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Good night. Good night. Happy New Year. Bonne nuit. Feliz año nuevo. We are truly blessed and fortunate to all be here tonight, with a new year to realize our goals and visions for 2021, and might I add, beyond.
So the idea to bring this conversation to you is because I firmly believe that behind the numbers for a financial plan that I helped clients to create is a lifeline, a life goal, and a vision.
And I wanted to take a step back, just to help people to reacquaint themselves with those core goals for their life, your business, your career and your relationship-- and providing some clarity, which will enable you to take the next step in strategizing towards those goals with someone like myself.
Now, we're very privileged to have Carolyn Dickinson with us as our keynote speaker. She is an international executive coach, speaker, and trainer. And before she begins, I just want to give you a brief summary of the agenda that we've got for tonight.
Now, this is your first webinar with us. Welcome, and please note that this is being recorded. We do edit the voices out during the Q&A section before we post that. So that protects your privacy.
And if this is your first time hearing about RBC dominion securities, we'll take a brief moment. I'll just give you a very brief summary of RBC, myself, in terms of my history, and then we'll get right into Carolyn, because everyone is really excited for this webinar.
After Carolyn's finished, we'll open up to questions and answers. And depending on a number of questions, we are flexible to go beyond 8:00. And depending on that-- and I'll make that known. So I keep a sense of the number of questions. And if I think we'll need a bit more time, we can go up to 8:15, I'd say the most 8:30, just respect everyone's time.
Now, we encourage questions, because that's an opportunity for us all to learn from each other. And after questions, I'll give a brief update on the next webinar sessions that are coming up. And for the first time tonight, someone in attendance is going to be the recipient of an attendee appreciation gift.
And after that, we finish the formal part, we'll stop recording. And then I hang around for another 10 to 15 minutes for what I call it an Ask Me Anything session. So we bid farewell to our guest speaker, and it could be a question related to what was discussed tonight, or just anything in general that might be of a financial nature. That's an opportunity for that.
Now, you'll notice I only have one line in bold for RBC Dominion. And the reason for that is we can't actually do a full presentation to go into detail about RBC, the awards that we've won and the history. So I'm just going to sum it up in one short sentence, to say that we are the number one bank on investment dealer in Canada for 14 years in a row. So mic drop, that's enough said.
In terms of me, I joined over a year ago for many of the reasons that's made RBC number one. And that allows me to bring a lot of value, a lot of resources to the clients that I'm serving and that I will be serving in the future, which could be some of you tonight.
On a personal note, I am the father of two wonderful children, who push me to the limit sometimes, and a wife who is a real estate and travel addict.
Interesting fact, my five-year-old daughter Amelia started her first business venture on Sunday that just passed with a client out in Manitoba. She's got very high taste for a five-year-old. And I told her she's going to need to start making her own money.
So because she's bilingual in French and English, she has her first student and taught French over video with her aunt, who is based in Manitoba. So she made $5 with that venture. So that's $5 more in my own pocket that I don't have to pay to give to her.
Now, my practice revolves around educating and empowering. And that's the reason why I do these webinars-- to support the one-on-one meetings and conversations that I have with my clients and just the wider community.
And I have access to a deep bench of specialists internal to RBC as well as outside the firm. So if I don't know, I'm usually able to find somebody who does know. Now, at this point, without further ado, I want to welcome and introduce Carolyn Dickinson-- an amazing woman, who is very vibrant that I've been able gotten a chance and the opportunity to get to know as part of planning this webinar.
So Carolyn, the floor, or might I say, the mouse is now yours.
Thank you so much, Orlando. And thank you for having me here today. I feel very blessed. And I know that you're amazing at what you do. And your ability to connect with people has definitely shone through. And that's why you do so well.
So thank you so much for having me. I am going to do my best to do this seamlessly and go over to my slides, because I'm not technically-inclined.
No worries. It's coming. there you go.
From that, is that let's see how I can do this really quickly. I need my Stacey. And I think she's on tonight with us, too. Oh, I did it. Good for me. All right. So let's get started.
My goal-- and I'm actually-- let me just go back here for a second. I'm going to turn my camera off so I don't distract myself, makes it much easier. Camera settings. Let me do this very quickly, my apologies.
How do I do this? We practiced this, too, you know, guys. So I apologize for
Look for the-- there should be a video option Stop Video.
That's OK. I blocked it. So I found another way to do it. That's OK. Great. OK. So let's get started. And today's conversation is really, really important for all areas of things that you're doing. And the really big question here is, is your vision big enough?
Now, this vision can apply to your career, your business, your finance, your life-- all aspects. So today, we're going to focus a little bit on business and career in finance. But understand that the process I'm taking you through can apply to making any kind of vision that you want.
So here's the thing, is that I found in most cases, when people have the vision, it tends not to be big enough. We ask that question, is your vision big enough? And typically, I find, when I talk to most people and my clients, that it's not as big as it could be or needs to be to keep their motivation high and so that they have a clear, concise direction.
Now, today, what we're going to look at is a few different things. So I'm going to do my absolute best to keep this to about 20 to 25 minutes. And so if I go a little quickly, forgive me. But I promise I'll be available to answer any questions that you have.
So we're going to touch on the power of having a vision. Simple vision strategies and benefits that provide you in any kind of vision you're building, and how to create or expand your business vision, your financial vision, or your career vision.
So I'm actually going to take you through an example today, because I'm a big advocate on example, so that you can actually see what I'm talking about. And so that I can give you the best ability to do it yourself.
Now, when I was going through this process, we often have to define what vision means to us. And I wanted to find something that was hugely, hugely impactful. And I came across this definition, and it absolutely fit what I was creating, and what I was expanding, and building with myself and my clients.
So it says when-- so sorry. "Your dream is a mental picture of the future state of where you want your business, your career, your finances, or your life, to be at a certain point in time.
So there's two key things here, right? Your vision, where you want to see yourself in the future. The second part is putting a time frame on it. These two are key things that we're going to continuously review through this entire presentation.
So what is the vision really provide for you? It provides you with clarity in the direction of where you're going. It really does help keep you focused. I'm sure many of you, in many times in your life have been derailed. But when you have that focus and that ability to jump back on the tracks, it's much easier to move forward.
It also keeps you connected to your bull's-eye. It prevents you, and your team, from veering off your path, so that you can make your dream a reality. Oh. I went backwards, my apologies. I'll get it right. Technology [LAUGHS]
Now, this is an amazing quote that I found, and it's from Walt Disney. But it's so powerful. So I want you to take a second, and I want you to step back and imagine that, really, you can dream so big and clear that you could see how it would all fit together.
Exactly what you need to do every day to make your vision a reality. Because Walt said, "If you can dream it, you can build it." And here's the thing, you can argue with him, but this man created success with everyone against him, including his own brother.
He went to 302 different financial institutes to get funding to build Disney World. And you know what, everybody turned him down. It was 303 that said yes. So you have to admit, this guy was determined. So when he says, if you dream it, you can build it, that absolutely the possibility is there for everyone and anyone who wants to do the work.
Now, I want you to think about it this way. Your vision is that protein shake or that thing that wakes you up in the morning and gets you going. Maybe it's a coffee. Some of us get up and we need that coffee to get going in the morning.
For me, it's a shower. That shower is-- there you go. That shower for me in the morning is like a light of energy that runs through my body and gets me going. Or maybe it's a workout. Maybe it's being able to workout.
Maybe it's having the freedom to do whatever you want, right? Or that wake-up call that shakes your world. It's like an earthquake that just shakes you when you get up in the morning and really gives you that power source to absolutely keep you going, that keeps you excited and that drives you.
