Episode Transcription 

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 up, you’ll be joined by your hosts Bryan Sweet, who is moving fast towards 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 practices marketing to effortlessly attract new clients. So what do you say? Let’s jump into another amazing episode of the Ultimate Advisor Podcast. 

Hello, welcome back to your ultimate advisor podcast. This is Brittany Anderson. And as always, I have got with me Draye Redfern and Bryan Sweet. You absolutely want to tune in, if for nothing else for the takeaways from each episode. Because there is good stuff that you could implement in your business immediately to help you really break through the ceiling of complexity that you may be facing, which is what our topic is on today. I just want to know how on earth I can break through this next ceiling. So regardless of where you’re at production wise, if you’re at one and a half million, if you’re at that $3 million ceiling, that $4 million ceiling, we have all been there where we feel like, Man, I am doing everything I can I feel like all my cards are on the table. And I have no idea how to get to the next level. I’m looking over here at you know, Jimmy Jones or BB Smith or whoever it is, and I’m going, how are they breaking through? And I’m not. So that’s what we want to talk about today. Because it goes back to the old adage of, if you’re not growing, you’re dying. And we all get to different stages in our business where we just feel like, man, is this going to be it? Is this just where I’m going to sit? Because it just seems so hard, it seems so tough. So the good news is, is that while you are definitely not alone in these feelings, you are not alone in hitting these ceilings of complexity. So the good news is, is that there are always strategies that you can employ to help you break through. So again, the most successful advisors that we work with are the ones that not only believe, but fully embrace that notion of hey, if I’m not growing, I’m dying, that is so important. So the something that I really want to circle on today. And Brian, I’m going to bring you into this one because I think that what needs to happen is that in our industry, advisors can get a little bit too singularly focused on what has helped them grow in the past, versus what new opportunities they can bring to the table. And Brian, I think you individually have really embraced some new thoughts, some new concepts, one of which being the WHO versus the house, which I know that you will, you’ll definitely circle on just because that’s really been exponential to our business. But I think it’s all about looking for opportunities. So Brian, I would love for you to share how you’ve done that how you’ve implemented that in your business, all while taking at least 16 weeks off every year, which is a huge win. I’d love for you to shed some light on this topic.

Well, thank you, Brittany, I think the title of ceiling of complexity is is very interesting in and of itself. I think it speaks for itself what it means. It is a Dan Sullivan from Strategic Coach concept. And the thing I would point out to the audience is it’s something that you’re going to reach multiple times. So as you keep growing, you’re going to have different ceilings of complexity. And that’s actually a really good thing. And so don’t get frustrated by it actually look at it as something positive because that means you’ve actually grown to a new level where you’re facing some new issues or concerns that you didn’t have before. So I think the first thing is one recognizing that you’ve gotten to the point where there is this complexity, and two is what do I need to do or what are the steps or actions that I need to to take to overcome it. So you had alluded to earlier, the concept of who versus how. And to me that is, I probably have mentioned that on this podcast, but of any Dan Sullivan concept that has been introduced that one has, at least with me resonated the most. And I would tell you, since we’ve implemented it in the office had the greatest effect. And it simply is this is when you run into a problem, or a situation that you don’t need know how to deal with, instead of saying, Well, how can I do it? Or how can my team do it? It’s more who is the expert in that area? And how can I coordinate, or work with them to bring their expertise in to help me solve it. And if you think about that, it’s so logical, but we don’t do it enough. So if you can hook up with somebody that’s already solved that issue, one, they can give you the steps that they’ve taken, they can tell you the things that work, the things that didn’t work. And you can apply that without having to be the one that goes through all the misery and trying to overcome all of the issues. And so one of the things of like, where do you find these? Who’s? Well, part of it depends on the question, or what is the ceiling of complexity, but a lot of it is just really fellow advisors that you’re aware of, or have met, or people in your broker dealer that are at that level that you would like to be? Or how are doing the things that you’re having issues with? And essentially reaching out to them? And asking them, how did you overcome that? Or what did you do to get to that next level, and you will be surprised if they’re, especially if they’re probably not, you know, in your direct area, most advisors that are successful, really want to help other people be successful. That’s why they’re good is they like helping people, ie helping their clients? And so if you simply ask her, say, hey, if I bought you lunch, would you spend some time with me, going through this particular issue I’m having, I’ll be shocked if nine out of 10 Won’t go ahead and do that for you. Now, sometimes you’re going to run into a scenario where you’re running into something where it’s not something that you know, of an advisor that’s actually tackled it, or it’s a new problem that you’re not aware of anybody that’s done that before. And that’s where getting involved in these mastermind groups. And these other outside organizations are so helpful because they give you access to different thoughts and ideas. And, you know, we wouldn’t have the ultimate advisor coaching and the ultimate advisor mastermind and we wouldn’t be having our really awesome marketing platform if we hadn’t gone to a mastermind and met Draye Redfern. And so Draye became a who for us. And he continues to be a who for us as we have him on retainer, and he’s always doing something new for us. So I think it’s figuring out what is the issue? Do I know of somebody in the field that’s already overcoming that and just simply reaching out and asking them? Now the worst case scenario is you ask them and they say no. All right, well, you’re not in any worse position than you were before. Then what do you do? Well, who’s another person that you could reach out that’s maybe done the same thing. It’s the second on the list. I would tell you, if you ask two people, one of the two for sure is going to spend time with you, helping you on that issue. And then just figuring out where are these other complexities and joining organizations that are helpful? So Draye What kind of thoughts do you have on that particular topic?

