For basketball fans, March Madness is a positive term used to describe the excitement generated by the men's NCAA basketball tournament. 

When I think about how most financial advisors run their practice, March Madness might be a good way to describe one of the busiest months of the year.  Adding to the already heavy workload the additional pressure of normal end of the quarter activities plus some added work from next months tax deadline and you know why this month drives most advisors "mad". 

It seems almost everyone, from the most casual observer to the die-hard college basketball fan, is drawn into the basketball March Madness.  What is it about this annual event that attracts so many of us?  I think some of the attributes that make this event so exciting are similar to attributes shared by the most successful advisors.  Here are three attributes that we find in this event that you can actually apply to your business to become even more successful:

1.            Clear Destination

2.            Passionate Enthusiasm

3.            Intensity

Clear Destination

To be successful in business you have to be going somewhere, in other words, you need a clearly defined vision and you need to engage those around you (the players on your team) to help you get there. This is a basic rule of business, but most companies miss it. They miss the fact that you have a much better chance of winning if everyone knows what you're objectives are and what it will take to achieve them. 

By the beginning of the NCAA tournament, every player on each  team knows their destination... to be National Champions.  There are also very clear steps that are required to get there:

·               First and Second Round Games

·               The "Sweet 16"

·               The "Final Four"

·               Championship Game. 

You need to do the same thing in your business.  What is your end game or final destination?  What are the key steps you will need to get there?  A clearly defined and well-documented strategic vision process can help you clarify your destination.   In an E-Myth^TM business, we call this vision process, your Strategic Objective.

Passionate Ethusiasm

Every year in the NCAA tournament there are upsets - a lower seeded team  with less basketball talent beats a higher seeded team.  One of the best explainations for this is pneumonon is that the team with more passion wins.  They wanted it more; they had a burning desire to win.  Passion is a strong emotion that is like a renewable resource...the more passioniate we are about something the more we pursue it and the better we become at it.

What are you passionate about?  There is a huge difference in the level of passionate enthusiasm between the most successful practioners and the average ones.  You spend so much time on the technical side of the business, doing it, doing it doing it, busy, busy, busy everyday you have forgotten why you are in this business in the first place.   

Intensity

Imagine the results you would achieve if you could replicate the intensity you can see in the player's efforts on the court.  We can learn from their exceptionally great concentration and focus.  Most of us go through our workday (or life, for that matter) with little focus, reacting to any and every distraction.  Then we get to the end of the day, asking, "Where did the day go?" 

Stop trying to multitask.  Instead, focus intensely on your most important activities, one at a time.  By concentrating your efforts on each activity you will become much more effective and end up working a lot less hours.  It is not about how many hours you work; it is about the results you produce.  The more intensely you focus, the better the results you will produce.

March Madness is a lot of fun for basketball fans and probably a good way to describe your work this month.  If you want to have more fun and feel less crazy year-round, then clearly define where your business is going, work toward that destination with passion, and really focus with intensity on your most important activities.  

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