Sorry. For some reason, it keeps taking me the wrong way. So here's the question you need to ask yourself. If you don't feel that way when you get up in the morning-- that exhilaration, that excitement, that energy-- then here's the thing you need to think about, and that's maybe your vision isn't big enough, or it's not the right one for you.
Because if that's the case, then you need to stop and ask yourself these questions. Do you really enjoy what you do? Do you know where you're taking your business? Are you sure of where you're going to end up? Is that exciting you?
Do you see that you make a difference? Are you excited by the results that your customers are going to get or will get? Is your team working towards the same goal? Are they doing it well? And the big question is, are you reaching your financial goals in this area?
That one-- I'll jump in because when I'm looking at this, Carolyn, I'm noticing that all of these questions lead up to eventually if one is reaching their financial goals.
And in my experience, many times when clients engage me, they reach out to me, they don't typically come knowing what their goals are for me to help them to confirm. On my own track, Orlando, these are my goals.
It's really sometimes a blank page. And do you think it's because they're not fully in tune maybe with their overall vision for their future? Like what's been your experience?
That's a fantastic question. And I'm going to agree with you. Yeah, it is. Like here's the thing is that, it's always easy to help someone else do something. Always. It's always harder to do something for yourself and really to sit back and identify what you truly want.
Because here's what happens, is that we hear a lot of statements like, oh, you can't do that. You're never going to reach that goal. Oh, I think you're overextending yourself. We have a lot of naysayers in our world.
And here's the upside to it, is some of us really don't know how to create a vision. As much as we say we-- I've had so many people I've spoken to that said to me they have a fabulous vision. It's really big. They don't need any help.
I said, great. Tell me about it. And as soon as I make that-- ask that question, it's kind of interesting how many of them actually don't have a big vision. And they're not even able to describe it to me in a way that flows that gets me excited, and goes, oh, my gosh. How can I help you?
And when you have that big vision and that clarity-- whether it's for your finances, whether it's for your career, whether it's for your business, whether it's for relationships, and that can be personal as well as team building-- regardless of what arena you're looking to play in , having a destination is really important.
I make the example of the time like a GPS. And you can get in the car and just hope your GPS is going to take you somewhere, and then figure out what happens. And it's like I have this thing where people say they throw the spaghetti at the wall and see what sticks.
OK, great. Well, that will work for a short period of time. And then at some point, if you really want to expand yourself-- whether it's build an investment portfolio that allows you to do whatever you want in life, build a business that gives you choices, have a career that excites you and makes you happy-- you really do have to have a bit of a goal, a destination.
And I look at the vision in your plan as your GPS. It's going to help get you where you want to go. And even if you get derailed-- if you're in a car, and you have that GPS, and it gets turned on, and you're going in a direction, and an accident happens that veers you off and, brings you back on path? Well, your vision does that for you. Your vision helps get you there.
So I think when people come and aren't sure what they need to do, it's because they didn't do any homework. But they also don't know what questions to ask themselves. And when I first started out, I'll be honest, I didn't know what questions to ask myself. I didn't know what to look at when I was doing my financial investing. I didn't know what to look at how to build my business, or my career, or how to take it to the next level.
And when I realized that was a big thing was missing, which is why I started doing what I do and starting with vision, is I realized that there's many people out there feeling the same way and struggling in those areas.
And so a hundred percent, when people are coming to you and aren't sure, they're also now coming to you and saying, help me build that vision-- which is really hard as an investor to do, because it's kind of not your job, but you do your best to help get them on a path at least, which means spending more time digging.
So if there was something that people could do ahead of time, do a little homework-- which I'm going to show you today on how you could do that-- and really come forward, at least with some very strategic questions and some insight of some level to your investor, how much more powerful the conversation can be.
Yeah, makes sense.
Yeah. Awesome. So let's continue on. Great.
So all of this works absolutely hand in hand, and it includes, as we talked about, reaching your financial goals. So if you said yes to the questions on the previous slides, then you're going in the right direction.
However, if not, then we really have some work to get done for you today. And if you did say yes, here's the thing as well-- there's always room for improvement. There's always room for expansion. And that's something that you should be doing on a regular basis with your visions, with your plan, your structure. And we'll talk more about that later as well.
Now, there's an interesting stat, and this applies specifically to entrepreneurs. And funny enough, Orlando, this came from Royal Bank about six years ago. I pulled this stat.
So I'm sure it's been updated or changed. I apologize. The number may be bigger. But I was really excited when I looked at the study, because it actually said that 76% of small to medium-sized businesses actually had a vision when they started out and are exactly where they thought they would be.
And this was great. And I love stats in some ways, because what it does is it verifies what I'm telling people. And it really verifies that if you have a vision for something, the likelihood of you reaching that goal, is substantially higher than if you don't.
So I want to give you an example. And this beautiful lady is actually a friend of mine, and I learned about her at an event that I ran where she came and spoke. And she has a very inspirational story. Some of you may have heard of Dig It and Claudia Harvey.
So what happened was, an amazing part to this entire story was, this woman loves to garden. But she was also in corporate at the time. And so her friend and her were sitting in a backyard, and they were just having a glass of wine, and had finished gardening, and realized that they destroyed their manicures.
Now, it's kind of interesting to have that conversation. And some of you might be giggling, really? That's how it started? But it did. They both love to garden. And obviously, working in corporate and having a business, they obviously had very well-kept hands. But every time they gardened, they got ruined.
And so they decided on creating a glove that was designed for women. There's a lot of the garden clubs out there, too. Any women on here who like to garden will know what I'm talking about, is that they tend to be too big. They fall off. You get dirt inside of them. And so what's the use of wearing them, really?
So they designed it to fit women with a strap around it. They designed it to put padding on the tips so it wouldn't ruin the manicures that they had, their nails. And that all came from a tiny, little conversation of something they felt was missing in the market. And it turned into a massive business.
They were on "Dragons' Den." Kevin O'Leary invested in them. They took it into Home Depot and Lowe's across North America. They're now in Australia. They're expanding. They've added multiple products to Dig It apparel-- it's called Dig It Apparel-- to glasses to now purchasing companies and expanding the product line in this particular area.
So I guess when you have a small idea-- whether it's a small idea for your career, for your business, for your finances-- but you decide to sit down and really think about what the possibilities are-- what it is you want to create, and where you want to go with it-- I've realized that anything is absolutely possible.
And that's key. Because what it does, is talk about dreaming big, really dreaming beyond what you think might be possible. So the simplicity of what we're really talking about is really in the story that we just talked about.
So two friends sitting-- just to reiterate-- having that conversation, coming up with the idea, putting it together, and doing something about it. So, again, this is business. But it applies to career. It applies to deciding that you want to have that million dollars invested.
It's not everybody telling, no, you can't. Yes, you can. There's always a way, and it depends on how determined you are to have it. So possibility is absolutely everywhere.
Now, I mentioned that they've bought companies since then. They've expanded the product line. But Claudia, herself, has also started other companies. She now has a wealth management company, a marketing company. And they're just expanding, and growing, and realizing the connection of everything that they do.
So, again, all of this came from a small little conversation over a glass of wine in their backyard over gardening. It's absolutely incredible, the possibilities.
So look at it as all the pieces of a puzzle coming together to create an idea for a business in your vision of what you want to do with your product, your service, your business, your career.
So in your business career and investment strategies, there's always a cost for real growth. And when you're willing to pay that cost-- whether it's your time, money, effort, connections-- it really is key to see the possibilities available to you.
Now, I find life very fascinating. And this is my family-- my two beautiful daughters, our dog, Bailey, and my amazing husband that without him, honestly, I don't know if I could do half the things that I do, because he's extremely supportive and makes everything a possibility for me. Believes in me a thousand percent.
