10 Things Winners Did

Speaker A: What's up? And welcome to the Unquit podcast. And whether you're on the verge of quitting life insurance sales or you want the best tips and tricks to win in the industry, you're in the right place. I'm your host, Jim Larson, and sure, I might own one of the largest and fastest growing brokerage life insurance agencies in the entire country. And yeah, I might have built that agency in just three years, but I also started years ago and quit. I quit on myself and my goals and came back two years later, humbled, um, and ready to win. So whether you need to be talked off the ledge or you want advanced leadership content, you're going to find that here. This will be the number one sales and leadership podcast for life insurance agents. Welcome to the Unquit podcast. So, not knowing if I was going to speak to, you know, 400 people, we got a small group in here. 140 hungry people came to show up today, even though it was a holiday. Um, I appreciate that hustle. I want to chat about 10 things that winners did in this business. I, um. Being a guy that came here and won and. And being a guy that came here first and did not win, um, I've had the opportunity to experience both. I've also had the opportunity to get to. I'm on my call now, so I've also had the opportunity to get to know, uh, a lot of people that have come and gone and have reached the top of this thing. And so as I was kind of prepping for this, I'm thinking through. I didn't know how many it was going to be, but I'm, like, thinking through a list of the things that I feel like everybody who's won has in common. So I'm going to go through that list with you guys today. Number one, they knew they would win. They knew they would win. They didn't know how, they didn't know when, but they knew they were gonna win. Every time I watch somebody fail, quit, fall off, they were teasing this out to see if this was gonna work. They weren't sure it was gonna. They were. They were trying to figure it out. They put things on a short leash. Is this gonna work? Is this gonna be my thing? Maybe. They've tested half a dozen things before. They've got goals, they've tried stuff, and they're waiting for, uh, to fulfill an internal dream which I, uh, watch happen all the time. If I align myself with this external thing, will it finally get me where I'm trying to go? And instead they don't realize that every external thing is just a vehicle and it's the driver that operates the vehicle. So they're trying to attach themselves to an external thing, thinking that's going to be the answer, not realizing the whole time they have been the answer and the reason they're quitting. When they ask why, why does everything fail? The answer is internal, not external. It's not those things that failed. It was, you see, the people that went here, they finally decided and knew they were going to win here. They were going to do this. They were going to take this vehicle and drive it. They knew that. They didn't question it. They weren't teasing it out. They weren't trying to determine if they were only asking how and when. The people who win here knew they were gonna win here. Now, that doesn't mean that everybody that knew they were going to win did win, but everybody who did win new understand that now. Second thing, their sacrifice followed their confidence. Their sacrifice followed their confidence. What they were willing to sacrifice for their goals, for their business in time, effort, energy, money, what they were willing to invest aligned, uh, with the confidence they had, knowing they were gonna win. If you knew you couldn't fail, if you knew you were gonna win, if you knew this was gonna work out, wouldn't, wouldn't you be brave to invest? Uh, wouldn't you be brave to invest more time, more effort, more energy, knowing it was a season of sacrifice that was going to set you up? You wouldn't be afraid to invest the money because you knew you'd get it back. You wouldn't be afraid to sacrifice the family time because you're building more family time on the back end. You wouldn't be afraid to invest because the sacrifice of time, effort, energy, money, resources follows your confidence. When people lack the first one, the knowledge that they're going to win, and they're just teasing out, if they play very close to the chest, they're not trying to invest much because what if they fail? They're not trying to miss things with family, because what if they fail? They're not trying to spend money because what if they fail? And so they play very close to the chest. And in every case, and this isn't just true with winners, your sacrifice follows your confidence or lack thereof, uh, every time. And so when I watch people who are not certain they're going to win, they always follow that with an uncertain sacrifice and then wonder why they're not moving forward, because this is not luck. This is not chance. They have very Low confidence. So they're making very low sacrifice. I get it. So if that's the case, though, you gotta go build that confidence. Third thing, they obsessed over getting better, obsessed over it. This was not a thing that they clocked in and clocked out of. This was a thing that even when they weren't working, they were troubleshooting and thinking about how to get better. They didn't just put this down. I don't know an entrepreneur that puts down their business, they might get to a season. But if this is tied to and the vehicle for your financial freedom, your time freedom, your goals, if this is the vehicle to get you there, that's not something you turn off. You turn off work, but you don't turn off the obsession with your life. You don't turn off the desire for your goals. You don't turn off. See, we, we, when we disconnect work from our dreams, we want to turn work off. But when our dreams and our