Thread by @behaviorgap

Let me tell you a little story about become a REAL financial advisor.

About a decade ago, I started to notice this crazy gap between what people thought I did as a financial advisor, and what I was actually doing.

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This was around the time of the global financial crisis and the news was full of stories about sleazy advisors who belonged on a used car lot, if not in jail.

It was killing me to be constantly associated with criminals.

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People would ask what I did for work, and no matter how fancy my elevator pitch was, the conversation shut down as soon as the words “financial advisor” left my lips.

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“But wait,” I’d tell them, “I’m a Real Financial Advisor!”

“Sure you are, Carl. Sure you are.”

I was lonely and confused and could feel my confidence slipping away.

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But at the very same time, I was watching Real Financial Advisors saving people's lives by expertly guiding them through one of the scariest markets in history.

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It was like there was a secret Society of Real Financial Advisors that nobody knew existed. It seemed crazy that it was a secret!

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I was convinced that if ordinary humans knew about these Real Financial Advisors and the work they did, there would be lines around the block to see them.

So I started sharing their stories.

A very interesting thing happened.

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First of all, the more I shared, the less alone I felt.

Second, I was surprised at how much my confidence grew.

With each tale of an advisor really helping their clients achieve their dreams, I started to stand a little taller.

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It didn’t matter what I read in the news. I became more and more confident that the work I did was making a massive difference in my clients’ lives.

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I spoke at conferences, wrote a few books, built super successful training programs, and worked with thousands of the best advisors in the world.

Word started to spread, and today, there are more Real Financial Advisors out there than ever before.

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I call it a secret Society of Real Financial Advisors.

There’s no official pin, membership, or certification.

It’s not something you can put on your website or business card.

But it’s a growing movement in our industry, and it’s very, very real.

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Over the years, I’ve wondered what it means to be a Real Financial Advisor. How I might define it if I put it into words.

I felt like there should be a series of rules. Guiding principles. Declarations.

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There should be a clear line in the sand so folks can look down and see what side they’re standing on.

I could barely believe that such a collection of declarations didn’t already exist. But it didn’t. So I started to work on one.

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The Fellowship is the result of that work.

It is my manifesto. It is your manifesto. It is OUR MANIFESTO.

...And I hope it helps you!

realfinancialadvisors.com