Read The Transcript Of The Episode:

Speaker 1:

This is the Ultimate Advisor Podcast, the podcast for financial advisors who want to create a thriving, successful, and scalable practice. Each week we'll uncover the ways that you can improve your referrals, your team, your marketing, and your business operations, helping you to level up your advising practice, bring in more assets, and create the advising practice that you've dreamed of. You'll be joined by your hosts, Bryan Sweet, who has more than half a billion dollars in assets under management, Brittany Anderson, the driving force for advisors looking to hire, improve their operations and company culture, and Draye Redfern who can help you systematize and automate your practice's marketing to effortlessly attract new clients. So what do you say? Let's jump into another amazing episode of the Ultimate Advisor Podcast.

Brittany Anderson:

Hello, this is Brittany Anderson back with you alongside my good friends, Draye Redfern and Bryan Sweet. And today we are rounding out the third part of a three-part mini series where we have been talking to you about positive mindset. Now, to do a little recap from the last couple episodes, which if you are just catching this, if you're just tuning in, I highly recommend that you start from the beginning of this series, because it really leads up to this particular boiling point that we're going to talk about today. But just as a brief reminder, when you look at maintaining, creating a positive mindset, you have to first make the decision that you're even going to put in that effort. You have to decide that you are not going to allow a negative mindset to control you, but rather focus on the positive, focus on the end game and the great that's ahead of some of the tough stuff that you maybe have to face.

Brittany Anderson:

The second component that we drilled into was the act of gratitude, was just being intentional, be intentional about expressing what you're grateful for, about who you're grateful for. You know, Draye had a great comment in the last episode about how we all have those moments in time where we're like, gosh, I'm really grateful for this client, or I'm really grateful for my spouse, or I'm grateful for my friend Tim, or whoever it is, and be like, I should probably tell them. And then you're onto the next thing. So rather than being onto the next thing, actually stopping, pausing and showing that appreciation, of taking the extra effort, that couple minutes that it might take to acknowledge somebody and to really show that you're grateful for them, and how big of an impact it can make, not only in your life as you as an individual, but in your business, in your home, everywhere across the board.

Brittany Anderson:

So today, again, we're rounding out this three part series and we're going to talk about the importance of surrounding yourself with positive likeminded individuals. Now, this may seem obvious, but we've seen time and time again that it's probably not as obvious as it should be. So this is something where, when you think about your life, when you think about who you're spending time with, we all have or have had those friends that are like the negative Nancy or negative Nelly, the people who you're like, "Sure, I'll go grab a drink with you, I'll grab dinner with you, I'll grab a cup of coffee with you." And by the end of it, you're so exhausted because you're like, that person is such a drain. I don't know anybody else that has more negative things to talk about. Maybe they're stuck in their own life and everything is just horrible, or the news and the world is horrible, and that's all they want to talk about. And it's like, "Man, can we talk about something that's maybe a little bit positive?" So we all have those people in our lives.

Brittany Anderson:

And the way that I want to open this with is by saying, if you have people that are more along the lines of the negative, of the naysayers, of the people who just can't seem to get out of a funk, it is not to say that they are bad people. That is absolutely not what we are trying to communicate here. But it just means that you probably cannot allocate your time to them as much as you maybe are now or as you have in the past. And it's for your own self preservation. It's for protecting your own mindset. Because what is the saying out there? That you're the product of the five people you spend the most time with. So think about that for a minute.

Brittany Anderson:

If your goal, and you're listening to this and you're saying, "Yeah, I really need to work on mindset." Or "Hey, I am an example of how positive mindset has been a huge catalyst in a positive way for my business, for my life." Whatever that may be. You don't want anything else to hold you back. And it would be really silly to have that momentum stopped because you've chosen to be around people that just suck the life out of you.

Brittany Anderson:

So Bryan, I would love to bring you into the conversation here, because you've really taken this seriously and you're so conscious about how you allocate your time because, hello, time is our most precious commodity. You can't buy it, right? No amount of money in the world is going to get you more of it. So I would love for you to talk about some of the things you do to really make sure you're surrounding yourself with the people that lift you up.

