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Let’s Get It Fixed In 2026!
June 2, 2018 6:27 am Leave your thoughtsx“The Main Thing
Is To Keep The Main Thing
The Main Thing”
– Dr. Stephen Covey
(1932-2012)
While any time of the year is good for defining and achieving your highest goals, now is an excellent time to nail down your “One Thing” and use the following keys for a record breaking 2026.
Rest
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Before rushing headlong into the New Year, it’s important to plan. But the first step is rest. Take some time to go into silence, to be still, and get back to your Self. This can be anywhere from a few minutes a day if you have a busy family life, to taking an entire weekend or week long retreat if you’re so inclined.
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Review
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During this time, bring your calendar and review the past year’s events. Compare them to the goals you set a year ago. You may uncover a lot of surprises.
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Reflect
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What worked for you and what didn’t? What would you like to see more of, and less of, during the coming year?
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Revise
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Make a list and start setting some goals for the New Year. Remember to think big!
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Rev Up
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The rest of this article will help with practical ways to start gearing up in a stress free way to accomplish your goals.
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The Problem
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Like many Financial Advisors, the day-to-day running of your business may have YOU running all over the place. If business is good, you may be working hard to make hay while the sun shines. And if business is bad, you may feel compelled to work extra hard to make up for it.
Another challenge is that your goals can be a moving target. Goals tend to change over time as you change, as older goals get accomplished and newer ones come into focus, or as they get dismissed for being no longer relevant.
As a result, life can turn into a constant 25/8 work cycle, and longer-term “Wildly Important Goals (WIGs as Covey calls them) get pushed into the background in favor of short term crises. You may never find the time to proactively make the time to move your business and life in the direction you like. If this describes your situation, fear not. There’s still hope…
Rather than becoming overwhelmed by focusing on all the items you aren’t even close to accomplishing, consider taking a few moments to stop and consider the following points, designed to help you get organized, break free of old thinking patterns and inspire you to take meaningful action.
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Vision, Mission & Goals (Oh My!)
Vision
Your Vision statement is a picture, often evoking feelings, of WHAT you SEE as your long term purpose; What you aspire to achieve in the long term. It describes the desired future state and serves as a source of inspiration and direction. For example, you might want to:
* Help clients create and enjoy a worry-free retirement.
* Help ease the financial burden of clients and improve their wealth.
* Help clients create financial freedom, find meaning in, and enjoy, their wealth.
These statements all reflect the aspirational goal, the vision, that guides them and their organization’s efforts.
Mission
Your Mission drills down one level from your Vision, specifically defining your purpose and primary objectives. It explains HOW you do what you do, WHY your firm exists and WHAT it does to achieve its vision. For instance, your Mission could be something like:
* Help 100 families become debt free, lifting them out of poverty and start saving for retirement.
* Help 100 families create a stream of steady, secure income they’ll likely never outlive.
* Help 100 families secure a lasting legacy for future generations.
A valuable tool in creating your Mission consists of answering, “The Big 10 Questions Every Client Is Thinking, Even If They Never Ask.” Email me for a free copy.
GOALS
Goals drill down even further, detailing HOW you will achieve your Mission using MEASURABLE, ACTIONABLE STEPS. Goals provide a clear path toward achieving your Vision. In the example above for the goal of helping 100 families secure a lasting legacy, a starter checklist might include:
* Research the latest literature on Legacy Planning by reviewing 10 websites of Legacy Planners by 1/31/26.
* Define your offering of what you mean by Legacy Planning by 2/28/26.
* Research and select a Legacy Planning Designation, study and pass exams by 3/31/26.
Continue to break down each point above into a checklist of the smallest steps necessary to enable you to take action.(See “Chunk It Down” below.)
Your “One Thing”
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Once you’ve been at this exercise for while, you only need to refine it as things change. Your Vision may never change, and may never be fully realized! However, owning your Vision, Mission & Goals provides meaning and direction for all your activity. It puts everything in perspective and simplifies decision making. You know where you’re going, why you’re going and how to get there.x
Still Feeling Overwhelmed? Read This!
Most top Advisors have got through this process in one form or another. If this is the first time you’re getting serious about your Vision, Mission & Goals, a simple way to start is by identifying your “One Thing” below.
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What’s the “One Thing” you KNOW if you did it, would make the biggest impact in your business?
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Identify the One Action step you need to take, and have control over.
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What’s the “One Thing” in your LIFE you know if you did it, would make the biggest impact?
Identify the One Action step you need to take and have control over.
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What will it take to commit to it? What is your passion/excites you? How can you make it fun?
By making your “One Thing” as enjoyable as possible and creating celebrations along the way (other than the reward of accomplishment itself), you help ensure the process of positive reinforcement, as well as set up a system for accountability.
