Are You A Financial Survivor Or A Financial Advisor?
Evolution has programmed us to feel the fear for survival in our guts. In days gone by, our survival was dependent upon our tribe. The tribe reinforced obedience and conformity to the tribal system through the threat of expulsion. Expulsion from the tribe meant certain death.
The tribal mind is primal, hooked into that basest of instincts – survival itself. It focuses on the negative and messages such as, “things are scarce” and, “there isn’t enough to go around.” The primal mind is always poised to fight and expects constant attacks.
The captive agency system, which introduced many financial advisors to the profession, is a tribal system. Remaining a member of today’s financial advisor tribe can mean meeting specific sales targets. The negative ego mind perceives that not meeting these sales targets means expulsion from the tribe and is a definite risk to survival.
Many of the captive agencies no longer exist. More and more financial advisors have decided either to become independent or have been forced to become independent. However, even independent advisors can be triggered into thinking with this survival-based negative ego mind.
Financial Survivors suffer from the Unmet Needs Disease, causing the negative emotion and the negative belief that they are not achieving their true potential as an advisor.
Financial Advisors have Clear Values, causing the positive feeling and the positive belief they are achieving their true potential as an advisor.
Note: Some of the above ideas were developed from Steven Pressfield’s book, The War of Art. Steven also wrote the novel, The Legend of Bagger Vance, which was adapted into a must-see movie starring Matt Damon and Will Smith.
This article was originally published in Curing The Unmet Needs Disease © Simon Reilly 2008
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