There’s so much around that, that I just I just I agree with and it’s fun just to listen to your take on it also, because I agree with with everything you said From my standpoint, you know, I think that I will always perpetually for the rest of my life have a ceiling of complexity, but that ceiling will continually get higher and higher and higher. And that’s how I view my life. Um, and I think that from, from my experience and conversations and doing it the Dumb Ways and doing it the smart ways, and I can do this on my own and all the other things that we have as individuals, I think that there’s really only two ways to increase your ceiling of complexity. And in most, and this will require, you’re involved in most instances, I guess. And that’s, you know, the school of hard knocks where you figure it out on your own. And you, you know, Keith Cunningham would call it the dumb tax, where you’re gonna make mistakes, and you’re gonna figure these things out on your own, but you’re gonna eventually get through that ceiling of complexity, but it’s going to be less expensive, but it’s gonna take you a whole lot longer. And that, you know, time is our most precious asset. And, you know, if money is one of those things that, that you that some people may not have as much of, then the Hard Knocks way is a good way to start. I started there for a long time until I had the right mentors around me that just said, shortcut all of that. And number two, pay to play. And as an example of that, when I was 24 years old, I went to the Tony Robbins date with destiny, it’s a $6,000 seminar, which was a lot of money, a really good amount of money from me back then. And it was one of those things where this whole seminars basically around you just creating your ideal, self and relationship. And this is before I was married, but I knew that I wanted to invest in myself before I actually got married. So I could be that person that would attract the right type of individual. So I was always sort of, you know, willing to make these, these investments. At that event, I met Joe Polish, who happened to be the founder of Genius Network, where I also then met Brian and Brittany. And so you never necessarily know what one thing may lead to another. And from my standpoint, pay to play is always almost always, almost always the better option. Because you get around people who have already had more success than you had you get around people that can help you not run into that brick wall, or not facepalm you’re with your hand to your face, like why did I do that it was such a dumb decision. Right? If I would have known this little thing, I could have avoided all of this pain or frustration by simply being around some of the right people. And sometimes that like I said, That’s pay to play. But the time and duration is oftentimes shortcut. And you never know what one thing will lead to another. So that’s sort of a fun example that and another one around sort of pay to play the I was also told a long time ago was whenever you can fly first class. And that’s not because you want a bigger scar or comfy seat. It’s not because you want the free drinks. It’s not because you want the wonderful airplane food. It’s because of the people that you are around when in first class and so sometimes it’s only a couple $100 More here and there. But often times you around a significantly higher caliber of individual. That’s where the movers and shakers are. That’s where deals get done. And I have sat next to so many people that have then become clients that we’ve worked together, there’s been a referral that is occurred. And funny enough, someone who actually spoke at the Genius Network annual event, Chris Voss, the lead negotiator of the FBI, he was I was listening to a story between him and Lance Armstrong, they’re flying to Austin, and they sat next to each other on the plane. And sure enough, Lance became a client. And Chris was on Lance’s podcast, and all of these sorts of things. Like I hear so many stories like this. And that’s just one of the little takeaways that if you don’t want to go pay $25,000, to join a mastermind, I get it, I totally understand. But for the times that you do fly, and maybe it’s business related, maybe consider that suit, you know, that little upgrade there, because that can help you shortcut the time and duration and really increase that that ceiling of complexity. And I’ve had so many wonderful conversations with shorten the duration has taken me to reach certain goals, it’s opened up my mind and to have different conversations that have really stretched me and and I can’t, I can’t recommend that enough. So I am of the belief that pay to play is certainly of more benefit. But I am also of the belief that my ceiling of complexity will always be there, there. But there’s always like you said, Brian, there’s always the right who around the can help you.

