I Skipped Yoga Once and That Was Five Years Ago

Rebecca Hourihan
17 hours ago
4 min read

By Rebecca Hourihan AIF, PPC

How good marketing intentions quietly fall apart and how to get back in rhythm.

I skipped yoga once. I thought, I’ll go tomorrow. But then tomorrow turned into next week. Next week became after this project, after this meeting, after this call, after this next email… and somehow, it’s been 5 years. Does this sound familiar?

That’s the thing about habits; you don’t lose it all at once. You drift out of it slowly, quietly, and with (at the time) exceptionally good reasons.

We see this pattern frequently with advisors when they are doing their marketing and business development activities.

The original game plan is solid, the intentions are real, the kickoff meeting is energizing, and then life happens. A campaign gets delayed, a follow-up doesn’t go out, a quarterly initiative quietly becomes an annual one, and before you know it, you’re staring at a marketing calendar that technically exists but hasn’t meaningfully gotten off the ground.

This article isn’t about shame, guilt, or “trying harder.” It’s about recognizing when you’ve fallen out of rhythm and giving yourself a realistic way back in.

The marketing version of “I’ll start again on Monday”

Retirement plan advisors don’t abandon marketing, but it can slip slowly. It often looks like this:

The website still says the right things, but it no longer reflects how the firm actually operates today.
Campaigns run sporadically rather than building on one another.
Content exists, but it isn’t intentionally connected to real sales conversations.
Business development leans heavily on relationships and referrals, without a system to support or amplify them.
Everyone is busy, yet no one is quite sure what marketing is responsible for this quarter.

Just like yoga, marketing doesn’t fail because people stop believing in it. It falters because consistency quietly erodes, and once you’re out of rhythm, restarting feels harder than it should.

Why “good enough” marketing becomes the default

Most firms aren’t failing at business development; they’re just accepting the status quo.

You’re getting some leads.
You’re closing some business.
Your brand is recognizable enough.

Marketing becomes something you do from time to time rather than something you actively prioritize. The danger of “good enough” is the opportunity cost.

What prospects aren’t converting because the message isn’t clear?
Which centers of influence would send more referrals if only you had a consistent outreach system?
How many ideal clients never move past awareness because there’s no intentional follow-up or nurture?

Marketing as a regular practice, not a project

Yoga works because it’s a practice and marketing works the same way. True practice has a cadence, a feedback loop, a clear intent, and it also has permission to evolve. When marketing is treated as a practice, small gaps are noticed earlier and corrected before they turn into long-term drift.

Which brings us to the interactive exercise. Use this as a quick check. Trust your first instinct, it is usually the right one.

Do we have a clear marketing strategy?
What is your follow-up sequence after the first introduction? And after the first meeting? What is your 5^th touchpoint if a prospect goes cold?
Does your content position you as a retirement plan expert? If not, what feels off?
Can you easily use your marketing assets in real conversations, or do you always need to ‘create something’ for a meeting?
Do your new business activities survive busy past seasons?

If several of these questions triggered a quiet “eh… not really,” congratulations! You’ve found opportunity.

3 Steps to identify your marketing gaps

This is the point where reading stops and action begins.

Step 1: Draw three columns

Label them: Excellent, Decent, and Needs Review

Step 2: List without judgement

For five minutes, list everything related to your brand, presence, awareness, marketing and business development campaigns. Think about your website, leave-behinds, overviews, pitch decks, email campaigns, newsletters, digital ads, events, COI outreach, lead follow-up, social media presence, onboarding materials, et al. Place each item where they belong today, not where you wish it were.

Step 3: Identify the “Small fix, quick win”

Circle one item from the Decent column that already has effort behind it, and it is mostly working and would create momentum if tightened up. That might look like turning a one-time webinar into a six-week nurture sequence, updating a webpage into an action-oriented landing page that is tied to a real sales goal, or creating a repeatable follow-up framework that you could rely on.

Step 4: Define 1 action, 1 owner, and 1 deadline within the next 30 days

With your to-do list in front of you, mark who should do the work (you, a colleague, an outside agency, or something else). Assigning ownership makes these list come alive. Then put a timeline on it (e.g. 1-week, 30-days, by the end of…). You get the idea.

Getting back into rhythm

I still think about yoga and probably go back to it someday. But marketing doesn’t require a grand return, it requires a realistic re-entry. Rhythm isn’t built through intensity, it’s built through repeatable motion. If your marketing feels slightly off-beat right now, that isn’t failure, it’s information. The good news is you don’t need five years to fix it.

You just need to notice the drift and take the next small step back into flow.

Thanks for reading and Happy Marketing!

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