Leading a life of significance

This business has so much negativity and rejection that self-driven motivation is not enough. Instead, get inspired because that’s what will drive you.

To get inspired, believe that you can be the most important person in someone’s life. As a result of your actions, a family can continue, a small business stays intact or a legacy is born.

Your beliefs drive your behavior

If your desires or goals don’t sync with your beliefs, you will always manifest your beliefs. If your only goal is to make money, then you can be subject to something I know no one talks about in financial services: low self-esteem.

All chronic production issues are because of your behavior. To overcome this, create a culture and mindset that celebrates the impact you have on your clients and community. One way to do that is by qualifying for MDRT and attending MDRT meetings.

When you have a purpose that creates value first, the money follows. Firms driven by profit-only seldom are the most profitable.

Reframing prospecting

Most of us want to avoid prospecting and facing rejection. That’s the No. 1 issue we face. So, here’s a suggestion: Set up a daily contact commitment. That means five days a week commit to asking X number of people to see you. If you are new in the business, it can’t be less than 10. If you’re more established, it could be less.

What’s different about this is you’re managing the effort, not the results. You don’t control your results; you only control your effort. Gandhi said that true satisfaction doesn’t come in the accomplishment but in the effort. Total effort is total victory.

Author and speaker Nick Murray says it best when he describes the only three variables in this profession:

• The quality of your work
• The number of people you try to show your work to
• The reaction or nonreaction of the people you show your work to

You only control the first two. By focusing on the first two, the rest will come. Furthermore, Murray says there are only three kinds of people in this world:

• People who listen to your advice
• People who don’t listen to your advice
• People who never heard your advice

Your job is to keep the people who listen, get rid of the people who don’t and talk to the people who have never heard your advice to turn them into people who do listen to your advice.

The problem is not the problem; clients don’t even know how to think about the problem. They want a process, not a product, to help them see the future on their terms. People don’t really care how our stuff works; they simply want to be heard. The goal is not to sell, but to be understood!

A life of significance is not a sprint; it’s a marathon. The challenge of living a significant life is that there is not much instant gratification. Significant people must focus on what’s important, not just what is popular. This can be difficult at times.

In life, it is not the pain of the journey, but the rapture of the revelation. That which I thought was a tragedy was a triumph. You all have your very own personal journeys, but there are very few professions where you can make a very good living and also fulfill your obligations to others. Success is getting what you want; happiness is wanting what you get.

Joseph Jordan, of New York, New York, USA, is the author of “Living a Life of Significance.” This was excerpted from his 2018 MDRT Annual Meeting presentation “Adapt or die: A survival guide for a changing world.”

For more inspirational mindsets:

• Read “Adapting and triumphing”
• Read “You CAN DO more” (MDRT member exclusive)
• Watch “Don’t allow negativity”