Bryan Sweet:

Yeah, it's such a serious topic, for one, but such an interesting topic, because the neat thing about this is we get to control this, and so once we're aware of these issues, we can make changes to get positive results. So that's the really great thing about it. But a quick thought, so obviously we're talking to a bunch of successful financial advisors, and I'm just wondering of anybody in the audience, how many have ever gotten a phone call from either themselves picked up the phone or their a staff person called and said, "Well Bill, Johnny Jones is on the phone." And you cringe. I would imagine we've all had that scenario happen when somebody that's negative or however you want to describe them, but we all have them, is on the phone. I think you really want to give yourself a thorough time to think through that because, is that really, no matter what size of a client they are, the negative things that they can do to you, your team, your practice, are they worth the revenue that you are getting from that person?

Bryan Sweet:

And so a couple of things that I think you really want to consider, these are not easy things to do, as Brittany alluded to, this doesn't mean they're bad people, but I think you need to do one of a couple of things if not both. One, I think those people, you really need to have a conversation and discuss that situation, whether they're negative with your team or they're negative with you. And matter of fact, it's just one of the kind of pre-qualifiers for clients on who we take. If you're negative and have a bad mindset, that automatically excludes you from being a client with us because it's so important.

Bryan Sweet:

But really think about this, because I know everyone in the audience has got this, but have a conversation and thoroughly explaining what happens when the client calls and the action that they have on the team, and just say, "I'd love to continue to work for you, but is there a way that we can do this in a more positive environment, a more positive mindset?" And if they say, "Well, what do you mean by that?" Give them an example. And if at the end they said, "Well, no, I'm not going to change." Then one of the things you may want to do, because I think you'll be really surprised at the reaction, is just to say, "Well, I'm sorry but one of the things that we've made it a new policy in the office is that we're only working with people that are positive and bring a smile to their face when they come to the office. So I'm going to have to help you transition your business to some other place."

Bryan Sweet:

And if you really say that to somebody, you'll be surprised, one, how quickly they will change, because they want to continue to do business with you. Or two, they'll actually leave, in which case you should be very, very happy and especially your team will be very, very happy, because you probably only get a small percentage of what they get when the client actually calls. So that's just one little variable is, don't accept that from a client. Every client you deal with can be nice, kind to both you and your team.

Brian Sweet:

The second thing is, just surrounding yourself with uplifting, positive people. And Brittany alluded to, you turn out like the five people you hang around with the most. And that's why I'm such a big proponent of these mastermind groups, because those people in general are really positive, big thinkers, expect big things, and what I'm trying to accomplish in life are things like that. And what I have found, and I think you want to be conscious of this is, even if there's really good friends of yours that tend to be a little bit on the negative side, you really want to be cautious on how much time you spend, not that you have to get rid of them as a friend like you might the client, but you may want to narrow the focus and the amount of time that you spend with them, or do it in a different format just because of the results that you get. It can be really dramatically negative if you let it go on too long.

Bryan Sweet:

And what I've found is the more time I spend with the people that I've gotten to meet in the mastermind groups, not only am I more positive, but all that leads to enhanced business opportunities and just great things that occur. And matter of fact, we're so convinced that these masterminds are helpful to people, that's why we created our own. Because a lot of people aren't aware of masterminds or haven't found one that fits their niche. And so we said, "Well, how can we be a resource to those financial advisors that don't have access to some people that can really help uplift them and get them to the next level?" And so part of what we do at the mastermind is this positive mindset being a really great resource of who and how to get you over the hump and give you all the things that you need to maintain that positive attitude.

Bryan Sweet:

So Draye, I know you and I chat a lot and we're in a lot of masterminds, some together and some completely different. So I know you've got some really good input on that also.

Draye Redfern:

Bryan, this is another topic I love, and I think that there's something that you said a minute ago that sort of reminded me of how my wife actually ran her previous business. And so you know, as you essentially he said, if you're not going to get your positivity in order, you're going to keep being a negative Nancy, we don't want to work with you. And it's funny because I've heard other people do that in a variety of fashions, and my wife is one of them. And you can't necessarily do this in the financial services industry as well, but it's a funny story that's sort of worth sharing, is that none of her prices were publicly released, so that she's a world renowned photographer, but none of her prices were actually ever released to the public. You had to come in for a meeting and that's where basically you'd customize a package.