So I have my own cheerleading team, as you talked about yours. Mine are these girls. And as I left tonight to set up and get ready for this presentation, there's my little one, Avalon, turns to me, goes, Mommy, knock them socks off. You can do it. I have faith in you.
So she truly is the spirit of me, a lot like me, which is kind of scary but, really, a big part of what it is that I want to do. And you know what, listen. Here it is, is that we don't always realize what we want or where we fit.
So for me, when I really started to realize that everything I had done in my life led me to where I am really going and what I'm doing today-- I was really good at helping other people. That happened at the age of 19 and even younger in high school.
And there was this potential in showing them how they could build their life, how they could get what they want, their business. It really just kept evolving and expanding for me, and a big part of that journey was also figuring out what I truly wanted to do. So
Here I am, I'm doing all these things and wondering where am I supposed to be. Really, what am I supposed to be creating in my life?
I've always wanted to have my own business. I didn't know how I was going to do it. I didn't really have a vision for myself, so a big part of it was really figuring out what my vision was.
And I realized that every job, every business I had been in, every experience that I had any kind of involvement with, had a very similar theme. I was either training, speaking, selling, marketing, or promoting in something that I would truly believe in.
So, for me, if I don't actually believe in a product or service, I can't sell it. It has to be something I feel is really going to give value to someone else. So I'd spent a greater part of my life really knowing absolutely everything that I wanted, going after it, and getting it.
But there was a period of time in my life that I really felt completely derailed, and I wasn't sure which direction I was going to go in. Because as you can imagine, for someone who's always made things work and happened in their life, it really did catch me off guard. Not knowing, it threw me totally off balance.
And when things really started to change direction, I wasn't happy. I wasn't enjoying myself. I wasn't enjoying life. I was really going through the motions, literally.
And maybe some of you can relate that. Maybe you're there right now. Especially in the new year, and with COVID, and everything that's been happening, we tend to start to question what am I doing. Where am I at? What change do I need to make?
And you start to realize, when we go through a pandemic like this, to how important it is to be happy with what you do and to not take for granted joy, happiness, finding what is going to fill your soul-- whether it's your business, your career, your finances.
And realizing, too, that you don't want to necessarily wait until you're 65 to enjoy your life, and that you need to start thinking about things right now. And it really, now, I've gotten to the point in my life and my business where I really do choose who I want to work with, when I want to work.
I spend time with my family, and I am constantly-- my husband and I-- investing in our future and putting money away in real estate and many other things. So I truly get the importance of creating a vision for your life, for your business, your career, and your financial future.
We've got to start doing that now. Doesn't matter what age you are. I'll be honest with you, both my girls, we've already invested for them. They have their own investment accounts. We've been putting money away for them.
They have an Education Fund. We're doing-- and they actually are-- their money is being invested in real estate as well. So we're really looking at what kind of future can we support them in building. And we do talk to them about what it is they want.
You mentioned your daughter has a little business. Well, both my girls had started a baking business. And they started this in the summertime. Actually, they started this kind of in COVID because part of what we did was create some baking stuff.
And from that, I actually took them through the process of creating a vision for themselves, of where they saw themselves going with this business. And they thought it was fantastic. It was like a great mother-daughter experience.
But I was able to use the skills that I've gained to really help them understand business and understand how to plan for the future. And I think that's what we're all here talking about, how important it is to plan for the future. Not just for ourselves, but for our families.
So here's what I really love about creating a vision, and here's the possibility for you. So it really does help you see the true potential growth in your business, your career, your finances, and what you want to create from that.
It provides you with clarity, focus to really get huge results. And I know that might be scary to some people, but huge results are possible. And I've proven it over and over again. It really does keep you connected with the dream that you've created for yourself, so that you can reach that bull's-eye.
And it also increases your productivity and the time in which it takes you to grow your business and reach your financial goals. Because any client that I have taken through this process and they've created a vision, have honestly been able to achieve the goals they've set for themselves in half the time.
Actually, I see that the-- when I'm looking at this, what kind of jumps out at me is, I love the way that it's been simplified. Clarity and focus equals results. Nice little formula, maybe because I'm bit of a math-- I love math.
But the process that I take people through, it involves, in many cases, a lot of the cluttering for them. That involves unpacking various loose pieces of their financial situation. Because sometimes, they forget that this exists, or they don't remember all the details.
And what we're trying to do is to really lay all the pieces out on a table, which, I guess, a good image is almost like that puzzle, put it all together. And I'm curious, how important is the clarity part of this formula in terms of being able to achieve results?
The most important. It's the key. It doesn't matter what you're planning. If you don't have clarity on it, it affects-- let's go for an example. I'm going to include corporate career team, all those things business, building relationships.
If you don't have clarity, how can you be a leader? If you don't have clarity, how can you make something happen? How can you communicate the vision that exists or that you've created? Or if you're in corporate, how do you share that vision that the company has with your team if you don't have clarity?
If you don't create clarity at what you're looking to create, it's all-- it's-- I won't say impossible, because I've learned things are possible. But it sure is a lot more difficult than if you create that clarity.
And does it take a lot of work to do that? Yes, it does. Because it's really digging in and asking yourself the biggest questions we asked earlier, but also asking yourself, what do I want? We tend to go, oh, wow. They're doing well over there, so I'm going to do the same thing. Or, someone told me I should do it this way.
And that's great. We need to hear what other people have to say to a certain extent. However, you need to then sit back, put that information aside, and really look at, Orlando, you as who you are, what do you want?
If we took away all the money issues, family, everything, for a brief moment, and you were able to just kind of dream a little, what would you create? You see, what happens is we tend to get things foggy by focusing on how am I going to make this happen.
The key thing is, when you have clarity and you communicate that clarity to others, it's incredible what shows up. The kind of help that shows up. The kind of right people that show up for you.
And as you express your clarity or some level of clarity, it gets bigger and better every time. And you'll attract the right kind of people as well that are going to lift you up, not bring you down. And that goes for career, business, finding the right advisor-- which we'll talk more about later-- and really understanding what you want.
And you don't have to have all the answers. But it's really important to kind of understand what you want to build. Like if we're talking about finance for you, if I come in and say, hey, Orlando, I want to be wealthy. OK, great. Well, what does that mean?
Well, I want to be wealthy. I want to be able to do whatever I want. Fantastic. What does that mean? And I ask that question all the time.
So maybe to some people, being wealthy is making $60,000 a year. And to other people, it's making a million. And it's, to some people, it's making $5 million. You really need to understand what that is for you. What does wealth mean for you? And wealth is different for everybody.
And it really-- there's no judgment on it. You just need to understand what it looks like for you, so you understand the action steps you need to take to get there. Does that make sense?
It makes sense. And while you're talking and you mentioned foggy, and it connected the dots, connected when you talked about the GPS earlier on the journey.
Here's an image that came into my mind. And everybody-- most people on the call-- if you're living in Canada, there's three people that I think are outside Canada. But it made me think about driving in winter and knowing where I'm going, but my windshield liquid isn't working. So I can't see where I'm going properly.
Yup, that would be a perfect example.
Right?
Psych.
There's difficulty, even though I know where I want to go, that's kind of-- a bit of holding me back in getting there, because I can't really see where I'm at currently. Difficult for me to know where I am on this journey.
It's really important to assess that as well. And sometimes, that's scary to people-- to kind of sit back, and go, and really be honest with themselves, where am I actually at right now.
And in some cases, people-- listen. I've met people that have blown me away. They were in debt, had negative situations, and really made the decision-- and I worked with them-- to turn that around, not only for their business, for their finances, everything, and have literally been able to dig themselves out of debt, grow their business.
