Beyond a certain point, everything becomes a mental game. You might be a champion of functional abilities, but unless you are mentally tough enough, great success might still elude you. This is true in the cabins and cubicles of the corporate corridors, the track and field of a sports stadium, and even hospital intensive care units. The financial services profession is no exception. The mind decides in which direction you will go.
No matter what profession you’re in, growth beyond a certain point seems difficult. Have you ever wondered about the reasons for this? Why the journey from good to great is so elusive? What enables an MDRT member to achieve Court of the Table or Top of the Table? The mind is the biggest differentiator.
In some cases, we know what it would take to get us what we want, yet we don’t do it. Why?
Attraction to what’s comfortable
Human beings are typical in the sense that we love doing things that we are good at and enjoy, feel comfortable with and are appreciated for.
In the wake of these behavioral traits, we each subconsciously develop a comfort zone that we don’t stray from. However, when we are competing to beat our previous best, we need to step out of the behavioral patterns that present obstacles.
Distaste for critical thinking
Sometimes these behavioral traits cause us to avoid what’s best for our business. As an example, imagine that you have been asked to participate in two planning sessions:
- To jump from Court of the Table to Top of the Table production, you need to close more business insurance cases than ever before. Accomplishing this requires that you analyze your prospecting approach to make improvements.
- Your family is planning a 15-day trip to Europe, and you need to plan a detailed itinerary.
Which planning process do you think most of us would enjoy more? The second one likely seems more interesting and exciting. The first planning session is important and would surely bring significant rewards; however, it is cumbersome and calls for meticulous thinking.
The moment we find anything boring or cumbersome — especially if we know it may call for critical thinking — we tend to avoid it. This is a sign of mental weakness.
The persistency puzzle
Most of us get really excited about learning something new. We are keen on implementing new learnings to get the results we long for. Many of us take something new and make initial progress, but then our efforts die down for the following reasons:
- We are not really comfortable making a change.
- We don’t find the desired results quickly.
- We tend to convince ourselves that the old methods were better.
- We think this new thing may not work in our kind of business.
- We have previously tried something similar, but it did not work then, so it may not work again.
Many who start a journey toward a desired change do not succeed. This is yet another example of mental weakness.
Are you susceptible?
Some individuals without mental toughness are susceptible to negative influences of other people. They allow others’ negativity to creep in, causing their own mental energy to get distracted or diverted, and they tend to drift away from their planned goal.
News about financial services reported by a leading financial daily can make a few mentally weak people drift away from it. Or a client could give you negative feedback about a specific product or service you offer. If you allow this criticism to influence you, you may never be comfortable suggesting it again.
Subtle signals of mental weakness
Symptoms of mental weakness may be so mild at times that people might not initially notice them. Keep an eye out for the following subtle signals:
- Delaying the start to the day
- Maintaining low energy throughout the day
- Not doing what you must do and being OK with it
- Failing to follow a regimen
- Remaining in your comfort zone
- Procrastination
- Being complacent when you know you haven’t done enough
- Falling prey to the wrong priorities
- Focusing too little on big gains and more on tiny gains
Mental weakness usually revolves around instant gratification. We all look forward to getting the results in no time with minimal effort and with things that are interesting to do. However, it doesn’t work that way.
It is delayed gratification that mentally tough people seek. They very well know and trust that “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” They are ready to persist with their plan. They have the golden virtue called patience, and hence success for these people is a habit and not chance or a flash in the pan.
4 components of mental toughness
These most important components are required for business success:
Self-motivation. Purpose breeds passion, passion breeds persistence and persistence breeds results. If you have a very clear mental picture of your purpose, then it is easier to stay focused.
Ability to cope with pressure. In situations of adversity, mentally tough people remain committed to their regimen and allow no distractions whatsoever. They know “overnight” success is the result of sustained hard work for years.
Attentional focus. Focus means remaining in the present and not wandering into the future or into the past. Mentally tough people control what they can control in the present. They manage things like anxiety and concentration, and this enables them to sail through the storms.
Self-confidence. Mentally tough people have steel-like self-confidence. They believe in their preparation, their processes and their ability to put in focused effort. They believe they can create the future they want through their effort in the present.
View Arondekar’s presentation from the 2021 MDRT Annual Meeting Virtual Event at mdrt.org.
Amber Arondekar is the founder of The Impact Learning, an organization that helps professionals reach their potential. Contact him at amberarondekar@gmail.com.