Draye Redfern:

But you can usually tell if a client is going to be mean or negative or all of these sorts of things. Those people usually wear those sorts of demeanors like they're proud of them almost to a certain degree sometimes. And so because the fees weren't actually published, but there was a mean fee that was installed on the various contracts, and obviously they were never told about this, but that mean fee basically was the ability to where they were going to be charged an extra 20% or 30% or 40% to work with her, because frankly she didn't necessarily want the business. And this is actually like my wife was making 20 to 30 times the average salary that a photographer makes on an annual basis following amazing business practices. But this was one of them, basically saying, I don't have the time, I don't have the patience. I don't want to work these people into my life. I don't need it. But if they're going to pay 30% or 40% more, I can justify it.

Draye Redfern:

And so there's ways to do this in all sorts of facets of every business. Obviously you've got to play, like it's a slightly different game in the financial services industry. But I share that with you because there are ways to actually eliminate clients on the front end that may not be a good fit. That's just one example. And if they're already working with you, Bryan gave you a couple examples how you can actually change some of the pattern, maybe it's a pattern interrupt, and if they do go elsewhere, that's a wonderful thing as well.

Draye Redfern:

And both Bryan and Brittany have alluded to the five five rule, like the Napoleon Hill who nearly a hundred years ago now basically talked about the circle of influence. And so, it's the five people, and your income is basically comprised of the five people that you spend the most time with. And so you don't really necessarily have time to waste or surround yourself with the people who may actually bring you down. And I think that's one of the secret weapons that I've had. You know, I'm 30 and I've surrounded myself with people who are multi seven, eight and nine figure business owners, that they're at levels that I'm not necessarily at yet. But by surrounding myself with people who know things that I don't and that are exponentially more positive and know these things, it helps me level up so much faster. And masterminds are a great way to actually make that a reality.

Draye Redfern:

The interesting thing, just having been around so many teams and incredibly successful individuals who've had a billion dollar exit, several nine-figure exits, and tons of eight figure businesses, is that most of those negative Nancys that Brittany was talking about earlier, they don't usually build great businesses and have a team that admires them. It's usually one or the other. If they're very negative, maybe they can build a great business because they're so hard on their team. But there's very few people who are negative like that who actually build a great business and have a team that admires them.

Draye Redfern:

And I'll elaborate on that in a moment because it's really, really important to have both, because you want to have a team that's super positive and admires you and helps to support you. Because the reality is, as we sort of elaborated on the last episode, is that we all have off days. Happiness is a perpetual state for me. But that doesn't mean that I necessarily don't drop from that for a couple hours or a day or whatever it is. And so it's really important for me to operate at that higher level. So I have a team around me that also supports that and I have a mastermind group to help support me in that. So if I'm having an off day, whether it's a business challenge or a roadblock, I've got my immediate team and external professionals in a really close environment group that helps to support that.

Draye Redfern:

And because the reality is, growing a successful business is one of the hardest things that you can do. With all of the legal troubles that are out there, and all of the employee onboarding and all of the marketing, and then all of the growing and the operations, and then the scaling, it's tough. That's just the reality. It's not cut out for the week. And so it really helps to not only surround yourself with positive people but positive people that can help you overcome some of those roadblocks, help you see around corners that you don't necessarily know what's maybe lurking around there yet.

Draye Redfern:

And the reality is, is that masterminds, we have one, yes, we would love for you to potentially join us one day, but the reality is is that that sort of thinking, thinking bigger and surrounding yourself with people who are at a level that you are not necessarily at yet, and people who have been there, or people who have overcome some of those roadblocks. And some of those roadblocks you may experience in your business and they take five minutes, others may take five months. But I think there's a really good balance that really successful businesses and really successful principals or owners have, is they both have a team that really supports them, and they have their back, and they admire them, and they've got an external professional circle that really acts as that mastermind group to help them get over some of those roadblocks significantly faster.