One of my clients grew her business by 62% in one year by putting in strategies and systems in place, and really kind of figuring out what she truly wanted, and was able to get in that first year rid of half of her debt, which was pretty hefty for her.
So it's really talking about, what does that look like? What am I going to create? Where am I going to put that money? And what am I going to build with it? And the more clarity you have, the much easier it is to create a plan, and the much easier it is to take the action steps needed to get where you want to go.
And I'm going to repeat that so many times tonight. And I apologize if I drive you crazy with it. But it's so important. It really is. And I got to tell you, I used to hate doing goals. I used to hate doing all this stuff.
Now, I look forward to it. Because I realized that every time I do it and the more clarity I get, the faster my business grows, more success I have, the more people I get to help and meet. It really does create huge opportunity.
So I'm going to keep going, because I want to make sure we have enough time for questions. We're getting close to the end. But I want to make sure we go through the example really, really well for everyone.
So there are four major steps to really building a strong, more successful business career and financial future. But today, I'm really going to only focus on one. Otherwise, we would be on for quite a few hours. And I would love to do that sometime. But today, I'm going to keep myself limited for you guys.
So let's focus on number one, to clear vision and the direction of where you want to go with your business, your career, your finances. So here's the thing, let's review some of the challenges having a clear vision will solve for you in your business, career, and financial goals.
The first thing we're going to look on is-- look at is direction. This is key to know exactly where it is that you want to go. We talked about the GPS. We talked about being able to plug into that GPS exactly the direction in which you want to go.
The other thing that helps you with is focus. See, there's a lot of stuff that happens all around us. We have family. We have-- all kinds of fun things that show up in life, COVID, that really can alter our focus.
But when you have the really clear, concise vision that excites you, it's so much easier to stay on track and focused on where it is that you're going and what you need to do to keep going.
The other thing it helps you do is create a strategic plan, your roadmap. If you don't have a vision, or you don't have a bull's-eye, or a destination, whatever you want to call it, how do you create a plan around it?
How do you develop a strategy to get there when you don't know where you're going? So it's so key to the component of absolutely creating that solid foundation for what it is you're envisioning is possible.
The other thing that your vision does for you is it also helps you to stay on track. Listen, as we talked about, life happens. But there's also those things called the low-hanging fruit, those things that get you distracted that might show up and say, hey, I can help you get there faster. Ever heard of those people? Come help me with this. I'm going to get you there faster.
And then it looks and you get derailed. And it happens. And then you realize, you're building, again, somebody else's vision and not your own. So having a really powerful vision allows you to go, wait a minute. If that's not going to take me to where I want to go faster, then it's a not-now.
So it's literally part of your diet, or your Bible, your book, whatever you want to call it, to keeping you on track to building what you committed to build and helping the people you committed to help.
What it also does is help with communication. The more clear you are of where you're going, what you're doing, and what you're creating, it's so much easier to communicate that with others.
And we talked about that a little bit earlier. When you're able to communicate with others what you are doing and what you want to do, it's kind of amazing how the right people start to show up, or you get referrals. Oh, is that what you're doing? I know this person.
So the more clear you are, the more excited other people get. Because when you're clear and you can communicate it, you also get excited about what you're creating. And that's key to having the kind of success that you want.
The next thing is a clear target market. If you don't have a vision, if you don't understand where you're going, if you don't understand who you're benefiting and creating things for, how do you identify who your target market is?
So a big part of creating your vision is understanding who you're going to help, what your purpose. And that all comes hand in hand and working together and knowing who you're going to communicate with.
Because here's the thing, if you don't know your target market, how do you market your product and strategies? Sorry, market your product or your service. And really, that's your marketing strategy.
Listen, I've worked in marketing. In past lives, I've met marketers. I've had hired marketers. I know people who've hired marketers. The first thing a good marketer is going to ask you is, where do you see your business in the next three to five years?
Where do you see your business going? What is your vision? Who is your target market? And what kind of communication are you using to inform people about your business?
And then it's their job to help you put a strategy together around marketing your products and service. It's funny because I had a client of mine, and I didn't know this was happening, but I'd worked with her. We put a great plan together, everything. And she ended up working with a mutual friend of ours in marketing.
And that person contacted me and said, oh my God. I talked to so-and-so-- I don't want to mention any names-- but I talked to so-and-so, and I knew she worked with you. I knew she worked with you.
She was so clear in what she wanted. And I went, oh my God. That's amazing to hear. And I said, and-- our friend confirmed that she had worked with me. So she was like, I got to send all my clients to you.
Because it's really getting excited about that clarity. It was so easy to put a marketing strategy together, because she understood where she wanted to go, how she wanted to get there, and who her clients were. And that's key.
And your marketing person can help you with that. But you shouldn't be paying them to build that for you, because that's really, really expensive when you have to take that route.
Now, the other thing that's having a really clear, strong vision is also your team and who you want to work with. Listen, if you're just starting out-- you have one employee, or you're a bigger company with three employees or a thousand employees-- the same thing comes around in building that team, that culture of the kind of people you want to bring in to work together to build the vision you've created, and also, too, to have the success they're looking for.
Listen, we all want to feel like we're doing something that has impact, that helps other people. We all need to feel that need to do something and accomplish something, to feel accomplished and successful.
So when you have a big vision and you're able to communicate it with your team and hire the right people that are going to support having that vision come to life, it just makes a beautiful working environment.
And it's also going to help you get to your vision way faster when you have this team of people working together and connecting for the same purpose. And they understand what that purpose is.
Another thing that vision does is also really embed powerful leadership. As a leader, when you're clear of what it is you're creating and what you want to accomplish, and you're excited about it, and you share that with your team, you get them excited.
And the more excited they are, the more they want to help you get there, because they see what the possibility is when you're able to share and communicate what your vision is for the entire company and the team involved with you.
Another thing, having a very powerful and strong vision, is partnerships. And this, again, leads a little more towards the business side of things. But it can also be developing partnerships in your career or in your finances as well.
When I talk about partnerships-- let me just clarify here. I'm not talking about somebody buying into your company or buying into something. What I'm talking about is partnering together that have similar type businesses, that can communicate, share, provide offers together, really work together, because there's a complement to what the two of you do to really build even bigger than you anticipated.
And when it comes to finances, we partner with people that are doing house investing. We don't want to do it all ourselves anymore. We don't want to be in charge of everything. So we find groups that we can work with and do a joint partnership. And it's a win-win situation for all of us. And we get a bigger return on our money, so that works for me.
The other thing that having a clear vision is really important for know is reaching your financial goals. And a lot of us go, what does that look like? It can be simple. It can be complicated. It really can be what you want.
And as we talked about earlier, financial goals are really individual. What is it that you would feel you've created the wealth you want or created the financial status that you're looking for? Whatever that is, and I said, that's going to be different for everybody.
And what success looks like around creating those financial goals is also very individual. But having a clear idea of what it is you want to create, what kind of financial amount you want to reach, and what you want to retire with, is really important.
And the thing is, we tend to limit ourselves, going, is that actually realistic? So here's my big, big nugget right now-- don't think about what's realistic. Think about what you really want.
Now, let's not go crazy, right? Like if you're making a hundred thousand today and expecting to make a billion tomorrow, that's a little unrealistic, even though I don't like that word. But, again, anything is possible. You could play the lottery and win it. So possibilities everywhere.
But let's look at, hey, I want to retire with X number of dollars. Or I want to be able to travel when I retire. So what does that look like for you?
So one of the things I like to do, too, is give corporate examples and the clarity of what happens when you understand what it is you do, who you service, and what you are creating. A Nike's corporate created a vision from-- they developed in their vision and mission statement with their marketing department.
