All too often, I have recruits come to me and say their primary reason to be a financial planner is to help people. That’s good, but it’s vague. It’s generic. And generic goodness isn’t going to be enough to keep you motivated through all the heavy lifting that launching your career entails. The reality is you probably have a deeper, maybe no less compassionate reason that’s all your own—and that’s what you’re going to need to tap into to make it in this business.

Why have individuals been so willing to uproot their lives and take a huge leap of faith by jumping into Financial Services? Here’s a few examples:

  • Jon grew up in a small town in Idaho. He spent most of his waking hours on the family farm during his youth. After graduation he started his own concrete business where he continued his “farmer tough” work ethic. He had a family and was making a good income but was worried about how long his body was going to hold up given the physically demanding nature of his chosen profession. He started to research other career options that he could apply his incredible work ethic that wouldn’t require this level of physical labor. That’s when he approached me. We met a half a dozen times exploring whether this really would be a good fit. We both felt it would be and we proceeded. That was 10 years ago. Jon applied his work ethic well. He is now one of the leading professionals in his city.
  • Eric loved what he did as an educator. What he didn’t love were the limitations that his limited income imposed on him and his family. He wondered if there was a way to still have a positive impact through teaching others but to have a career that gave him the ability to be paid for working harder and smarter. That’s when we met. He expressed his frustrations and we explored opportunities for him to find a solution to his frustrations as a financial planner. After much thought and careful consideration he entered the financial planning industry and hasn’t looked back since.
  • Paul made good money as a sales associate selling luxury autos. Paul was passionate about cars and loved the people he worked with. He had some flexibility with getting days off as long as those days never came on weekends or holidays. Those are the busy times for anyone in retail sales. That was ok for the first couple of years, but then his kids went to school. All of a sudden, the job he loved was the thing keeping him away from his family. Now, as a financial planner, he has the same days off that his children do while maintaining his ability to make an above average income that a sales profession provides.

Maybe one of these people sounds like you. Maybe none of them do. No two why’s will be the same, but somewhere you do have one. Find your why and let it keep you fired up so you can get to the point where you really can help people.

 

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