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Keynote Speaker
Practice Management &
Business Success Consultant
"Building First Class Financial Advisors"

MAIN POINT:

Stress management is on every advisor’s mind, and today scientists are starting to verify
the advantages of the regular practice of stress reducing techniques, such as meditation.  Meditation releases stress, providing physical, mental and emotional benefits which can help advisors not only feel better, but feel better about themselves as well, increasing creativity, intelligence, and enhancing client relationships. All of which can lead to a bigger bottom line.    

Admit it...This can be a stressful business.  If those six calls from compliance this morning
didn’t get you down, the client complaint you’re about to receive this afternoon might do it.
Add to that your financial and personal pressures, and it can be difficult for advisors to adhere
to Kipling’s quote, “If you can keep your wits about you while all others are losing theirs…
The world will be yours.”

The Goal Of Meditation

Forget sitting cross legged in a cave and fasting for weeks on end.  Meditation has gone mainstream.  (See Time Magazine Cover Story, August 4, 2003.)  15-20 minutes twice a day and you feel like you just got eight hours of uninterrupted sleep.  Feeling blissful is not the end result, however, but rather a by-product of the many psycho physiological (mind-body) changes which take place while engaged in the practice.  The real goal is to release the stresses and strain from the physiology, so when you come back into activity you are more dynamic and focused, and therefore, more productive.

Any system starts to break down when exposed to prolonged periods of stress without
sufficient relief.  In the case of advisors, this shows up in physical decay, mental sluggishness
and emotional aberrations.  We start relying on caffeine and drugs to get through the day.
We make poor judgments regarding our business and clients’ accounts.  And we can notice
an increase in negative emotions such as irritability or depression.

The Mind-Body Connection

Ever had one of those days where everything goes right?  You know, compliance may still be calling you six times a day, but it doesn’t seem to bother you?  This is called being in the zone.  Meditation not only relaxes you, but enlivens you.  It enables you to naturally stay in the zone more often, for longer periods of time.  You gain the ability to side step the arrows that are coming at you all day long.  You look better, feel better, and produce more, more effortlessly.  Here’s why:

For every thought and feeling we experience, there is a corresponding physical component.  Scientists can now measure the biochemical changes in the body and the feelings associated with them.  When you’re relaxed, happy and in the zone, you literally produce “feel good” chemicals,  such as natural pain killers, called endorphins.  The body also automatically balances its natural energizers, such as norepinephrine, with the biochemical serotonin, which creates a sense of calmness and well being.  In addition, the body also manufactures arginine vasopressin, which the medical profession now knows is associated with mental alertness.

Similarly, we could stop and take a snapshot of the body’s biochemical structure when you feel stressed out and tired, perhaps feeling irritable.  In this case, we would likely find too much adrenaline from your reaction to the fight or flight response.  We might also see a decrease in the electrical conductivity of your skin, as measured by your galvanic skin response (GSR).  And of course, your muscles may tighten up, leading to a headache or pain in another part of the body.

Meditation allows the mind to naturally settle down to progressively deeper levels of rest…      and the body follows.  Breath rates are routinely measured at eight times deeper during meditation than that of the deepest sleep, even though you are fully alert and aware of your surroundings.  At this deep level of rest, the body’s own healing mechanisms have a chance to kick in, repairing damaged cells and rejuvenating the system.  This is why, whenever you’re sick, the doctor always tells you to get plenty of rest.  It’s like medicine for the body.

The result it that you have more energy, let’s say at three in the afternoon, with which to finish those projects or call those clients that normally would be put off until another day.  You’ll also find that clients are more attracted to your renewed energy and sense of enthusiasm. While no one can prove it scientifically, everyone understands the principal that the healthier we are,        the more money we can make from the increase in both the quantity and quality of our activity.

Increasing Your Abilities

Psychologists and neurologists tell us that most people probably use only between 10-15% of their brain’s capacity.  I would suggest that this means most of us are operating at about 10-15% effectiveness or productivity.  The challenge of earning more money is not one of methodology, but of capability.

Knowing how your clients think, learning more great sales and marketing techniques, and having access to better time management tools will only go so far if your ability to implement is limited by your own brain power.  As I coach, I often hear, “I know what I should be doing.  I know that I should be making a certain number of calls per day and focusing on my most important activities, but there are all these obstacles.  How do I gain the ability to implement?”  

The key is to unlock that other 85% of your brain, and meditation helps.

Meditation relieves the physical stresses that are currently using up valuable mental and emotional resources, freeing up your mind and nervous system for more productive activities.  It’s like food for the brain.  You make better decisions, seeing possibilities of solutions to problems where none seemed to previously exist.  You feel more relaxed and genuinely confident in your dealings with people, and clients can tell the difference.

In effect, you access more of that previously untapped 85% of the brain.  With practice over time, your mind and body get used to operating from that expanded level of consciousness, enabling you to create better results, including more income. 

Does It Work In The Real World?