Alright, so you guys just covered some awesome stuff. And I really think it boils down to two key action items here. And that’s the number one I think is the WHO versus the how it’s that Dan Sullivan concept that Brian talked about. It’s really you know, there. There’s there’s bad news. And there’s good news with this, this whole topic of ceilings of complexity. The bad news, if you want to look at it this way is that you’re always going to have one just like Draye said, there’s always going to be a ceiling of complexity. The thing is, is you’ve just broken through You’re the first one, and then you’re gonna be floating for a little bit, and then you’re gonna get to that next layer, and you’re gonna bump your head again. And then you’re gonna break through that. And then it’s the insert cycle repeat. Okay. So that’s the bad news. That’s the worst part of this, the great news is, is that there is always going to be other people out there who have gone through what you’ve been through in some facet in some way that can absolutely help you get to the next level that you want to get to. So that is really if you look at this, you boil it down, and you say, what is the absolute worst thing that’s going on about this whole ceiling of complexity about banging your head against a wall is that it just exists? That’s really the worst thing. So that’s not bad news. That’s good news. The good news is that there are resources, you just have to decide which ones you want to tackle, and which ones are going to help you get to where you want to go. So that is the first takeaway, the WHO versus the how, if you’re not a member of Strategic Coach, if you have not checked out any of Dan Sullivan stuff, his podcast, his books, we highly recommend it. We highly stand by it. Brian’s been in that program for I think about 75 years now, if I’m correct, okay, now just get 82. Actually, I know it’s been over 20, I had to pick on him for a minute. But I know it’s been over 20. And, you know, when you look at that, that’s really that’s a long term, that’s a relationship. That’s a relationship that he’s developed with this coaching program, because it works, and it helps. So that’s something that you know, when you commit, and that leads me to the next point, and Brian and Draye, both alluded to this, and I think it’s powerful, and it’s important. And that’s to join the masterminds. It’s to join coaching programs. When I look at the core reason why advisors join our mastermind, it’s because they want help breaking through the ceiling of complexity. And they have through the vetting process through our application process, they have decided that we can be the ones to help them do that. So when you’re looking at you have to decide what it is that you need. What it is that you think is going to help you to break through the ceiling, where are your biggest pain points, and then do your due diligence to find what can help you who can help you who can help you break through that ceiling of complexity. You know, as as Draye said, that whole pay to play, it’s important and regardless of what what asset or what money you can throw at your problems, right now, there’s always a solution. What is What does Dan Sullivan say, if you’ve got enough money to solve a problem, you don’t have a problem? Well, that’s, that’s a good problem to have then, right? If you can just take care of it with investing into yourself and into your education, and putting yourself in a position whether it’s like Dre talked about flying first class, or it’s joining a mastermind, or it’s joining a coaching program for accountability or whatever that case is, make the decision to invest in yourself, because most of the time, you’re one connection away from changing your life. Now, that’s kind of the the point that I want to leave you with is that when you look at a ceiling of complexity, it kind of boils down to this one thing. And it’s one thing only. And it’s the fact that you are one single decision away from changing the rest of your life. So literally, you could make one little decision that could change the trajectory of your business. It’s just taking action, it’s taking the time to decide where you want to go, who you want alongside to help you get there, and how you want to do it right, then find the people that put those puzzles together, find the people that can help you connect the dots. So before I close this out, you got your top two takeaways. Brian Draye, any other tidbits you want to leave with our listeners?

I have just a couple of thoughts based on some things that you said. One is, you know, when when you pay, you pay attention. I think that’s an interesting one. So when you put money down, and they tell you to do something more than likely you’ll actually implement it. So there’s the there’s the other benefit of joining some of these, these groups. And then just the other thing about you’re talking about strategic coach, and just to tell you the like you’re one connection away, I had probably three connections that I didn’t anticipate, and a few others where they gave me some ideas or connections or resources. The other part is there was also one person that I sat next to that had an issue and I helped him solve it. So I helped him kind of get through a ceiling of complexity. And he really didn’t, you know, think that I was probably be the guy because he didn’t know he’d be sitting next to me and so you know, it worked goes both ways. So just, I can’t tell you what your comment is that you’re one conversation away from maybe change in your life or, or your circumstances that is so so true.

Absolutely. And you know, Brian, I think you bring out a really good point for us to really round this out on is that when you’re attending things when you’re going in, and when I talk about attending, I mean, if you’re part of a coaching program, you’re joining a mastermind, you’re on a call with some guy you met on an airplane flying first class, regardless of what it is, is that you always need to have your antennas up as to what your biggest pain points are in your business and to what you want to solve. But you also have to go in with the mindset that you might get out of that meeting something completely different than what you expected. So don’t go with tunnel vision, don’t go with just, I need to put my blinders on because I only need these three things. Well, you might experience something that again, could help you change the trajectory could help you shift something in your business, some tiny little move, that can make a really big impact. So just make sure that you open your mind, you’ve always got certain things that you want to focus on, but have an open mind and go into this knowing that there is something there that can absolutely change your life. So again, we are here to help you if you have questions. If you have things that are burning, please do not hesitate to reach out. In fact, you could shoot me an email, Brittany at ultimate advisor coaching.com. It’s easy, it’s simple, and we are here to be able to vet that for you. So the other thing too is that if you know other advisors, you know, advisors who are frustrated, they have ceilings of complexity they are hitting, don’t keep this episode a secret, share it with them, help out people who have helped you because I guarantee that your network of advisers, you guys have helped each other get to the point that you’re at today. So be sure to share the best information with them so that they can reach and break through their ceilings of complexity as well. So that wraps up today’s episode of The Ultimate advisor podcast. We will catch you back here next week. 

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!