Why You Should Replace the Word “Growth" with “Progress" in 2020

The end of the year always gets me thinking about growth. That’s probably pretty natural.

Holidays are a time of nostalgia, and there’s always the specter of reflection hovering nearby when nostalgia is around. Looking back has a way of forcing you to look forward as well.

Growth is an ever-present topic within the financial advisor community. There’s a popular refrain, often spoken by the largest firms, that “If you aren’t growing, you’re dying.”

The underlying idea invoked by that phrase is that you need to be adding more clients, more revenue, more staff, and all the other typical markers you think of with business growth.

I don’t think growth has to mean that a business gets bigger and bigger and bigger forever.

Every advisor wants to improve what they’re doing and how they’re doing it, but not every advisor wants or needs to get bigger, faster. Talking about improving as a business can be difficult without using the word growth, though.

Everywhere you look, you read about growth-oriented advisors and how you need to be one.

The word growth has too much baggage. It’s impossible (at least for me) to hear it and not think about getting bigger.

So I’m advocating for a change in the year ahead to introduce a subtle mindset shift.

Replace the word “growth” with “progress” when you think about your business.

Making progress in your business doesn’t have to be about growing bigger. It can be about any way you want to improve yourself and your company.

  • Are you making progress in providing clients with more complete advice?
  • Are you making progress in your time management?
  • Are you making progress in getting home to your kids on time?
  • Are you making progress in enhancing your skills so you can be more valuable to the people who trust your work?
  • Are you making progress in publishing more content ?
  • Instead of a growth-oriented advisor, be a progress-oriented advisor.

    If you do that, the growth will find you.

    Related: 6 Reasons Why Financial Advisors Don’t Create Content