The power of your attitude is your choice; a growth mindset is your choice. Don't allow fear to slow you down. The Dalai Lama said it best: “Today I am fortunate to be alive, I have a precious human life, I am not going to waste it.” For many of us on this planet we have the power to choose happiness over despair, to be the architects of our own destiny. The truly poor souls are those who don't have a choice about their circumstances. We are lucky to be in a business that affords us the opportunity to help those who are less fortunate. The future of the wealth management industry will continue to evolve faster than at any time in past history. The advice business will continue to be a growth business. Our clients are becoming more sophisticated and therefore will demand a trusted, competent advisor who will always put their interests first. Those leaders and advisors who can adapt while also being brilliant in the fundamentals will win more business and shape how the industry evolves. In the end, those who are successful will be those who never stop learning and never lose that curiosity about the world around them. The roadmap is simple, but once again, knowing and doing are miles apart. Start the journey this way:

• Create your vision—define your destination.
• Don't be unconscious in life—too many people are sleepwalking.
• Be aware of your beliefs that may be holding you back.
• Try to live without regrets because at the end nobody cares.
• Understand what you can control and what you can't.
• Live in the world of possibilities, not limitations.
• Always put the client's interests ahead of everyone else's.
• Enjoy the process by getting into the zone.
• Never jeopardize your integrity.
• Choose growth and happiness over fear and anxiety.

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

—Theodore Roosevelt

The very fact that you have engaged in this leadership dialogue shows that you have the desire to improve your game and live with greater purpose. As the wealth management industry continues to experience transformation, these characteristics will serve you well. Technology will continue to change the way our clients interact with us, the choices they have, and the way we do business in fundamental ways. Through this ongoing, never‐ending process, the tools we use will change, our roles will change, our services will change, and the regulations that govern us will change. Basically, everything will change except the qualities that define a great leader and the importance of leadership to the success of any organization or advisor.

Leading is not an easy task. It requires strength of character, commitment, and execution of both personal and professional visions. It demands that you show up, fully, every day. It requires a growth mindset.

“The human mind once stretched to a new idea never never regains to its original dimension.”

—Oliver Wendell Holmes