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For many years, the traditional career track for financial advisors has been an ‘eat what you kill’ model – where advisors must independently find, convert, and manage their own clients. As such, it isn’t uncommon for an advisor’s first few years to be characterized by long hours, high rejection rates, and low pay. For many, this can be a stressfully prolonged period that typically eases only as advisors build their client base and establish themselves in the industry. However, the scarcity-driven habits that helped them survive their stressful early years may not serve them effectively in their current state. In fact, these habits may even inhibit their growth, making it harder for them to scale their firm in alignment with their long-term vision.
In the 150th episode of Kitces & Carl, Michael Kitces and client communication expert Carl Richards explore how advisors can acknowledge the psychological habits formed during prolonged high-stress periods and intentionally move beyond them to continue to achieve sustained growth.
When stress arises, especially in the early years, many advisors often do whatever it takes to pull through and build their business. But a scarcity-driven mindset can linger, long after the immediate pressures have faded. This mindset might manifest in subtle ways – like the reluctance to raise client minimums out of fear that new clients won’t come, even when capacity is maxed out. At this point, the narrative of survival can keep advisors tethered to past habits, even when logistically, an advisor may be well past that point and their current reality calls for a different approach.
To shift from survival mode to a mindset geared for growth, a first step might be to take stock of the firm’s logistical reality: cash flow, client load, and overall business capacity. This can help advisors move from reactive habits to proactive strategies. A helpful question that advisors can ask themselves is, “What would it take to feel secure in this scenario?” Sometimes, a few targeted risk-hedging steps can provide a sense of security. In other circumstances, it may be more helpful to acknowledge the gut-level response to stressful situations – the same survival instinct that got the advisor ‘here’. However, getting ‘there’ – to the next stage of growth – requires noticing, acknowledging, and then rewiring those instinctive responses.
Importantly, it’s not just about making technical adjustments; it’s more about a shift in mindset. It’s the ability to internalize success and recognize that the survival instincts, once crucial, might now be holding back progress. Letting go of those old habits means freeing up mental and emotional space to envision new possibilities for the firm’s future.
Ultimately, the key point is that survival strategies, while essential in the early stages of an advisor’s journey, may not align with the realities of a growing and thriving firm. Sometimes, internalizing that an advisor has ‘made it’ is not always easy, but it’s a milestone worth celebrating. Embracing this recognition allows advisors to ask the more exciting question, “What comes next?” This shift isn’t just about growing a business – it’s about building a vision that truly aligns with long-term goals, creating the freedom to innovate and adapt with clarity and purpose!