And Nike's corporate mission is, to bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world. And the company further states that everybody is an athlete. Based on Nike's founder Bill Bowerman's statement, if you have a body, you are an athlete. Similar to Walt, if you have a dream, you can build it.
So they're very clear on who they sell to, what they sell, and why their customers would want their product. And this is what a clear, strong, and connected vision will also do for you.
Listen, we all know who Nike is. If I said, I-- would guess to say that not one person, not every single person on this webinar doesn't know who Nike is. And they have created a really powerful statement, which is, "Just Do It."
So whether you like to walk, run, whatever it is that you do, they created such a powerful vision that we're going to make something just for you. And that's what they do. And it's all about running shoes. It's all about athletic wear. It's all about, if you have a body and want to do something, you can wear it.
And the funny thing is, their stuff weren't even just for casual. Forget working out. People are wearing it to sit at home now and work from online. So you got your running shoes, your home running shoes on, your comfortable bottom, like--
I will tell you what, wearing my leggings on the bottom. But you've got your suit on top. So it really is all about the comfort and what you can create.
So let's get to work. So the first thing you want to do is you need to create a clear, powerful vision. And how do you create a clear, powerful vision? Well, let me tell you. It's asking powerful questions. And knowing how to answer those questions is really key. Because in most cases, you already have most of the information inside of you. And you can build or expand on your vision.
So let's get started with an example. Again, went the wrong way. The first part of what we want to do is identify what kind of vision we want to create.
So as you can see, there's multiple choices on here. And so you can actually take the same process I'm about to take you through and apply it to any aspect of a vision you want to create.
Tonight, I'm going to focus on business and finance. So there's going to be a combination here and we'll go through it. But you can, again, take this for your career, team culture investing, organization, life, health, and wellness, you can apply it to everything.
The next thing you need to identify is, in how many years do you want to reach your goal? If you remember, earlier, we talked about the importance of setting a deadline. Now, the great thing is, as you build your vision-- which I'm going to show you in a moment-- it's OK if you say right now it's going to be three years.
But you start to realize that some of your goals might take longer than three years, then put five years beside it. Put four years beside it. It's OK. You get to design this. This is your design of what it's going to look like.
Tonight, just to make it easy, I'm going to focus on the three-year plan, so you're going to hear me repeat that.
Now, the big question, and this is important. And this is where you get to do a little work. So if you don't already have a notepad beside you and aren't already taking notes, this is a good time to do it.
So the big question you need to ask yourself is, what is your vision? And what do you want to create? So, again, it doesn't matter what vision you're creating. The questions apply.
So I want you to think about this-- and here's how I intend to set people up powerfully-- I want you to take a moment, and step back, and close your eyes. And I want you to think about, it's three years down the road. And you're sitting beside the most important person in your life at that time. And you turn to them with excitement and say, I did it!
What did you do? That's your starting point. That's the place you need to start at. What did you do three years down the road from now?
So let's go to an example, so I can show you how to create that kind of vision. So this is actual client. Now, I changed the name, created my own logo out of confidentiality and privacy. But a lot of what's on here, was my client's vision. It's her stuff.
So let's just look through some of the stuff. Now, the great thing is, if you're doing the notes right now and you see anything here on you like, take it. No one owns it. So if you feel like it applies to you, or you align with it, or oh, yeah, that fits for me, please don't hesitate to add it to your list.
And so some of the things that we talked about with her was to increase her revenue to a million-plus, personal net of $350,000, to invest over $60,000-plus per year. She wanted to hire an investment strategist to help with that. She also talked about expanding her marketing services.
One of her goals was the fact that she realized that the job that she had, at the time, there were offering marketing. But they weren't good in all the areas. They were only good in some areas. And I guess that happens.
But her goal, she wanted to have a hub that provided all marketing services. And that she brought in the top people in every division to have powerful services.
She wanted to increase the number of people that were working for her. And as you notice, it says, on that particular one at the end of five years, she was looking to have 33 to 40 full time staff, realizing that it may take longer to accomplish that particular goal and bringing the company's income to one million.
She wanted to build up a speaking career, because she was very good and wanted to share and teach other people the knowledge she had around marketing. She also really wanted to build her brand, and image, and expertise around that-- which speaking what happened, create online programs, and so on, and so on. There's a lot on this list here.
And the reality is, these are what we call your big goals. The things that you want to see happen down the road. Now, I'm going to repeat this again. It may be overwhelming for some people to see these large goals, but here's the deal-- they're not going to happen tomorrow.
And I'm going to talk about how to break them down in a moment. But these are goals that you see happening and will start to happen by the end of three to five years. It's not going to happen tomorrow. It's not going to happen in a month. It's going to take time to build all of this up.
And so what's important next is, once you've made this list with your big goals, is to break them down into bit-sized pieces so that you're able to actually make them happen.
So because we're talking about investing today, and we're here with Orlando and Royal Bank, I gave the example of what you would do when you're breaking down your goals.
Now, one of the things that Avalon's one-stop marketing in Avalon was to invest $60,000 per year.
So we break them down like this. The first thing is money. We need money to invest. Do you have the money? If you do, fantastic. If you don't, how are you going to create it?
What are the steps that you need to take to make that happen through your business, your career, investing in other things to build up that money to have more money to invest on a regular basis. So lots of things to think about. It's the money first.
Now, the investing part. What do you want to invest in? Do you want to be a little risky? Do you want to play it safe? Do you like something that you've seen in the market that maybe could be one of the questions you ask your investor to find out more about?
Is it into stocks? Is it bonds? Is it real estate? What are you thinking? What have you seen people doing that you're intrigued about? It's OK to ask questions, because they're your expert.
The next part then is when you kind of understand what you'd like to play in or dabble in, is finding an investor that aligns with what you want or what you need, someone who can actually help you create the money to invest yearly as well. Because part of this strategy or vision to get to the ultimate goal-- which is investing $60,000 a year-- might be setting up the plan to build that money up on a regular basis to be able to reinvest it.
And that's where an advisor would come in. Now, I highly recommend that you interview advisors. And Orlando and I were talking about this. And he said, 100%, you need to talk to different people and find the right person to work with.
Yeah, I agree, because it does make a difference in having an advisor. But I think it makes a world of difference in having the advisor that's right for you. And the reason why I firmly believe in that is, I'm not the advisor for everyone.
My approach, my style, my philosophies and principles, will resonate with some people more than others. And I'm fine with that. What I just suggest is that for individuals to take an active approach to exploring, having conversations, to sort of versus not even putting in the effort.
They're just sort of by default mode, not really taking it by the steering wheel. So that's why I think it's a really important sort of process to go through.
And I welcome that. I welcome people to want to interview me, explore, understand what I can bring to the table. And if we align, and if it works, makes sense for you to be my client.
A hundred percent. And I have the same thing with coaches. I've had a lot of people that I've interviewed a few people before they even got to me and really made the decision. Some said you're for me, and others said I found someone else.
OK. Great. I'm glad you're happy, because I don't want to work with everybody either. We're not meant to work with everybody. Nobody is. And so I interviewed-- when I decided on which coach I was going to work with-- I actually went out and watched three or four different coaches and kind of followed them for a little while.
So it really is important to find the right person for you. And again, I'm not also saying that you need to have all the information before you approach an advisor. But ask yourself some questions, kind of dig a little bit on what it is that you want to do. Maybe talk to your partner or friend that you're very close with, and start coming up with some stuff.
So that when you're walking and asking these investors questions, you can identify what they know. Are they in align with you? Are they asking you the right questions? Are they being supportive of you?
