When I was bordering on being a workaholic, working 7 days a week, never having time with my family and living under constant financial pressure; I made the decision that I’d had enough.
One day, I was in the office as usual when the phone rang. It was my wife, Gerry. I knew her parents were visiting from Ireland, and I was surprised to get her call as I thought she’d be busy having some fun with them. What she told me filled me with horror and shame.
‘Derek, it’s the bailiffs….’
Yes, the bailiffs were actually in our house. My mother and father-in-law had arrived for their visit and found us with our furniture being valued by the bailiffs. I knew right there and then that something had to change…I’d had enough. I decided right then that I was going to raise the Standards by which I was living my life.
Earlier on in that year, I had sat down with a client who had a portfolio of £100,000. At the time, this was the biggest I’d ever been asked to deal with. Despite giving a good presentation, the client knew I wasn’t ready. He could smell my fear and I didn’t get the business.
A year later I sat down with Mr and Mrs Brown. Their portfolio was worth £7million. So much had changed in that one year since I had made the decision to raise my game.
One of the things I noticed was that Mrs Brown seemed unable to speak. Although she had been brought into the meeting, she appeared to have been muzzled by Mr Brown, and was unable to answer any of the questions I directed at her. Mr Brown on the other hand spoke a lot, making it clear all the while that there were constraints around what I could and couldn’t do with him. He wasn’t a particularly nice guy, and I realised his standards were quite different to mine. After 20 minutes, I closed my folder, and I told Mr Brown I’d heard enough. I explained to him that I worked on a relationship basis with my clients and that as I felt it was unlikely I would be able to build an effective relationship with him, that we might as well call a halt to the meeting and go our separate ways.
Oh dear, Mr Brown was not a happy chap. He was a large man, very well built and around 6 4 and the more upset he got, the more his large jowly face wobbled. I did my best not to laugh as he left, railing at me for not appreciating his vast wealth and importance.
I knew things had changed again. Whereas I had previously spent my life tearing around the country seeing anyone with even the smallest amount of money to invest, on any day of the week that suited them, now I was turning away a portfolio of £7 million because I didn’t care for the way a man treated his wife.
While goals are incredibly important, for me it is the setting of your Daily Standards that really helps you to make massive changes in your life.
BeAllYouCanBe
Derek