family and our lives are encapsulated by our work, we don't turn that off. And the people who win go through a season of obsession, obsessed with this. How can I get better? How can I make progress? How can I do this? Who can I talk to? It wasn't just I made my 100 dials, I hang it up and I walk away. And I don't think about it until I come back to the office again. That works in a 9 to 5. That doesn't work when you're building dreams. And so some, so many, uh, people I watch, they try to build dreams on a W2 clock out work ethic. Nobody ever achieved their dreams in a W2 job. They live their dreams outside their job. They pursue passion outside of their job. We come to building business for our dreams. That doesn't turn off. They obsess. Winners obsess every single one 30. But you will talk to, uh, obsessed about this number four. They surrounded themselves with winners in community. I've never met someone at the top of the company that did this alone, that ran alone. And I'm preaching to the choir here. I get that because you guys are obviously here. You're in accountability, you're in the virtual offices, you're engaging in the slack or group chat platforms. You're around people. So pat yourself on the back for being around the people. But when that's what winners do, they don't try to do this alone. Nobody's gonna win alone. Our environments determine our values, our sacrifices. I talk about that a lot here. But the people who win are surrounded by people committed to winning. Number five. They stayed curious instead of getting critical. They knew they were gonna win, but that doesn't mean everything just lined up and knocked down for them all the time. They missed promotions, they got flanked, they got chargebacks, they got debt roll up. Stuff happened to them, too. But instead of getting angry, bitter, critical, they got curious, and they determine to figure out how to fix it, how to get better, how to make progress. When I watch people get frustrated and get mad, I get it. I get it. But if you don't figure out how to let that fuel you in a positive way and you allow bitterness to kick in, nobody. No, I've never met a bitter, frustrated, angry person that won't. Not. Not in any. Not in any avenue of winning. The people winning in sports aren't bitter and angry. They might use that fuel. They might use a slight as fuel. But they learn how to positively take bottled emotion and channel it. People who sit frustrated wanting to talk to other people who are frustrated to justify their frustration, they sit in frustrated circles that don't work. Winners don't do that. Number six. They borrowed belief when it got hard. Guys, when I came back here, I knew I was going to win. I followed this stuff. I knew I was going to win. My sacrifice followed my confidence. I obsessed over getting better. I surrounded myself with winners. I stayed curious instead of critical, and it was still hard. And the number of times I had to go to Sarah and Jamie and Jacob and be like, guys, promise me this is going to work out. I see it. I want it. I'm sacrificing for it. I'm fighting for it. It's not happening. Promise me I'm on the right page here. Promise me I'm in the right sandbox and I'm doing the right things. I. I'll keep doing it, but I'm not seeing the results. And you've gone before me, and I need to know that I'm doing the right things. I'll keep doing it if you tell me I'm doing the right things. But I'm gonna get in my head if I'm by myself and I'm gonna start spiraling, that this ain't the right things because I'm not seeing results on a timeline that's comfortable for me. And that's what we often do when we're not in community, is we want results in a certain timeline that may or may not be realistic. We've never been where we're going before. We don't know when to expect that. And so we're like, well, I'm putting in this effort. I'm making the sacrifice. I should be seeing results. I'm, uh, not. I have no idea, neither do you, whether your timeline was even appropriate. And when. You don't know and you're not getting results, but you're making sacrifice, you're going to get in your head, and you're gonna need someone that's been where you're going, that's there, that can speak over. You're doing the right things. I see you. I see you're doing the right things. You're playing the right game. Keep doing it. I had to borrow that belief, and I need you to hear that. The people who are at the top that you're looking up to, they didn't have it easy. They learned how to manage the hard. They didn't have it any easier than you have it. They didn't face fewer challenges than you're facing. Everything you're facing, they faced. They learned how to navigate and manage it. These are the tools I'm giving you right now. This is what they did. Number seven. They decided how they were gonna feel, and they didn't let their emotion depend on their results. They determined their emotion and didn't let results determine their emotion. These are feedback loops. When you are excited and expecting to win, you're far more likely to win. But so many people outsource their emotion to their results. I'll get excited when I get the results. Now, you got to get excited first because you got to go into that appointment excited before it ever happens. You gotta dial like you're excited before you ever set the appointments. You've got to go into that interview excited because you don't know who's on the other side of that. And if they don't catch a vision for how awesome this is, be based on your excitement, you have no idea if their potential is going to land in fertile ground and grow or not. You got to be excited first. And I watched so many new people outsource their emotion. The most powerful thing we have as, uh, a species, they outsource their emotion to their results. My team isn't doing