And then once you've done that, part of what you want to do, is build a financial strategy and plan. Now, that's something your advisor can help you with. And that's the part that they play now.
It's now that we've kind of found out what we want to do, how much money, possible options for investing that money, or whatever money you have to start with. You may not have the $60,000 now, but you might have 10, or 5, or 20.
What can we start doing with that amount of money to build up to eventually getting $60,000 a year in the next three to five years to be able to invest that amount of money? Or whatever your number is.
Your number might be bigger or smaller. That's fine. But you have to have an idea of what you have available to start the process, and have an idea and then building that up.
And then it's setting up also, too-- this is hugely important. I know that when we hire someone, we kind of like to put it in their hands, and I'm that person, too. However, it's really important to do follow-up meetings with that advisor to understand where things are at. What's happening? What could you do differently? Do we need to change something?
And don't be afraid to ask tons of questions to your advisor, because that's their job. That's what they're there for, is to help you understand what it is you're doing, and where you want to go, and updating it.
So the other thing, too, is things might change in your life. All of a sudden, you could have got a promotion in your job. Or your business landed a huge account, and you're making way more money than you ever anticipated you would, because you had such a solid vision on there.
So here's the thing, do the follow through. But I'm going to keep going here, because I'm, like, on time, almost.
The next thing you want to do is-- I get asked by a lot of people-- how can I implement this learning fast? A lot of us want to move forward, get this going. So I am sharing something with you as a possibility.
If you decide that you want some help in this area, in any way or form on any level of the vision, I'm happy to support you in that. So I do what I call as a VIP Day for five hours. But what I've done, because Orlando was so kind to allow me to be on this platform and to share what it looks like with a vision, I've added three bonuses for you.
And those bonuses include three months of coaching afterwards. Also, we have a Life Success Board System, the value is $709. You're going to get that for free. We also have what I call my Big Vision, Big Success Online Signature Program. You're also going to get that for free, which complements what I would do with you.
So if you want to learn any more about this, you can easily go to www.CarolynDickinson.com/wealthManagement. You can find out more about my programs, what I do. And if there's any way I can support you in making this happen, I'd be happy to.
And if you want to start with a complimentary 30-minute session with me, you can also access that on my website, and we can chat and see if we're a good fit.
Oops. Again, wrong way. So I will put it back into your hands, Orlando, and open it up for questions.
OK. Let me. And thank you very, very, very much. And I will put the slide up just for everyone to see if you're not sure how to raise your hands, and that will allow me to see that you've got a question. I would then take you off mute.
Didn't really have a vision.
Yeah, no, that's OK. Listen, I always tell people to be careful what you ask me, because I will answer. The thing for me, when I was younger, to be very transparent, I actually had-- I have dyslexia.
So in those years-- I'm 51 years old now. And so in those days, they really didn't understand that concept of learning challenges. And so I really didn't actually feel like I had a future. To be honest with you, I didn't feel like I was going to go where I needed to go, I was going to be able to kind of create things.
But I used to have these amazing dreams of being on stage and talking. And I didn't know what they were. And this is the honest-to-God truth. And it wasn't till high school when I had this amazing counselor just say, Carolyn, you are meant for so more. You're going to college.
And I had no grades, because, again, in those days, they had no idea how to support someone with a learning challenge. And most people don't know I have dyslexia unless I tell you. And I've just learned how to get around it. I've learned how to work with it. I've learned how to own it.
And so in those days, I really didn't-- we were really taught to dream. I always thought I was going to be a nurse, because my sister was a nurse. And I thought, I love my sister. I want to be a nurse.
So it changed in something. I was going to be a police officer at one point in time. And the funny thing is, the theme still goes the same with my dreams, because it was always about helping others.
And that's the theme that I found that was consistent from when I was very young up until this point in my life, was how do I help others have what they want. How do I help others stay healthy? How do I help others stay safe?
It was always about helping others and being in service, in any kind of destination I was thinking about at the time. So it wasn't really till, honestly, about 8, 10 years ago, when life went to hell in a handbasket, that I really started to identify what I was truly supposed to do.
And I did great things. I worked for corporate. I worked in the corporate industry, in the medical industry. I worked for the top photographer in Toronto for years and photography. I have had so many past lives and things that I have done.
But, again, the theme comes back to leading into helping others. I'm certified mediator. Psychology degree. I took lots of different things. And whatever I'm doing today, the best thing about it all, is all those experiences have created me of who I am today and what my capabilities are to help others get what they want.
And so I look at them all, positive and negative, as blessings now. And I wouldn't have been able to do that seven years ago. Does that answer your question? And then that came into financial. What do I want to do with financial? What I want to do when I retire? What I want my children to be able to do?
When you can dream in one area, you can dream in all areas. And it's really kind of helping yourself figure out what that looks like. And part of being, like, sorry, Orlando was the advisor. It's really about helping people do that.
And it's great, Joseph, because I think-- listen, if you're already on the path, hearing someone else talk about it, provides confirmation for you. And there's a lot of things. I've been to events where I get to hear people that I would consider a mentor.
And the great thing about it is, it's-- a lot of times, it's confirmation that what I'm doing is good. And that it's a positive impact, because other people are doing it as well. And I'm not just--
I remember being at a Tony Robbins events, and I'm sitting back, smiling. My friend says, what are you smiling about? I do this with my clients all the time. So it was a hundred percent confirmation that I'm doing the right things.
And I know I am in my heart, but when you see someone else of that caliber doing it, you start to realize. And I'd never been to a Tony Robbins event prior to that. So it was pretty exciting for me. It was like confirmation.
And so sometimes, we need that. That we're on the right path, or we're going in the right direction to kind of create what it is we want to create. And the more you do that, the more you dig, the more you are really honest with yourself, the much more powerful your vision.
Embrace that whole notion.
Well, here's the thing, and here's the biggest lesson I learned, and if I can share it with all of you to really understand, is everybody is on their own journey on their own time. You really can't have-- I had someone say to me, well, do people question you? And I'm like no.
And the reason they don't question me, is because I'm very confident in what I do. And that, I don't mean cocky. I mean confident. And there's a difference, a huge difference.
I don't force anybody to work with me. I give people choices. When I do a discovery session, it's not a sales conversation. It's, how can I help you? And at the end of it, I say, you know what, if you're interested, I would definitely work with you. Do you want to talk about that?
And if they say no, I said, well, hey, listen. I hope I gave you some nuggets. Best of luck. If you change your mind, you know where I am. Because I don't want to drag anybody.
And when you can come to that conclusion for yourself-- I have tons of people in my world that are on the same kind of journey as I am. It's different. And I have other people who aren't, and they're quite satisfied exactly where they are, without having to grow.
And I just learn to respect people for who they are, and where they're at. And it's pretty amazing what comes from being able to do that. And the more you're able to do that, the more you thrive.
Start from the beginning. Sit back and decide, what do I do next? The process I took everybody through is something you should be doing on a regular basis. You should be reviewing what you've done, what you've accomplished, and what you want to create next.
It really is a continuous journey. Your vision doesn't end. It may get completed at some point in time, but then it's time to make a new one. It's time to just look again, where am I at right now?
And with where I am at, what do I really want to do next? What's my next opportunity? What's my next potential growth? Where do I want to go? How do I want to do things?
It really is important to keep revisiting your vision. Keep expanding it. A vision isn't something you create and stops. A vision is something that is ever evolving as you grow, evolve, and learn more about who you are and what you do.
And the more you do, the more you will learn, and the more you will change-- which means the more your vision also needs to change and expand with you, so you can continue thriving.
