March 31, 2021
Success Mindset: What story are you telling?
Everyone loves a good story – and every female financial advisor has a success mindset story about their business journey. Including the classic elements of a great adventure:
…a line-in-the-sand moment that made you decide to go for it.
…peaks of success that put you on top of the world and valleys so low you almost quit.
…helpers who unexpectedly appeared to show you the way.
…villains who tripped you up when you least expected it.
What’s the story behind your decision to become a female financial advisor? More importantly, what’s the story you’re telling yourself that impacts your mindset for success?
How I developed a success mindset
Working in financial services as a woman takes some courage and a hefty dose of confidence. You may wonder sometimes what’s driving you to make your mark in what has traditionally been a male-dominated industry.
Most of your friends and family are working at “normal” jobs and there you are: the outlier, taking what seems to be the riskier road. Maybe even pushing yourself out of your comfort zone (and, let’s be honest, freaking out about it sometimes).
Why can’t you just be content with the status quo like most people?
Speaking as the owner of a successful financial services firm and who’s lived through too many highs and lows to count, I think women are drawn to leadership. Either at an existing financial services firm or in their own business for this reason: We’re driven to do things our way, to create a path rather than passively accept one that already exists.
Looking back, it’s obvious I was motivated at an early age to think this way. Growing up in Montana, I watched my parents intentionally choose to run their own business. This created a life with more freedom, not knowing at the time, that this was the exception. Seemed normal enough to me!
The story my parents created about their life and business influenced the one I began to tell about myself. The work I eventually chose to do as a female financial advisor came from that success mindset.
Success mindset: Easier said than done, right?
I realize not everyone is so lucky to have role models like I did. Maybe your motivation to build a career as a female financial services professional came from watching men (and a few women) succeed. Or, maybe your experience in a traditional employee working world left a bad taste in your mouth and you were just over it!
What matters now is how you are framing your life experience so far – or the story you’re telling yourself about yourself – and how that relates to your success mindset and what you want to achieve as a female financial advisor.
When cultivating takes effort
I’ll give you an example. Back to Montana: the story eventually leading to my success as a financial services business owner started with my parents as business owners. I saw first-hand that running your own business was possible and financially viable.
After a few early jobs as a young adult, I landed an administrative assistant job at a small financial services firm. The owner’s wife – also a financial advisor, which was highly unusual at the time in the male-dominated industry – offered to take me under her wing.
This was more evidence that continued to build my success mindset around working as a woman in this field. That a leadership role (which this woman shared with her husband), was possible.
A decade later, and after some serious ups and downs as a traditionally employed financial services professional, I hit my line-in-the-sand moment when a financial services partnership unexpectedly failed and left me reeling in doubt about my career choice.
It was a dark time, but deep down that success mindset was still there. On a gut level, I knew that launching my own financial services business was possible. Succeeding was fundamentally a matter of putting in the work. So, I took the plunge.
It was not easy. I was scared sometimes and made plenty of mistakes. But the words I told myself about my capabilities, the business I envisioned focused on what I could do at that moment to move forward. That approach informed every decision I made to create the success story for my life and business.
Success mindset over matter
Of course, my story isn’t over yet. I expect to have many more successful years ahead as a financial services business owner. Making my business a very valuable asset to pass on when the time is right.
But here’s my message for you:
Your mindset around success will have a huge impact on achieving what you want.
You may not have had the benefit of entrepreneurial parents or role models. You may be struggling right now to find a mentor who will help you find your way as a female financial advisor.
But no matter what is happening, the story you’re telling yourself – your inner dialogue – about your capabilities and the potential for your success is absolutely going to influence the outcome.
Examples of how a success mindset works in real life are everywhere. Singer Dolly Parton, media mogul Oprah Winfrey, PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi, Xerox CEO Ursula Burns – the list of women who rose from stories of early poverty and underprivilege to create amazing business success is long.
I’m sure there were moments of doubt in their careers but, I’ll bet their inner dialogue wasn’t a running loop of “I can’t because…”.
How will your story end?
Take a moment to ask yourself what your success mindset looks like and what story you’re telling.
Is it about why you can’t achieve something because of your childhood, experience, education, setbacks, or gender? Or is it a story about why you can?
Your answer to that question is the key to a happy ending to your story.
Have questions about how you can succeed in your business and accelerate your journey toward reaching your goals? I invite you to learn more about ELEVATE, an exclusive group coaching program specifically designed to help female financial advisors. Start with a no-cost 30-minute consultation to discuss where you are in your career and where you want to go.
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