Back in May, I wrote a post called "The Mindset that Drives Success" in which I talked about the willingness to take a long view on the investment of time and money as being central to maximizing success as an advisor.

Not long ago, I had a conversation with someone in senior sales management at a bank-owned IDA firms who had read this post and wanted to talk further about what to look for in new recruits.Given the cost when someone is hired, trained and then fails, lots of time and money has been spent trying to quantify what drives success in new advisors - picking the right people is still as much an art as a science.

In my view, there are two central qualities without which it's almost impossible to build a highly successful business as a financial advisor - and which I would look for in selecting new hires.Those qualities are not intellect or being well connected - many very bright and well connected people struggle and fail in this business.

Nor are they classic selling skills or being a great presenter - I've seen terrific salespeople who won sales awards in other businesses and fabulous presenters struggle to become more than average producers.

Finally, work ethic alone isn't sufficient to succeed - yes you have to be willing to work hard but hard work alone won't assure success.

From my twenty years of experience in this business, once you have a minimum level of talent, work ethic and selling skills (questioning and listening skills are especially important), there are two qualities that will put an advisor over the top - discipline and resilience.

It takes discipline to develop a plan and then to stick to it - to do what you need to do rather than what you like to do, even if it's outside of your comfort zone and to measure progress by whether you have the right activity in place rather than by short-term results.

And it takes resilience to bounce back from the inevitable rejection and disappointment while building a book - to stay upbeat and motivated despite the prospects who say no, the meetings that fail to yield results and the promising initiatives that become dead ends.

Some people might say that discipline and resilience are innate - you either have them or you don't ... those people would be wrong. If you give them priority, these qualities can be cultivated and developed like any others.

Becoming disciplined is all about good habits. Take time to plan each quarter, each month, each week and each day to focus on your highest return activities, even if they take you out of your comfort zone. At the start of each day, write down the three most important things you need to get done - and make them the first things you concentrate on. Use time blocking to set aside time in your calendar for focused sales and marketing time. Set clear objectives for each meeting. Take 20 minutes at the end of each week to review progress made and lessons learned. Consider joining a coaching program to help you stay on track.

Resilience is a habit as well - put strategies in place to prevent discouragement from dragging you down. Consider starting your days with a run or workout to boost your energy level - or at a minimum getting outside for a brisk walk at lunch. Work on self talk to stay upbeat after disappointments. Seek out positive people at work - nothing will drag you down faster than having lunch with a colleague who brings a woe is me, the world is ending outlook.

Stripped to its essence, there are two keys to peak success in this business - first, having the discipline to develop and stick to a solid plan to build your business and second, having the persistence to work through the inevitable bumps in the road along the way.

As you think about the progress of your business going forward, consider where you stack up on these two traits - and whether you need to beef up one or both of these.