Which actually adds into-- that changes the plans that need to support the financial plans, which is tuning in the advisor to say, by the way, I'm going to change things a bit. Here's now where I want to go. Let's see how that, you know, integrate that in the plan.
So you're right. What we're doing is a constantly dynamic sort of framework towards what your goal is, because it's not my plan. It's your plan. I helped to put it together, but, yeah. So it all ties in.
Well, the first thing I would do is, what is it you want to accomplish? Has that changed from your initial meeting with your advisor? That's the first question you need to ask yourself.
OK, so I don't know how long you've been with this person. But your last meeting, where were things at? Where were you at? Has anything changed? Have you seen other things that you want to do? Have you seen other directions?
And that's including going, what is your approach? So what's been happening? I want to take a little more chance. What do you think we should do? It's really kind of thinking about with where you're at this very moment, what do you feel like you want to do to continue to reach your goals.
And if you've set very specific goals for yourself, then that's great. And maybe some of those goals have changed. So if they have, come with new goals, and say, yep, that one's still the same. However, I need to add this.
So if you can do a little prep work, if you can do a little thinking about what it is and where do you want to go in your vision of your finance and your wealth development, it's very helpful to be able to communicate that with your advisor, and then get their opinion. At the end of the day, the final decision is always yours.
And if I'll add to it, in the same way that Carolyn said the final decision is always yours, the meeting is your meeting. you should go in and indicate what is top of mind for you, not just related to your investment portfolio and the markets in general.
So that's something that-- the investment piece, although it tends to be-- there's a lot of focus on it. It's a sexy part of finance. But it's only one slice of the whole pie. There's other areas of your life that might be top of mind, a concern coming out of a year like last year that you want to bring to the advisor.
That's what I want people to-- that's usually one of my big questions. So that we can look at, OK, how do we make sure that we're prepared for that. What if your concern is from an income point of view?
If this pandemic affects your income, what's in place? So that's where I kind of-- I think is key. It's not solely about, well, what am I portfolio do last year? Your life is-- and your goals going forward, and the changes you want to make, might include making some sort of pivot as a result of what happened last year.
Are you contemplating shifting from the current career to current job into starting your business? Is there anything that might be a concern for you? What if because of the pandemic we're in-- your concern if something had happened to you yesterday, what are things in place? So to me, you need to own the meeting and really start with what's top of mind for you these days.
OK, thank you very much, both.
Right? And you know what, if you're not feeling the support, you can reach out. And if I can add a few, $0.2, give you a second opinion, my feedback, that's always an option that's open.
Awesome. Great question. Thank you for asking it.
Listen, here's the deal. With the process that I took everybody through tonight, you can start that, and start writing down what are your big goals three years down the road.
And what you need to do is actually put aside your debt. Put aside what you're doing, your kids. That doesn't mean forget about them. Just put it aside, and go, if my heart was full and I was doing exactly what I wanted to do, what would that look like?
Because it doesn't mean you're going to do it tomorrow. It means you're going to work towards it. But when you're working towards something that excites you, that just when you get up in the morning, you think about, and go, ah, I can't wait till I get there. What do I have to do to get there?
Because that gives you a destination. And when you have a destination, it's much easier to create a plan and a strategy in which to get there. And when you're even excited about that destination and that possibility, you're going to work even harder to get there.
And that includes carving out time to be with your kids. That includes carving out time to do things for yourself. Because if you don't do that, you'll burn out. And I have a husband and I burnt out many times over.
So doing this on your own, as a single mom, there's even more challenges around. So it's really important to decide as a person, Lexi, what do you want? And where do you want to take your life in the future?
Write down big goals of what that's going to look like. And then you're going to take the most important ones or the ones that's going to drive you the fastest to move forward-- three or four of them.
And you're going to break them down into smaller bit-sized pieces, like I did with the investor component. You do that with every single goal.
But only plan one year at a time, because things change. And I've had clients who made three-year plans and accomplished them in half the time. So it's really important to identify what does Lexi want.
And then include that is, I want time with my kids. I want to be able to take them places. I want to be able to do things. So that becomes part of your vision, because, really, it's who you are and what you want.
And then what do I have to do? What are the steps I need to take to make that happen? I'll say the same thing for you, you have the opportunity to also have a discovery session with me.
And you can check out my website. There is a lot of online programs that vary in price and things that they offer. You should check them out. See if any of them can support you to get exactly what it is.
Here's the thing, when you make your big list of goals, the big ones, right? Like, listen. They need to be big. It's important. Because if they're not big, they're not going to excite you. They're not going to move you forward.
But that can be also intimidating. And here's the thing that scares people, is they think they have to do them all at one time. You don't. I want you to pick two or three of your big goals that are going to help move things forward to get to the other big goals.
So for example, let's say, for me, one of my-- when I wrote my vision, I had online programs. And that was going to come down the pipeline later on, because right now I was focusing on my speaking.
Well, guess what, COVID hit. Speaking got canceled. And that's-- I make a lot of money speaking. So that shifted my thought process. And so I went back into my vision, and I go, OK. Well, I was planning to do this online programs later on. However, because I'm stuck at home, because I'm limited to go up, and speak, and get paid for it right now, I need to revisit other options and possibilities.
So I looked at something that was going to be cost effective. Because during COVID, two people were pretty scared. Am I going have a job? Am I going to lose my job? Am I going to have enough money? And it really did make people hesitate.
So the worst thing I could have done at that time was put out another program that was very expensive. So what I did was I created something with huge value. It's worth $709. I charge $37 for it. It is what I call Success Boards, which is vision boards on speed.
And when I launched it, the response was really great. Because not only did you get powerful impact from doing them, but you also had some fun with it. And you could do with a bunch of girlfriends.
And the cost, at $37, to get everything that we offered, was pretty amazing. So what I did was shift. And so you can't do all your big goals one time. You have to pick them one or two at a time.
And if you have family on top of that, which is I do as well, you have to balance that out. What am I going to focus on? And what am I going to do well?
So it was completing one thing at a time, like with vision. I focus on vision. But I started, first of all, what am I going to talk about? What does this look like? I created a talk.
Then I created an online program. Then I created a training program. Then I created the Success Boards. And I just kept building on that component. And everything I did, expanded and complemented that, to bringing it to where it is today.
And so sometimes, what we do is try to take on too many big goals. Look at the one or two that are going to move all the other goals forward. So if your first thing is increasing my income, then that's what you focus on. And you break it down into 90-day increments.
Over the next 90 days, what do I need to do and put in place to increase my income? Say, for example, is if you have your own business. What program can I add? What can I give as a bonus? What can I upsell to a client? Obviously, it needs to benefit them in my eyes. And it needs to make sense but looking at other ways to approach things to continue to help people.
We talk about speaking right now. There's a lot of events like this one, you have an opportunity to speak at. There's other ones out there where you get to share your knowledge and your value.
And that intrigues people to want to talk to you and an opportunity to work with them, and possibly, sell them a package, and refer. Because if they like you, people are going to refer. And that's just my example.
So it's really important to take a step back. And sometimes, we're doing things that just keep us busy, Kimba. It's not necessarily what we actually need to do. And so if it's not going to help you move forward to your bull's-eye, whatever that looks like, then it's a not-now.
And sometimes, we take on too much. I am the worst for that. So I have rules now in place when people ask me to do something.
And the first question I ask myself is, how much time is it going to take up of my time? When am I going to get-- and this sounds cold, but it's not. When am I going to receive benefit from doing this favor? Unless you're a close friend of mine, that's different.
But I have a lot of people, with what I do, reach out to me, and say, we should talk. We should work together. And after the conversation, it's all about them. They haven't asked about me.
