Let’s be honest. Most of us don’t really struggle with knowing what to do. We struggle with actually doing it. Advisors are no different. We’ve all had moments where we said, “This is the year I’m finally going to…” only to find ourselves right back in the same place months later.

Think about it:

• People join gyms in January and quit by March.
• Every year, millions set New Year’s resolutions, but only 8% keep them.
• Even after life-or-death surgery, studies show only 1 in 9 patients adopt healthier habits.
• Advisors go to conferences, get inspired, and then let that binder full of notes gather dust on the shelf.

It’s not about knowledge. It’s about follow through.

Even the Pros Struggle

This isn’t just about advisors. Look at professional sports. Wilt Chamberlain once scored 100 points in a single game by shooting free throws underhand like Rick Barry. It worked. He admitted it worked. And yet he never did it again because he thought it looked silly.

Shaquille O’Neal faced the same decision. Rick Barry tried to coach him to shoot underhand. Shaq’s response? “Forget it, I’d rather shoot zero.”

In football, Nobel Prize-winning research showed teams should trade away first-round draft picks for the second and third rounds. Better value, better results. Teams saw the data. They nodded along. And then ignored it.

So if Wilt, Shaq, and NFL owners can’t follow through on what they know works, maybe we can cut ourselves a little slack. But here’s the difference: in business, failing to follow through costs us growth, clients, and credibility.

Why We Don’t Do What We Know

Mike Lejeune nailed it in his piece “The 7 Reasons People Don’t Follow Through and What To Do About It.” The reasons are familiar: lack of clarity, not knowing where to start, getting overwhelmed, poor prioritization, lack of time control, and stress.

But the truth is, there’s a common thread: if something isn’t important enough, clear enough, or supported enough, it gets pushed aside.

So the real question is this: How do you stack the deck in your favor so follow-through becomes inevitable?

The Three Secrets to Advisor Follow-Through

Ready? They’re simple:

1. Don’t build it alone.
2. Don’t build it alone.
3. Don’t build it alone.

Every time I’ve seen a successful advisor team put a real business plan together, they did it as a group. They got offsite for a day. They brought everyone, including junior team members into the process. They debated, they brainstormed, and they walked out with a plan they owned together.

And that’s the key: ownership. If it’s just your plan, it’ll sit on the shelf. If it’s the team’s plan, you’ll all move it forward.

What a Real Plan Looks Like

A business plan isn’t a 50 page monstrosity. It’s a roadmap. Here’s what it should cover:

• Foundations: value proposition, ideal client, niche.
• Goals: clear, measurable targets.
• Focus areas: marketing, client service, operations.
• Time blocking: model week, metrics, scorecards.
• Marketing calendar: so growth doesn’t become an afterthought.
• 90-day action plan: bite-sized steps that drive momentum.

And don’t skip the accountability piece. Every strategy needs a name next to it and a timeline. As Forbes put it, accountability is “probably the single most important element fueling truly successful organizations.”

Planning Reduces Stress

One of my favorite findings: psychologist Robert Epstein discovered the best stress management technique is planning. Not yoga. Not meditation. Planning. Because when you plan your day, your week, your year, you fight stress before it starts.

And let’s face it. Being an advisor can be complex and stressful work. Clients trust you with millions. You’re balancing multiple relationships. You’re managing your team, investments, compliance, and growth. If you don’t have a plan, it’s chaos. With a plan, it’s manageable.

As Tom Hanks said in A League of Their Own: “It’s supposed to be hard. If it were easy, everyone would do it.”

The Bottom Line

Poor follow-through robs us of growth, credibility, and peace of mind. But with a clear plan, built together, reviewed regularly, and backed by accountability, you can flip the odds in your favor.

So here’s my challenge: don’t just think about your next big idea. Gather your team, build the plan, and follow through.

Because the advisors who win aren’t the ones with the best ideas. They are the ones who actually execute.