The new year is upon us and that usually leads to new intentions. In January the sale of diet programs and health club memberships have their seasonal spike. People are going to lose weight and get in shape. These intentions usually last until Valentine's Day, and then people are back to their usual habits. We have something similar in the financial services industry. Usually at this time of the year a general agent or similar leadership person in an organization asks the agent or advisor to write out their marketing plan for the new year and set production goals. There are a variety of responses to these instructions. it is dutifully done by the new hires since it is part of the agreement. Those with more experience often go through the motions hoping that this year it might actually make a difference. Many of the seasoned veterans simply ignore it and go on their way. Some would like to take it seriously, but have become cynical or discouraged. May I suggest a new way of thinking that might help you view the new years goal setting exercise differently.

As a coach I often work with or speak to advisors who want to improve their business. They are often seeking some hot new marketing idea or sales method. That is okay as far as it goes, but it is not enough. I challenge you to improve your business this year by improving yourself. Here is a question. Would you like to have clients who are successful, goal directed, influential, courageous, decisive, and open to counsel and advice? The answer is obvious. Here is a follow-up question. What kind of professional advisor do those kind of people want to work with to help them build their business and achieve their financial hopes and goals. The answer is, they want to work with people like them. They want to work with advisors who are successful, goal directed, influential, courageous, decisive, and open to learning and good counsel. Do those words describe you. Let me place this thought before you as you think about your life and business in the year ahead. The kind of person you are, are the kind of clients you will have. I recall an advisor, who could not make a simple decision to invest fifty dollars for a coaching workshop to help him with his business. He was also complaining about a client who could not make a decision to purchase a simple 50,000 dollar term insurance policy. I wonder if he ever saw the connection?

One of the best marketing strategies you can adopt this year is to resolve to be the kind of person you would love to have for a client. So let's not just write down some production goals for the year, take some time to think and plan and put down some goals and aspirations that will make you, your life, and your business more attractive to the kind of people you would want for clients. Get a simple notebook and write down some focused answers to the following questions.

Successful - What does success mean to you and what do you plan to do this year to heighten your personal and professional success?

Goal-Directed - What do you want to have, to do, to become, and how do you want to help others in the next three years? Which of these goals are the most important? How will you start to turn the list into reality?

Influential - What do I plan to do to heighten my influence with the kind of clients and prospects I seek to attract? How will I build my reputation in my community? How will I increase my professional reputation to those who are centers of influence and can recommend me to others?

Courageous - What risks do I plan to take this year which will help me overcome fears and become a person of great courage?

Decisive - What resolutions will I make and what decisions will I make that I have been putting off and procrastinating on for too long?

Counsel and Coaching - Since I cannot be an expert at everything, and all the best have coaches (Tiger Wood, Luciano Pavoratti, Michael Jordan), what kind of coaching and mentoring will I be open to and seek out this year?

Changes come slowly, but if you will take this challenge seriously, you will discover that the new year goal setting exercises will not only change your business, they will change your life . . . and you will become the kind of person you would love to have for a client.