to the Library.

Once settled into the library while getting started created some discomfort before I knew it it was noon and I headed across the street to get some lunch. I didn’t head home nor did I go do those errands why? I was on a role and wanted to go straight back to the library to complete a few more hours of productive work. When I finally left the library I thought about doing those errands and decided they could wait for another day. I was feeling too good; way to pleased with my day to cloud it up with annoying errands (even going to Marshals didn’t interest me).
This is the kind of good feeling that comes from following your schedule, doing what is truly important and not letting those FEEL GOOD items distract you from your focus. This is the behavior that determines Success.