Draye Redfern:

So there's a lot there to probably unpack, but I think that that for me has been a massive game changer. That was one of the reasons why I initially met Brittany and Bryan in the first place, being a part of a mastermind, and it's been a privilege to be a part of many of those things. So, Brittany, any final words as we sort of wrap this one up?
 

Brittany Anderson:

Definitely. First, I think the most important takeaway from today is, I love Andrea even more for having the mean fee. We thought we loved her before, but this is the thing.

Draye Redfern:

Yep, my wife's a winner, she's amazing, I love her. But so many things like that. That's one of my favorites.

Bryan Sweet:

One of the best ideas I've ever heard.

Brittany Anderson:

I love it. So I want to give a couple examples to things that both of you touched on today. So one, we were just talking about the whole mastermind thing, and like Draye said, like Bryan said earlier, we'd love to have you as part of that. But here's the deal. We actually have an application process in place because we have to vet for things like this. We absolutely have to make sure when we have somebody that comes to us and is like, "Hey, we want to join the mastermind. We want to be part of this." If we would have rewound before we maybe learned a bunch of this stuff, we would have been like, "Yes, checkbook. As long as there's money in there, we're good."

Brittany Anderson:

But we've really come to understand that mindset and how a person approaches things, how they approach their business, how they approach their team, how they approach clients, all of those things are absolutely essential. We have to be aligned. We have to be in total alignment with anybody that joins the mastermind. Because if we're not, it's going to be a lose-lose across the board. The person joining, if they are negative in mindset, they don't believe in the whole thing of treating their teams the way that they should be treated, they don't really care about the interaction with clients, they're just kind of like, "Hey, I'm in this to just build my business and that's it." That's not going to be a good fit.

Brittany Anderson:

The good fit for us, when we look at our mastermind, it's people who have a giving demeanor. They're there to give as much as they are to receive. They come in with an open mindset, with a positive mindset. They want to build an amazing team around them. They believe in what Draye just got done talking about with how you've got to surround yourself with really good people if you want to become even better. So that's why we have an application process in place. And I encourage you, this is really no different, if you think about our application process for our mastermind, it's no different than what your application process should be to have a client join you and your team. So you should have some sort of vetting process in place in your business to make sure that you don't have to get to the point that Bryan talked about where you're having those tough conversations that nobody likes to have with an existing client because somehow they've slipped through the cracks, somehow they've come on board and they're that bad attitude, they mistreat people. And actually I can give example to this.

Brittany Anderson:

We had a prospect, and not too terribly long ago, at Sweet Financial, who for whatever reason decided that she was having a bad day and wanted to take it out on one of our team members, and we ended up telling this person that, "Hey, we're sorry but we're just not going to be a good fit for each other." And just think about this for a second as the business owner, if you're listening as the second in command, this is really powerful. So by living by what we preach, by actually practicing what we preach, it gave a huge confidence boost to our team members because all of a sudden they felt safe and protected. They felt like, "Wow, I'm part of something that's bigger than just a job. These people actually care, and they actually live by what they're saying."

Brittany Anderson:

So they're not just after a proverbial dollar, they're not just trying to bring in as many assets as possible because that's our business. They're truly trying to align, again, I use that word, but align with people who are going to be a great fit, who are going to benefit from what we have to offer, who are going to allow and absorb all that we're trying to provide and help them with, and not get in their own way with a negative mindset.

Brittany Anderson:

So I just wanted to bring that up because I think it's so relevant, having that vetting process in place for your business is so important and it's a huge culture boost when you look at how you can stand by and practice what you preach. So I think that that really just kind of sums up, Draye, what you were talking about, Brian, what you were talking about. You know, I look at so many examples, and we've been very fortunate to coach a lot of advisors and to really help them to build their culture. But here's the thing, if you want to implement the stuff that Draye teaches on with the automations, with the marketing, with the brilliance that he has to offer, you can't do it unless you have a good team around you. You have to have that culture, that positive energy going.

Brittany Anderson:

And it's not just Draye's stuff, I use that as an example with our coaching, but this is something we talk about immediately when people engage with us. It's like, "Hey, if you don't have the right head space, if you don't have the right team behind you, this is going to be really hard." And I don't think any of us like hard, and we want to work smart, not hard. So I think it's just so important to understand that if you're trying to implement anything in your business.

