Yesterday, I told you the story about the way I once got buried by the time I was spending on growing my advisory practice.

How success began to feel like a curse.

I had allowed time spent “in” the office to become my barometer for determining the direction of my business.  

I was overwhelmed…burned-out…exhausted.

Even though I was in an office filled with dozens of other people, I felt all alone…like others were avoiding me.

Not  the most flattering picture.

Today, I realize that I had made 3 critical mistakes.  And I want to share them with you, so you can avoid them.

There’s no reason to put up with overwhelm, burnout and exhaustion.  No reason to work brutally long hours.

No excuse to go home each day feeling defeated.

So, here we go…

Mistake #1 – More means more.

The financial advice industry can often be categorized as a “more means more” business.  The more clients we have…the more assets we’ll manage…the more fees we’ll take-in…the more successful we’ll become.

Not to forget the false hope that we think may come from offering more and more  products and services.

“More means more” is a lie.

I had to learn this the hard way.

Mistake #2 – No one can do it better than me.

When you think this way, it rarely has anything to do with what you really believe…it’s a byproduct of running too hard.

You become addicted to motion.

You cannot stop and ask for help.

You think you’re running faster than anyone else, but, in reality, you’re running in circles.

And the people who COULD help you don’t know how.

I burned a lot of bridges.

Mistake #3 – Do it NOW.

The phone rings, a client makes a request…do it NOW.

An email alert  pops up…answer NOW.

You get a crazy new marketing idea…try it NOW.

The market zigs when you thought it would zag…react NOW.

But when you stop to analyze the way you reacted, you discover that NOT RIGHT NOW would have been a better pattern…

…the client’s request wasn’t urgent.

…the email was junk.

…the marketing idea was a distraction.

…and the market’s zig had no impact on your portfolios.

You simply gave the squeaky wheel the grease.  Those DO IT NOW mistakes can be measured in hours of extra work.

This type of thinking cost me hundreds of hours.

You could spend hundreds of your own hours trying to get your arms around any one of these critical mistakes.

Or try to ignore them (at your own peril).

Or, even better, do what I do now…

Get brutally honest when you review your to-do list each day.  Eliminate the stuff that really doesn’t matter.

Face it, the reason your list is so long is that it’s filled with things you’ve been putting off for days, weeks and maybe even months.

Crap (sorry) that won’t move the needle.

And when you know the right way to decrease the pile of things that are unnecessarily weighing on your brain…

…you create space to breathe.

…you have time for the things that matter most.

…your productivity improves.

…and your business grows more smoothly.

You see, less (not more) means more.

Remember the mentor I mentioned yesterday?  That’s one of the most important things he taught me.

He also taught me the right way to delegate.  And the right way to avoid making everything a priority.

Done right…

The people working around you look for ways to help you.  The loneliness that comes from unneeded busyness goes away.

You’ don’t have to operate in a vacuum.

Decisions become easier because you don’t make everything a priority.  And real priorities, the needle movers, get done first.

You’re operating at peak performance levels.

I hope you can see that correcting the mistakes I covered above get you off of the hamster wheel.

And the “fixes” aren’t complicated.

But the results can last forever.

No more long hours.  No more leaving the office at the end of the day wondering what you forgot to do.

No guilt.

Tomorrow, I’m going to show you how to practically guarantee your success when it come to time mastery.

I’ll share a system for getting hours back in your weeks.

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