OVERCOME YOUR CONDITIONING

Have you ever heard about how they train elephants into submission?

When the elephants are young, they tie them to a stake with a stout rope that the elephant can't break.  The elephant learns that it is futile to resist the restraint. 

By the time they grow to adulthood, they have stopped trying to escape and are held by little more than a string.  They never learned the full extent of their power and allow themselves to be caged in.

I would suggest that many of us are just like these gentle giants.

I was talking with an advisor who just recently left a captive firm for independence.  Yay!  She and I were talking about the artificial restraints that many captive firms place on advisors and shared a very similar experience.

We both felt muzzled by the compliance restrictions.  It just isn't worth trying to speak up because they won't let me do it anyway.

We both felt fearful of the punitive compliance culture in the captive firms.  Compliance wasn't about doing the right thing, it was a game of "gotcha" that they threatened you with. 

Those of us that "grew up" in captive firms are trained to stay small, to play by arbitrary rules made up by the B/D.

We learn it is futile to think originally or try to get our voice out into the world.  We learn it is easier to just follow the assigned process than try to create something that truly serves our clients.

If we aren't careful, that conditioning can follow us into the independent world.

At a truly independent B/D or RIA, the world is wide open.  Yes, there are restrictions based on ACTUAL regulations, but they are far more specific and easy to navigate. 

If we don't do some soul searching and look to reprogram our early training, we could end up perpetually playing small even after going independent.

We live in a world filled with financially illiterate people and the most vocal influencers are untrained DIYers sharing their unproven strategies on Instagram.   These "financial coaches" were never conditioned to stay small.  They are unlicensed and unregulated and don't have any fear of putting themselves out there.

People have either no advice or bad advice.  We are the ones with the answers. We are the ones with the strategies that work. 

If we believe in the power of financial literacy and advice,  we have to overcome our fear and conditioning and learn to share our message with the world!

With Purpose,

-Lucila

Where do you go to work on your mindset as an advisor?   How do you learn to think more expansively about what is possible for your life and your practice?