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Turning Obstacles Into Magic
Simply turn those obstacles around 180 degrees and create new goals. Make it measurable. Dig deeper. For example, rather than simply saying time and money are holding you back, be specific as to where your time and money are going now and where you’d rather be spending them. Like magic, you’ll end up with a longer list of goals…with no obstacles!
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Make A Plan
When detailing Action Steps to take, be specific. Do you want more clients or fewer clients? Do you want basically the same clients as you have now or different clients?
The most overlooked criteria when constructing a Business Plan is time. Anyone can double their revenue if they’re willing to work twice as many hours, but that’s usually not the goal. In fact, some might argue that “The Main Thing” is to see how little you can work, how few phone calls you can make, and how few clients you can serve and still hit your target gross revenue and net income.
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#1 Time Management Tip
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Plan each day the day before: Plan tomorrow’s to do list right before leaving work today. Create an Ideal Daily/Weekly Schedule (IDS) by putting the specific Action Steps necessary to achieve your goals in the appropriate time slot. This eliminates illegitimate distractions, procrastination and any sense of hurry or worry.
Without an IDS that includes action steps broken down into smallest tasks and placed in specific time slots, and the discipline to graciously deflect requests from others who may not be so focused, every interruption has to be evaluated against the thousand other items on your Master To Do List. Each time the phone rings, the emails start flying or someone walks into your office unannounced, you’ll need to constantly re-prioritize in real time all day long. It can be mentally exhausting. (I am looking in AI programs that will shift your time blocks for you in real time as your day/week changes!)
With an IDS, you only have one decision to make: Is that interruption more important than what you’ve previously planned on accomplishing during this time slot? If not, just tell them, “I’d love to help, but I can’t right now. Can we schedule a time later when we can talk?” Don’t play tag. Book it now, while you their attention.
If You Don’t Manage Your Time,
Others Will Be More Than Happy
To Manage It For You
Chunk It Down
If your “One Thing” is too big, break it down into smaller, more manageable parts. See if you can break it down into 15-minute segments, or a series of them, leading to your overall project or goal.
Make a specific time each day you will work on your “One Thing,” even if it’s just for 15 minutes. For example, just 15 minutes of phone calling, perhaps making just two calls per day, will amount to 10 per week, 40 a month or 400 calls per year. I can assure you this level of activity will generate more business for you.
Can’t find the time to work out? Start with just 15 minutes a day. It doesn’t have to be strenuous. A quick walk or some pushups, sit ups, stretching, squats or light dancing will do. Want to get more rest? Go to bed just 15 minutes earlier starting tonight. You’ll immediately begin to notice a difference.
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Think Quality Over Quantity
The secret to finding more time is to find better time. Think quality over quantity. It’s not how much you accomplish in any given day, it’s a matter of whether the activity you’re engaged in is getting you closer to your long-term goals. If not, why are you doing it? If so, you’ll be much more fulfilled.
To quote Dr. Covey again, “Many people spend their entire lives climbing the ladder of success, only to find out when they reach the top, that it was leaning against the wrong wall.” Working backwards with the end in mind makes all your activity, (both business and personal) purposeful and meaningful.
Without any judgment, simply replace old habits with more useful ones, one at a time. Continue to make small and never ending improvements in your business, health, relationships and every other area of your life.
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Click Here For A Checklist Of
Key Practice Management Skills
You Need To Master
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Your “NOT To Do” List
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Finally, make a list of all the things you’re going to stop doing from now on. Start delegating or eliminating all those activities you think will take you only 15 minutes to do, so you might as well do them yourself. The truth is, even if you have to ask your assistant to do (or redo) something three times, chances are your time is worth far more than three times what you pay your assistant.
It pays to delete, delay or delegate those activities from your schedule. Start a “To Delegate” list today. You may also find that eliminating just 15 minutes a day of gossip, complaining or criticizing will give you both the time and the energy you’re looking for.
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An Unstoppable Cycle of Success
Once you keep the main thing the main thing, you’ll very quickly notice that success starts to reinforce itself naturally, without any more effort on your part. It’s like building a muscle; Each day you do it you get stronger, which makes it easier to keep doing it. Pretty soon you’ll be actively looking for ways to sneak in and enjoy the results of having more and more “Success Time.” How much success can you stand?
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Let’s Get It Fixed In 2026.
I’ll Help You Achieve
A Record Breaking Year!
Call Today Or Schedule
A Brief 15-20 Minute
“Get Acquainted Call”
So I Can Find Out More
About Your Situation
And How I Can Help YOU
“Take It To The Max!”
Max Bolka is a 30++ year veteran of the financial services industry. For over 25 years, he’s also been “Building First-Class Financial Advisors” through his Elite Financial Advisor Mentoring Program. He also collaborates with Advisors, providing free marketing and bringing Value Added Services to their HNW Clients. For more information, visit his website at www.maxbolka.com, call (828) 713-4116 or email max@maxbolka.com
