The following post is taken directly from a newsletter by Brian Kay. I think that it is so powerful and is a great path to pattern my life after. I am going to refer to it often and try and implement the strategies slowly and deliberately.
"22 Rules For Living A Happy, Healthy & Prosperous Life"
Every year, I
sit down and reflect on the past year’s successes, challenges, and
insurance marketing ideas learned. Then, I put together a specific plan
of action for the upcoming year.
This has always been immensely valuable to me, so I thought I’d share
some of my insurance marketing ideas with you to stimulate your
planning.
Think of this as a "mental enema" which is intended to get rid of all
the useless insurance marketing ideas stuffed into your brain over the
course of the past year.
So, without further ado, here are the 22 Rules For Living A Happy, Healthy & Prosperous Life:
1. Be Thankful For What You Have
Most people I come into contact with have a "Glass Half Empty" instead of a "Glass Half Full" mentality.
Take
the time to sit down and truly appreciate what you’ve got. A great
spouse or significant other who loves you. Great kids. Your health.
Good friends. Your own business. A roof over your head, etc.
You get my point. Don’t focus on what you don’t have which will set you up to be a miserable person.
2. Focus On Progress Not Perfection
Most
entrepreneurs and salespeople are perfectionists by nature. They are
never satisfied unless everything is working perfectly.
Well, let me clue you in on a little secret…
Life Is Never Perfect!
Employees quit. Market conditions change. Computers break down. Clients leave you. Overhead keeps increasing.
You’re never gonna change what I just described. Get comfortable with
it and focus on making things 1% better each month which is completely
achievable.
Then, congratulate yourself on the small successes instead of focusing on failing to live up to your "ideal" world.
3. Hire An Assistant
Ask yourself these questions:
- Do you prepare your mailings?
- Do you do your bookkeeping?
- Do you answer your own telephone all day?
- Do you do your own filing?
- Do you do your telemarketing?
If you answered "yes" to the above questions, it’s time to get an assistant.
You’re much better off paying someone $8 – $10 an hour so you can focus
on insurance marketing ideas, selling, and retaining clients ($100/hr.
plus activities).
4. Become A Better Time Manager
When I say become a better time manager, I don’t mean going out and getting the newest Franklin Planner.
I
mean, set up your schedule so that most of your working hours are spent
on "Major Outcome Activities" like marketing insurance ideas, selling,
and retaining clients.
Don’t waste your time filing, bookkeeping, reading the Wall Street
Journal, and doing other activities that make you feel busy, but are
actually costing you money NOT making you money.
| Hint: |
Get |
5. Set Goals And Deadlines
The brain is a very powerful machine if you learn how to use it properly.
Most people let life happen to them instead of proactively planning out how their life should be.
Sit down one Sunday by yourself or with your spouse and set goals for yourself.
Start by setting goals in the following areas:
- Net Income
- Net Worth
- Health
- FREE Time/Vacations
- Personal Relationships
I know this may sound kind of hokey, so here’s proof it works.
I personally did this 12 months ago, and here’s what happened…
My
net income increased 500%. I reduced my body fat from 15% to 8%. I took
over 4 weeks vacation with my wife. My net worth doubled.
I put members of our Mastermind Coaching Program through the same process and they had very similar results.
Bottom Line: It Works!
Click Here
to discover how hundreds of top producing Insurance Agents and
Financial Advisors have doubled their net incomes while working one
less day per week by working "smarter not harder."
6. Invest In Yourself
Most people
will spend money on rent, mortgage, cars, jewelry, vacations, eating
out, etc., but won’t spend anything on self-improvement.
Even when I was broke, I spent, at least, 20% of my net income on self-improvement tapes, courses, seminars, consultants.
Here’s the funny part: 8 years ago, my family and friends thought I was
nuts to spend all that money on "information" when I could be using it
to go on vacation, get a new car, etc. Here I am, 8 years later,
running a multi-million dollar company, taking 4 – 6 vacations a year
with lots of money in the bank and the ability to do whatever I want to
do.
Who do you think was right?
7. Don’t Be Afraid
There is one four letter word that prevents 99% of the population from not reaching their full potential…
F E A R!
Most
people never take chances because they are afraid of the consequences.
They don’t hire new employees. They don’t invest in the stock market.
They don’t start businesses. They don’t try new sports.
In the Olympics, they have an interesting way of explaining the difference between a Gold Medalist and a Silver Medalist…
"The Gold Medalist Plays To Win And The Silver Medalist Plays Not To Lose!"
Overcome your fears and play to win!
8. Don’t Envy Anyone
My parents always told me, "Don’t envy anyone, you never know what goes on in their life behind closed doors."
Good advice that has proven to be true over the years.
I
watched a top businessman (worth over $100 million) die suddenly at age
50. And couples that seemed to have it all, break up and go through
very ugly divorces.
Worry about yourself and don’t get caught up "Trying To Keep Up With The Jones’s."
9. Discover Your Personal Genius
What activities excite and motivate you?
What things would you do all day even if you didn’t get paid to do them?
What gives you unlimited energy?
For me, it’s insurance marketing ideas. I love learning about it, doing it, and teaching it.
You need to find out what it is for you, and set up systems so you can spend most of your time doing it.
10. Get Rid Of Your Distractions
It’s virtually
impossible to reach your true potential until you clean up the messes
that exist in your business and personal life.
Get
some files, and clean off your desk. Hire someone to help you.
Computerize your office. Train your staff properly. Fire annoying
clients.