Many studies document the benefits of meditation in the workplace.  Some go back further      than you might expect.  For example, at the start of 1988, Nationwide Mutual Funds offered meditation to its entire sales staff of 350 people.  After one year, 55% had taken part.  Before year end, sales in the company as a whole had increased 250% over the previous year, with the meditators accounting for the bulk of the increase.

Participants also reported decreased insomnia, increased energy and motivation, along with improved relationships, both personal and professional.  Meditators said they subjectively felt an increase in their ability to communicate, with a greater sensitivity to the needs of others, both at home with their family, and at work with clients and co-workers.

Distinguishing yourself as a trustworthy advisor remains one of this industry's main challenges.      If meditation really can produce the side benefits of increased awareness and sensitivity, leading to improved relationships, it might just be a key factor in creating more credibility.

In other words, advisors who meditate don’t just act more trustworthy, they actually become more trustworthy, genuinely placing their clients’ interests first, while simultaneously earning more money.  It’s a win-win situation for everyone.  (You may even find that compliance doesn’t call as often, as your activities become more aligned with your client’s best interest.)

How To Meditate

There are many different systems of meditation, each with it’s own specific set of instructions.  For many, you’ll need to be taught by a expert who has been trained in that particular method.  Below is a basic exercise called the “So-Hum Meditation” that anyone can practice anytime, anywhere.  It is a simple breathing awareness technique.  Breath is the basis of life, and it is a physiological benchmark that can be measured when people feel happy, stressed or fatigued.

For example, we take shorter, more shallow breaths when we’re stressed, and longer, deeper breaths when relaxed.  Notice how you breathe tonight when you lay down to go to sleep.       Put your hand on your stomach and notice how it moves up and down.  When we get stressed (even a “good stress” where we can get overly excited on the phone with a client), we start breathing through our chest and talking through the tightened muscles of our throat.  The stomach is nowhere to be found, and we’re not relaxed.

The key is not to try and control the breath, but just do the meditation and let the breath flow naturally.  Because the mind and body are connected, when either one settles down, the other will follow.  Below is a mental technique that allows the mind to become calm, and the breathing will regulate itself, without our having to force it.  Just notice the breath to measure the effect.

"So-Hum" Meditation

While sitting comfortably in a chair somewhere you won’t be disturbed, close your eyes, take a deep breath in and silently think to yourself the word “So”.  Do not hold your breath.  Slowly exhale and silently think the word “Hum” to yourself.  Continue breathing normally while thinking “So-Hum” on the inhale and exhale, being careful not to control the breath.  Just let it flow.  Continue in this manner for about 15-20 minutes.  Then stop repeating the mantra and just rest with your eyes closed for five minutes before engaging in activity again.  Keep it simple.
 
While doing this meditation, put your attention on your breath.  Notice it, but do not be concerned about it.  It does not matter whether your breath is long, short, deep or shallow.
It just is. Same with your thoughts.  If you find yourself having thoughts, just notice them, let them go, and gently bring your attention back to your breath.  Eventually, you will notice less thoughts and more silence.  This is the mind settling down, and the breath calms down with it.  This system of meditation takes advantage of the mind and body’s natural tendency to regulate itself.

Do not force the breath.  "Not trying" is perhaps the hardest part of this form of meditation.
We are so used to struggling and exerting an effort in order to achieve a certain result.
However, the So-Hum Meditation requires no effort.  Just be natural, sit back and observe.
The body will know what to do without you having to think about it.  Trying to control the mind or body only creates strain in the practice, leading to more stress, not less.  This defeats the entire purpose.

As you can see, this form of meditation is distinguished from Concentration (IE: forced focusing on an object, such as a candle), Contemplation (verbally asking yourself how to get more clients), Visualization (seeing the outcome of lots of clients ahead of time), or Affirmation (repeatedly stating that you will get more clients, or that you already have more clients).
These can all be useful techniques in certain circumstances, they’re just not meditation.  

It’s best to practice your meditation twice a day, for 15-20 minutes each session.  It takes a
few minutes for the mind to settle down, so less time per session won’t be nearly as effective.
By meditating in the morning, you calibrate your mind and body, tuning it up and getting it ready for your day’s activities.  Less stress comes in throughout the day.  You stay more centered in the zone.  Do another session in the early evening, preferably before dinner.  Food tends to crank up the body’s metabolism while digesting, and it’s usually difficult to settle the mind down when the body is fueling its fire.  Instead of having a drink before dinner when you come home after work, try meditating.  Think of it as “Happy Hour.”

Technically, you can meditate anytime, anywhere (except during activities such as driving,
where you need your full attention on what you’re doing).  Noise is not an obstacle.  Many businesspeople do their meditation on airplanes or trains while commuting.

Meditation & Money

Science is now starting to verify what people who meditate have subjectively reported for years; That regular meditation increases creativity, intelligence, health, personal relationships and yes, even business.  Try it, you’ll like it.  What have you got to lose, except a little bit of stress?

To Learn More About Various Forms Of Mantra Based Meditation, Visit The Following Links:

www.tm.org

www.chopra.com

www.americanmeditationsociety.org

www.yogahealthsolutions.com/work.html

http://www.suryaprogram.com/meditation.html

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