And the benefit for me, is working for them. And then a year from now, I'm going to get more clients. No, no, no, honey. I'd rather take that time and that money, and invest it in somebody who's actually going to call people up and get me clients.
So it's really identifying where is your time best spent. Because you can burn out. And by the way, I have been at burnout. It's not a good place to be, which is why I put the systems in place, and why I structured things the way I do, and why I teach my clients to do what they do.
Because I've been at burnout two or three times in my life and in business. And it's not a good place to be. And it does affect your family. And it affects you emotionally, mentally, and physically. So I don't recommend it.
So if you can set yourself up, identify what you truly want, where you want to go. And then identify the one or two, maybe three, big goals that you can start to work on over the first year of your strategy.
Then you break those down into bite-sized pieces and in 90-day increments. And then you keep adding every 90 days, and building, and building, and focusing, and reviewing.
I know it seems like a lot of work, but when you put the strategy in place, oh my God, it goes so much faster than you could ever anticipate. And it really does keep you moving forward in a positive, constructive, and healthy way.
Thank you, Carolyn. That was great.
Thank you very much, Kimba. Because with your question, I now know that Carolyn has rules, which it makes me even more appreciative that she's on this, she did this webinar, and entertained my idea.
Which is a perfect segue, and really, Carolyn, I appreciate the fact that you were able to, one, I guess, see the vision in this webinar. See it being an important conversation for many in our community right now, especially leaving 2020 the year that it was.
I think we all need a little bit of recalibration and providing that kind of support to clients that I'm serving and those in the community.
So, again, thank you very, very much. And everybody on the call, I'll now showing you the ones that-- the other webinars that I've got coming up.
Whoops One second. It's happening to me, too.
So next month, I, in commemoration for Black History Month, I decided to focus on the community, future of Black wealth, legacy and transfer on February 3, and future of Black business, funding and growing and exiting on the 16th. Details will be on my website. It's going to be on LinkedIn.
And if you take a look on the right hand side, you'll see some of the ones that are coming up in March. So in March, commemoration for International Women's Day, I'm going to be focusing on something in regards to female entrepreneurs, professionals, and just giving ideas and opportunities of how to leverage your-- the goals that you want to achieve.
So it will be a little bit more focused on leveraging from a business owner point of view or investing. That's kind of the concept. It's still being worked on.
In April, focusing on Planning for senior Care. Two in April, actually. And then I'm going to actually bring back the real estate conversation that we had last year, Silver Lining and the Clouds of Real Estate and REITS 2021.
In May, Financial Therapy, which is a bit of a subset, an interesting subset, in personal finance. In June, responsible investing is one that we did last year, going to bring that back.
In July, a lot of the money managers that I work with, that sort of take care of the assets for my clients, I want to bring them to my clients to get questions answered. So kind of reduced the layer between myself and them.
So I get a lot of good content from them, good information, and good update. But I want to sort of reduce the degrees of separation.
And in November, is Make a Will month in Canada. So that's going to be the one in November, and more to come on the other months.
Bottom line, I'm always open to different ideas. And if there is an idea that you think is sort of really topical, feel free to shoot me a note, and I'll sort of consider it.
Now, as I mentioned, something new, something different. What we can see, this is a book that I was referring to. I received this book from the author. She is a local writer.
And, one, I'm doing this because I want to really show my appreciation to the support that I've gotten over the last year from the individuals that have attended these webinars, participated in these webinars, and also to just support a local writer.
I know her dad. He went to my high school, but in a different decade. He went in the '60s, I went in the '90s. So his daughter is more my age than he is, but I sort of knew him first. And then he let me know about the book his daughter did.
The last quote-- look at the quote, which I think really kind of connects with what we talked about tonight, which is-- one of her quotes is, "I take time to center myself, so I can move forward with clarity."
Clarity came up in the conversation. Clarity is needed to put that plan in place, put your vision, put that financial plan in place. It makes it easier for me to help people. So I kind of say to people, help me to help you.
That's kind of why I decided to take a step back, reduce the stakes, to stay away from the numbers for a bit, just a little bigger picture. And, again, what's important to people is the bigger picture of life.
And the way we're going to do it-- let me just pull up one moment, one moment.
So this is a-- what do we have? We've got-- da-da-da. There was about a hundred and twenty people at one point on the call. So this is all not-- so the random number that's chosen is 11.
I'm going to take a look later on, today, or tomorrow, to see from the persons that asked questions, based on how they registered, who's closest to number 11. And I'll reach out, let you know that you've won this book.
Orlando, can I add something?
Sure, sure.
So since we're doing this, what I'd like to do-- we had such a great amount of attendees here tonight, and great, great questions that I totally appreciate, and beautiful comments. So I'm going to give you something that you can also do the same thing with.
I will give one-- give away one of my Life Success Board Systems, that comes with eight different Success Boards plus bonuses for children and other types of bonuses. And the value of that is $709. The cost that I'm charging is $37. But someone, tonight, will get it for free.
OK. Should I do the random number again? And it will go that way?
Do the random number again. You let me know who it is. Give them my email, and I will send them the information to be able to access the program for free.
No problem. So 11 was the first one, and the second random number is 66. So 11 and 66, that's six that's easy to remember. And so what that means is that tomorrow, when you see your phone ringing, it says RBC, probably, you want to pick it up.
Absolutely.
My call-to-action is, I'm available. I'm always open to a conversation in giving you my thoughts or the thoughts of the other professionals within my network. All it takes, click for the Message, Hi, Orlando. Can we set some time to have a chat?
And continue to attend the webinars in 2021, share, and invite your friends, your contacts. Easiest way is, as you see on the right here, if it's in LinkedIn, you do an Invite Connection. And that sort of allows you to share that information with your other family, friends, and contacts.
And that pretty much is about it. Hopefully, you sort of see what we're trying to do, what I'm trying to do in supporting clients, in helping, not-- again, it's not just about the stock, the bond, the mutual fund.
To me, it's a lot bigger than that. And one second. And this is a process. Quick little chat, usually, is sort of what people will start with, just to kind of get a sense of who you are, what your story is. I'm always curious about people's story.
And then after that, if there's a need, we can sort of have a couple of meetings for me to do an analysis before any decision is made, to sort of say, OK. Orlando, help me to execute this. This makes sense to me. I see how this can help me. Can you help me to execute on it?
And that pretty much is it for tonight. As I mentioned, at this point, I'm going to stop the recording. So it's going to end the formal part of the evening. I appreciate that a number of people are still on the call, that hung around.
We went longer than usual, but for good reason. There's a lot of questions, which is always key and what I always enjoy as well.
So Carolyn, thank you again. Really appreciate your experience, and what you've shared with everyone tonight. And I'm looking forward to talk to our continued partnership. All right?
Thank you so much for having me and your amazing guests. And make sure to ask Orlando many, many questions right now. Take advantage of it. Hope you guys have a fabulous night. Thank you for having me. And we will absolutely connect. Bye for now.
Thank you. OK. I'm going to stop recording.
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This video is provided by RBC Wealth Management for informational purposes only. The comments contained in this video are general in nature, and do not constitute legal, investment, trust, estate, accounting or tax advice. RBC Dominion Securities Inc.*, Royal Trust Corporation of Canada, The Royal Trust Company, RBC PH&N Investment Counsel Inc., RBC Wealth Management Financial Services Inc. are affiliated corporate entities and member companies of RBC Wealth Management, a business segment of Royal Bank of Canada. *Member – Canadian Investor Protection Fund. Please visit www.rbc.com/legal/ for further information on the entities that are member companies of RBC Wealth Management. ®/TM Trademark(s) of Royal Bank of Canada. Used under license. © 2021 Royal Bank of Canada. All rights reserved.