anything, so now I'm not doing anything. Way to lead, brother. Way to lead. Uh, I'd be excited if I had someone with me that was excited. Cool. It's not leadership. I'm just so mad I got a charge back. You should be figure out how to not let that happen again. So many people outsource their emotion, wait for other people to Be excited before they are. No, you get excited first. Every successful person I know knew how to manufacture excitement even when the results didn't justify it. They knew how to stay in the game, keep their head in the game. Look at any winner, especially in athletics. Look at the people that you put the ball in their hand in the fourth quarter. It doesn't matter if Michael Jordan was over his last nine. He wanted the ball in his hand because he expected to hit that shot. He wasn't in his head. What if I miss and everyone's watching me? He wanted that ball in his hands. Winners want the ball in their hands because they know they're going to hit the shot. Get me on the phone, get me in an appointment, get me with a client. I expect to win. I'm not backing off because the results aren't where I want them to be. I'm pressing in because I'm going to make results happen. Number eight. They arranged their life around their goal. Instead of trying to fit their goal into their life, they arrange their life around their goal again. Think of any, any big goal someone did. Losing over a hundred pounds, building a business, getting a full ride to a D1 school for sports, going pro, any big thing. That person had a season of life where they arranged their life around their goal, their practice, their discipline, the activity that went in their calendar first. And they had to say, hey, sorry, I can't do that, I'm going to be here. Sorry, I can't do that, I' got practice. Sorry, I can't do that, I'm gonna be their. Their goal was first in their calendar at every level of winning in every avenue. This is no different. People come here and they've got goals of making more money than surgeons. They've got goals that are bigger than anything they've ever done. And they think somehow they're gonna sneak fit it in in the nooks and crannies of their existing life. No, you're not. You're not. Nobody has ever won trying to squeeze this in their existing life. It required a radical realignment of priority. In every case, without fail, you want to build. And remember, this isn't, ah, just about, oh well, I'm, I'm sacrificing all this for light to sell life insurance. No, you're sacrificing it for your goal. Which brings me to the next thing. They connected the mundane to the sublime. The mundane, the day in and day out. Grind, the dialing, the running, the appointments. They connected that to the sublime. The big, the goal, the the dream. They connected the two. They knew what they were working for. They weren't just showing up. I can't miss family time just to dial. Well, you're not. You're missing family time to build more family time. You're sacrificing for the goal, not the activity. Winners have this innate ability to connect the dots between the mundane grind and the big goal. The waking up early, the hitting the gym, the making the dials. That's not just about what you're doing here. It's about how it connects to becoming the type of person that can hit your goal. Winners know how to do that. So when I sacrifice and I miss family time or I spend money on something or I do, I'm not just doing it for the activity. You love dialing more than you love going out with your family. No, because I'm not sacrificing to dial. Uh, I'm sacrificing to build a goal for the family. The dream we share as a household, the dream we share as a family. That's what I'm building. So I am sacrificing for that. And in this season of sacrifice, it looks like dialing. But winners know how to connect those dots. People who quit don't. They don't. They can't get out of their head around the mundane. Brings me to the last one. They always had a reason to believe this month would be better than last. They didn't leverage hope as a strategy. They didn't just hope. They knew this month is going to be better. Why? They had a reason. Because I invested in a new this. Because I'm making more dials. Because I've got this exciting person coming on. They had a reason to be excited going into every month. I'm going to make progress this month. This is going to happen this month. And then they executed that plan. But they go into every month. Here's why it's going to be better. Not just. It's going to be because I hope and want it to. Here's my strategic, deployable plan for how this is going to be better. Here's my plan to make this month better. Here's how I'm going to make progress. Here's how I'm going to promote. Here's how I'm going to grow my team. Here's how I'm going to get more in deposits. Here's how I'm going to sell more. Here's how I'm going to protect more families. I've got a plan for how this month is going to be better, which because of that plan gives me a logical and rational reason to get excited. So I'm managing my emotion committed to winning. This all plays. Every one of these follows the same routes but those 10 things, I don't know a person that won that didn't leverage every single one of those. That is your blueprint. Go rock with it. Can't wait to see where it takes you. That's what I got for y' all on a Monday morning. Hey, thanks so much for tuning in. Every single week we are going to be delivering real, raw, impactful content so you can not only grow a business, but grow your self. The best way to connect with me is on Instagram. Eat Jim Larson. Just spell my last name right. That is L, A R S E N. I cannot wait for some upcoming announcements. And thank you for your support and your help in making this the number one sales and leadership podcast for life insurance agents.