Trust me, the more distractions you get rid of, the more successful you will become.
11. Get Into Good Physical Shape
The mind and body are one. Don’t treat them like separate entities.
If you want to operate at peak mental capacity, you must be operating at or near peak physical capacity.
Here’s why: You must be in good physical condition to sustain the
energy necessary to run a successful business. Otherwise, at some
point, your body will give out and you’ll either get sick or tired or
both.
Start eating a healthy diet and exercising four times a week.
You’ll feel better about yourself, and you’ll have more energy.
12. Schedule Your FREE Time In Advance
How many vacations did you take last year?
Did you ever work on a Saturday or Sunday?
For most entrepreneurs and salespeople, the concept of FREE time and vacations is foreign to them.
The reason most business people don’t take
time off is because they don’t think they deserve it until they finish
some project or achieve some goal.
Well the truth is, you must take FREE time and vacations to re-energize your batteries and prevent burn-out.
I’ve discovered the only way to make sure you
take time off is to schedule it in advance. Otherwise, it will never
happen. In our Top Producer Personal Coaching Program we teach members
how to divide their week up into three types of days:
 |
Fun Days for FREE time; |
|
MOA Days for "major Outcome activities," and |
|
Neutral Days for things like filing, bookeeping, managing employees, etc. |
So, sit down with your calendar for this year and plan out your vacations and days off for the next year right now.
13. Be Careful Who You Take Advice From
Friends and family mean well, but they don’t always give the best advice.
Everyone has an opinion on everything from investing to how to run your business.
Be selective about who you listen to, and make
sure the person you’re talking to has already accomplished what you’re
trying to accomplish.
It makes no sense to get insurance marketing ideas from someone who’s broke!
14. Have Fun
Don’t be such a sour puss. People like to be around fun people.
Try to enjoy the process of building a business.
Look at it like a game, and make it a challenge to overcome all the obstacles.
Just don’t let the day-to-day annoyances sour you and your attitude.
15. Make Friends And Family Your Top Priority
Don’t be a workaholic. When you’re on your deathbed, you won’t be regretting that you didn’t spend enough time at the office.
The most important people in your life are your friends and family, so don’t have them play second fiddle to your business.
Your business should fund your personal life, it shouldn’t be the other way around.
16. Treat Other People The Way You Would Like To Be Treated
We’ve all come across people who go around
treating sales and service people poorly, and then they complain that
no one returns their calls.
Most people will do anything for someone (within reason, of course) as long as they treat them nicely.
The saying goes "You catch more bees with honey than with vinegar."
The same goes for people.
17. Find Good Mentors
By far, the single biggest factor in all of my successes has been finding the right mentor.
I have had business mentors, sports mentors, relationship mentors. You name it.
Whenever I want to accomplish a goal, I find someone who has already accomplished it, and I ask for their advice and help.
Sometimes, I pay for the advice. Sometimes, I don’t.
It really depends on the person and what I’m asking them to help me with.
Go out and find a mentor who has already done what you’re trying to do. You’ll achieve your goals a lot faster.
18. Be A Giver Not A Taker
There are very few rules that I think are universally true, but this is one of them…
The More You Give, The More You Get!
Don’t be a miser with your clients, your employees, your spouse, your children, your friends, and people who ask for your help.
Give it to them and don’t expect anything back in return.
I promise you that if you do this, something amazing will happen…
You will get abundance. Abundance of money, friends, love, and everything else you’ve ever wanted.
I once heard a great saying about this, "You
can get whatever you want out of life if you help enough other people
get what they want out of life."
19. Don’t Be A Whiner!
Have you ever heard the saying "A bad carpenter always blames his tools"?
It’s so true. Most people are hell-bent on blaming everyone but themselves for the problems in their business and their life.
Take responsibility for your own actions and do what’s necessary to change what’s not working.
Just don’t go around blaming other people.
20. Become A Lifelong Student
You
know when I know someone is headed for disaster? When they tell me they
don’t need to go to a seminar because they already know everything.
I consistently invest 20% of my net income into self-education so I can continue to grow as a businessman and a human being.
There is always something or someone you can learn from.
Never cut yourself off from learning something new!
21. Motion Is Better Than Meditation
Gary Halbert, a famous direct marketer, once said
that motion (doing something) is far better than meditation (thinking
about doing something).
Stop waiting to try a new marketing method until everything is perfect. Just do it.
Motion creates momentum which leads to success.
So, don’t sit still and think about everything, just do it!
22. Base All Your Financial Decisions On Return On Investment
One of my top members, Tim Austin, came up with what he calls a rule.
Before he makes any investment in his
business, he figures out how many extra sales he needs to make to cover
the cost. If it sounds achievable, he goes for it and never looks back.
You should do the same in your business.
Well, that about sums it up…
If you would like more information on how to get
qualified leads for insurance agents, life insurance sales leads, and
referrals for your business, CLICK HERE
to get a copy of our FREE Report "How Any Insurance Agent Or Financial
Advisor Can Add An Extra $5,000 – $25,000 Per Month To Their Existing
Business With No Cold-Call Prospecting."
You are welcome to copy this page and post it on your web site or use it in your newsletters. The only requirements are:
- you must copy the entire article and make no changes whatsoever.
- you must include the signature file below at the bottom of my article.
Brian J. Kay, Executive Director, Leads4Insurance
921 Port Washington Blvd., Suite # 3 Port Washington, NY 11050
tel:(516)944-6700 fax:(516)944-5275 email:info@leads4insurance.com
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