Note: I spoke on the phone today with a man whom I think will be a great life/health agent... but he is foundering. I had someone once write me a letter like this, so I tried to return the favor. Perhaps it will help someone here.
Richard:
It was good talking to you. I hope I was of some help.
I urge you not to give up... at least not until you have really given it a good "go." This is NOT a hard business, but it requires you to be able to do some very, very, VERY difficult tasks. I don't know of any other occupation where you have to face negativity and rejection as often on a daily basis as you do in this business. But if you look at it as an "adventure" then you will surely succeed. As I said.. I have a sign on my desk that says "Embrace the fear." It works for me. We're all going to die anyway... so the hell with it. As Nike says, "Just DO it."
Try to remember that it's about helping people. Keep that in mind and the money will eventually follow (if you don't starve to death first!)
Honestly, this is a really fun business when you start getting people interested and sales start to happen. But you have to work hard and long and go through a lot of personal trauma before that happens. It will make you a better and stronger person. When you can do this biz... there isn't anything you can't do!
We're both 60. Look at all the crap we've seen in our lives. We're strong. We can do this... and what keeps me going is that we SHOULD do this. Yes, most people look at us as pretty low on the food chain. We're just "insurance salesmen." But the truth is that we help protect people from financial ruin. They don't realize it. They think we're just out for a quick buck. But we know that this is not even near the truth. At the end of the day, we do "good" for people without them even realizing it. It is what it is.
It does not come easy. It will take a long time... maybe a year... for you to wrap your head around on how to deal with the difficulties of day after day of "no, no, and more no." I spent a long time being stressed and grumpy about it. But if you keep at it, you start to get "yes" and the fun begins. It's fun because out of NOTHING you made something happen. I love turning a cold call into a sale. It's a pretty good 'high.' However there are a LOT of 'lows' in this endeavor... but if you keep it all in perspective and just trudge on, the good parts of this biz will more than make up for the bad parts.
If you stick it out... you will succeed. And you can take this business well into your 80s. A few years of hardship now will pay off down the line. As the old 1969 New York Mets fan used to say... "Ya gotta believe."
Call me whenever you want to talk. I have no doubt that you are going to be great at this. Just work to make it happen. It will. I have a "spiritual master" who always tells me this. She is trained in the ancient Bhakti vedic texts and teaches a philosophy that is optimistic and which helps one lead a purposeful life. It helps me daily. I suggest that you look for a belief structure that will give you the strength to make this journey. I think it is a good journey. I've learned more about myself in the past year than in the previous 59. If you think about it you will realize that "The journey is the reward."
You have choices. You can get a boring desk job and read reports others have written, or write reports for others to read. Or you can flip burgers. Or you can say "Welcome to Wal-Mart." Or you can be the Man in the Arena:
"It's not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or when the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions and spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who at the worst if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat." Theodore Roosevelt
Best regards,
Al
InsuranceSolutions123 Agency
A letter to a new agent
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