Brittany Anderson:

And let's just use this as an example. So if you have a constant whirlwind of, you're trying to get stuff done and you just feel like your team's not doing it and they're not listening to you, they're not hearing you, and nothing gets done, and you're in this constant hamster wheel, the first thing that I would recommend is that you take a step back and look at yourself. Look at how you're communicating. What is your culture? How are you treating people? What kind of encouragement or leadership are you providing? Those are the things that put into place and that get the right measures in place to have people try to excel. People want to work for really good people. People want to do good for people that they feel care about them.

Brittany Anderson:

So those are just things, if you're looking to implement, you want to move your business forward, it's important, and this is why it becomes essential to surround yourself with good people. So just put yourself in the position of being in a mastermind, put yourself in a position to have a great team around you. You're going to go light years ahead in your business. We've seen examples of it, we've lived it and breathed it ourselves. We can speak to it as a true testament. So before I give the few takeaways for today, Draye, Bryan, anything you want to jump in and add?

Draye Redfern:

I think that there's a lot of stuff there. I think one of the things that I would say is, if anything, I hope that this episode has potentially made people more conscious of the people that they surround themselves with, their clients, their team, and their professional circle. And I think that that for me is, even while talking about, even while living it is just always a good reminder.

Brittany Anderson:

So good. All right. So that brings us to the top three takeaways from today's episode. Number one being, to limit your time with negative people. Again, if it's a client relationship, something along those lines, you can absolutely part ways and terminate that relationship. But when it's family, when it's friends, when it's people that you've had in your life for a long period of time, again, it doesn't mean you have to completely cut them out, it just means you need to be conscious, because again, time is absolutely your most precious commodity, you've only got so much of it.

Brittany Anderson:

Number two is to, if you do have the clients, like Bryan mentioned, the Johnny Jones or whatever of the world, that when you call, you get an absolute pit in your stomach, you do not want to take that call because they're so difficult, have a conversation, find out why or what's going on. Is it really that they are truly just that by nature, or are they just having a difficult time? Maybe it's just a difficult period in life and they're not even aware of what they're doing, or they're not even really conscious to the fact that they are being so negative or so difficult.

Brittany Anderson:

So you as the primary, you as the owner, the lead advisor, it's really your role to be able to have those conversations and do them honestly, do them transparently, even if they are a little weird, a little awkward. Nobody loves those conversations. But they're important. They're essential to your business and to your sanity. I mean, that is one thing over anything else, if you're not hearing anything else from the episode, just being mindful of, man, you want to protect your own mindset.

Brittany Anderson:

And then third is, if you are not currently part of a mastermind, if you're not part of some sort of study group, of something where you are putting yourself into a room where you are not the smartest person. You know, there's that saying out there, that if you're the smartest person in the room, you're in the wrong room. That is so true on so many levels. And myself, Bryan, Draye, we can all attest to this. By being in masterminds, it's helped us to not only increase and accelerate our business growth, but to also grow as individuals, as to just really be even better people.

Brittany Anderson:

So obviously we'd love to have you in our Ultimate Advisor Mastermind, but if that's not the one for you, just find one. Something that you can put yourself and you can surround yourself with the big thinkers, the growth minded thinkers, the people who are looking at the positive, looking at the what's next in life, and are really excited for the future. So that is going to absolutely help you with your own focus on a positive mindset.

Brittany Anderson:

So that rounds out this week's episode of the Ultimate Advisor Podcast. We will see you back here next week.

Brittany Anderson:

Hey there, Brittany Anderson here. If you are loving what you're hearing on our Ultimate Advisor Podcast, don't keep us a secret. Share us with other advisors that you think would benefit from the messages that you are hearing. The easiest way to do that is to simply send them to ultimateadvisorpodcast.com. And if you want to learn a few other ways that we could potentially serve you as an advisor, go check out ultimateadvisormastermind.com. As always, we are so happy to have you here with us as part of the Ultimate Advisor community, and we look forward to a continued relationship.