Four Essential Strategies to Easily Reach Your Goals

Do you ever wonder why you think you know how to acquire millions of assets under management, but you never actually do it? Or you might be doing it but it’s going too slowly and is too hard. You feel like Hercules cleaning the Augean stables.

The problem is there’s a gap between knowing and doing.

Ever since I was a 21-year-old, green-behind-the-ears insurance salesman, I’ve been grappling with this problem. I was astonished the first time I clutched up trying to sell an insurance policy. I knew how to do it. My manager had showed me how with a real live prospect. It seemed simple to my logical brain. My reptilian brain almost jumped out of its scaly skin just before I tried to pull the trigger. I didn’t ask for the sale.

Ever since then, I studied and worked to get at the root of such problems. I even went back to college and got a Masters degree. I wrote a book full of techniques to overcome such blocks. The book was published by Prentice Hall and is called Triggers.

What is this gap between knowing and doing? It affects all of us. Knowing how to do something and actually doing it are two different things.

What does it take to achieve your goals? You have to be persistent, motivated and determined. You have to be willing to take risks. And as they say, you have to get out of your comfort zone.

As a young insurance salesman, I was determined and ran roughshod over my resistances. I started asking for the sale even though it was so uncomfortable for me; it made me sweat. I put napkins under my armpits to keep my business suit dry.

This is the psychological hurdle.

The other hurdle is not really knowing enough. We have only a rough idea. It’s the difference between book smarts and street smarts. Our ideas are only a map. Our ideas are not the territory.

For instance, you might have a clear, detailed vision of your ideal practice. You think you know precisely how to achieve your vision. But when you try, things work out differently than you had planned.

For me, everything takes longer. People do not respond as I expect. Everything costs more. It’s a whole lot easier to spend money than to earn money.

It’s important that we realize and accept that things will not go just as we planned. It helps us to keep moving forward and not get discouraged.

No amount of book knowledge can take the place of action in the real world and the new learning such actions provide.

Sometimes you need real courage to act. It’s possible to pull yourself up by your own bootstraps. Some do, like I did. But with support it’s much easier to sustain your courage, ease the anxiety and step up to the plate. It helps to have the support from a mentor, a coach or a devoted colleague.

Another benefit of having another person guide you is they will help you see your blind spots. Everybody has them.

For example, I used to practically preach that your website should begin with talking about your prospects—what’s in it for them. One day a friend tactfully pointed out my own website started with how well trained I was. I had a Masters degree. I was an author. I took special courses. I was a Certified Professional Coach. There I was, shamelessly tooting my own horn. By the way, I’m sure you’ve heard that when somebody else toots your horn, the sound goes twice as far.

I know I have other blind spots. My coach helps me see what I need to see.

So what action steps have I learned? Just these:

• After the book learning, I must take heart and test it out in the real world.
• I do much better with professional support.

I confess I used to be too cheap to pay for help. I know now that was a big mistake. I used to rely on a good friend for free advice. He was well trained and had a PhD in psychology. He knew his profession and he also understood business in a street-smart way. His advice was of immense help to me.

Then one day I was in his office sharing my concerns. In the middle of my sentence, he picked up his phone and started talking to someone else. I guess he didn’t have the heart to tell me to my face that I was encroaching on his time—but I got the point. It didn’t ruin the friendship, and it set up some important boundaries. My paid for coach never hangs up on me.

In short, to bridge the knowledge-action gap you need to:

• Be smart and seek out knowledge and guidance
• Courageously take action, knowing you might fail
• Learn from your actions and mistakes
• Use your vision to guide everything

Doing these four things will enable you to acquire additional assets more quickly and more easily. And make your dream business a reality.

I want to hear from you on this. What challenges have you had to overcome to achieve your goals?