With almost two decades in the financial services world I have vast experience in observing the human animal. I have counseled hundreds of families on what it takes to build a balance sheet but I also have coached literally thousands of financial planners on how to build a successful financial services business. Both the individual as well as the financial business owner ultimately want the same thing: they want to be financially successful. The good news is we have all the knowledge in the world at our fingertips. We literally have everything we need within the reach of our smart phones to enable us to reach the Promised Land. The bad news is access to information hasn’t changed the success rate for anyone. In fact, the possession of knowledge has never been less valuable than it is right now.

The possession of knowledge has never been less valuable than it is right now.

There is no utility in memorizing the planets or knowing whom the 7th President of the U.S. was. If you need that information…Google it. Everyone has equal access to knowledge and yet not everyone is achieving the desired results. This reality has put the spotlight on a huge weakness in the human species…humans are not much for execution.

For hundreds of years we were taught that knowledge meant you were educated and were capable of achieving high levels of success. But in the information revolution we are beginning to see that it’s the application of the knowledge, or better put, the executing on the knowledge that will be the main indication of if you will be successful or not.

When I coach a financial business owner, I speak to them of the fundamentals of running their business. Generally they need to excel in client acquisition, financial planning skills, servicing and managing a staff. Normally what I find is that the business owner already knows everything I have been hired to tell them. They don’t lack the knowledge…they simply lack the ability or desire to actually DO anything. That makes sense too if you think about it. It’s the DOING in life that is the hardest. We all know how to lose weight. It’s just the LOSING of the weight where we fail. We all know where the gym is. It’s the GOING to the gym that we skip.

This doesn’t change at all when it comes to my work with individual clients. My successful clients are all doers. They come to me for the knowledge, but they allow me to execute for and with them. It’s in the execution of the knowledge where they win. Most of the people who come to me will ask for the knowledge but then skip out on the execution. Here are some examples. They know they need to protect their families, but they don’t buy the insurance. They know they want more money in their accounts, but they don’t spend less and save more. They know they want to retire from their current jobs, but they aren’t willing to look at alternative ways to earn income. And what is worse is they will justify their lack of execution. “It’s too expensive”, “we have private school tuition”, “my wife (or husband) spends too much” etc. etc. etc.

Don’t get me wrong, I have the same issues that I wrestle with. I don’t want to save, I’d rather spend. I don’t want to go the gym, I’d rather eat and drink and watch TV. I don’t want to buy the insurance either because I don’t think I’m going to die or get in a wreck! The main difference is that I know that without the execution, I will get subpar results. It’s the subpar results that scare me into doing the one thing that allows me to execute…I higher a coach. I have people around me who help me handle my nutrition, my marketing, my workouts, even my faith and my child rearing. It’s not that I don’t know what to do…it’s that I need someone to help me put the knowledge into practice.

If you made it this far into this blogpost, you probably identify with some of the issues I have brought up. So let’s stop the talking and begin the executing. You don’t need more knowledge…you need more DOING. If you agree, you will email me right now at joseph.delisi@chartwellfg.com. Tell me what you think of this article. Tell me you want to meet with me. Tell me I’m wrong about everything I wrote.

Just do something.