Negative thinking blocks success

What you tell your clients matters, but what you tell yourself — or your mindset — matters more.

“The brain can’t take a joke,” said 1999 MDRT President Reginald Rabjohns, CLU, ChFC. “Whatever you say to your brain, it’s going to work 24/7 to make it come true.” If you tell yourself nonsense, your brain is still going to work on making that true as well since it doesn’t know you’re kidding, he said.

It’s about attitude and how you handle challenges, said Rabjohns, of Northfield, Illinois. You’ll have failures in your life, but stay positive and keep going, he said. Having this mindset has kept Rabjohns an MDRT member since 1970, and he recently was recognized for his industry achievements.

In September 2018, the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA) awarded Rabjohns one of the life insurance industry’s highest honors, the John Newton Russell Memorial Award.

“Reggie has achieved a level of success in his career for himself and his clients that all insurance and financial advisors aspire to achieve,” said MDRT member Juli Y. McNeely, CFP, CLU, of Spencer, Wisconsin, who also was the chair of the 2018 NAIFA award committee.

Other MDRT Past Presidents who have won include

• Lester A. Rosen, CLU – 1975
• Stanley Liss, CLU – 1988
• Millard J. Grauer, CLU – 1996
• Jack B. Turner – 2000
• M. Jack Peckinpaugh – 2004
• Marvin H. Feldman, CLU, ChFC – 2011
• Brian H. Ashe, CLU – 2012
• D. Scott Brennan – 2016

Read more about Rabjohns’ award in Forbes, and watch Rabjohns in “Don’t allow negativity.”

By Antoinette Tuscano, MDRT Content Specialist