We are all exposed to belief systems on many levels. There are beliefs that are held by our chosen governmental party, our religions, families, friends, and co-workers. For the most part, we choose to align ourselves with others who share the beliefs with which we agree and who promote what we consider the right actions.
Whoever controls (influences) your beliefs controls your actions and your results.
When it comes to your business, the only thing that matters are the results, right?
Of course, our results are already pre-determined by the actions we take on a regular basis. And, we will only consistently act in ways that are aligned with our fundamental beliefs. So, it is the right belief system that will eventually drive the right results. Therefore, we must be very careful who we allow to influence our beliefs.
Negativity breeds negativity
Why is it then, that when it comes to our businesses, instead of determining our own positive beliefs, we fall into the trap of adopting the most unhealthy of beliefs from others in the industry? With all of the challenges facing the industry, the anxiety and negative beliefs have reached a fevered pitch.
Be honest, to what degree do you find yourself surrounded be people, articles, or presentations who believe, and are all too happy to share, the following?
- Our industry is in its dying days
- We are doomed to suffer from declining revenue streams
- Our role is nothing more than transactional
- We are going to be replaced by a technology solution
- Their best option is to sell their agency
- That their salvation is in someone stepping in to “save” them
Screw them and their beliefs!
Remember, beliefs control actions and the people who believe those things may well lead themselves to a self-fulfilling doomsday prophecy. But don’t allow them to do the same for you.
As Henry Ford said, “Whether you think you can – or think you can’t, you’re right.”
Look for positivity and examples of success
Our industry has fundamentally changed. But, while the beliefs I described above may be accurate for those hell-bent on holding on to the past, they couldn’t be more wrong for those willing to change and create a new future.
To have positive actions and results, you have to have positive beliefs. Of course, those beliefs have to be grounded in some degree of reality so it is important to validate the beliefs.
I don’t know about you, but I choose to believe that:
- Our best days are ahead of us. The world of HR/benefits is more complex than ever; employers need your expertise.
- We control our destiny. Those agencies I see that are changing their sales conversation are having unprecedented success.
- We can have a greater impact on the business and lives of our clients than any other partner they have. There is no single partner that a business owner has with the potential to touch on more aspects of their business than you. You can impact your clients financially, operationally, culturally, procedurally, and strategically.
- We have the opportunity to make more money than ever before. Every business owner will pay for results that make his/her business more successful. The best agencies focus on those results instead of on a spreadsheet, and they no longer depend on a commission schedule.
- The answer to our problem is to focus on the needs of our clients, not the product of another vendor. If you will regularly ask your clients what they need to be more successful, they will tell you what they will buy if you are simply able to bring it to them.
- This industry is transforming into something unbelievably special. The transactional model on which our industry has been built is antiquated and insufficient. I watch agencies every single day become the consultative, results-focused businesses their clients need them to be.
These are beliefs that get me more excited than I have ever been for our industry. But, beliefs are relatively easy. Most of you probably want to own those beliefs for yourself. The hard part becomes the actions that follow; you have to own those as well.
I don’t know about you, but I will own those actions. I will own them for myself, and I will own them for those around me who share these beliefs about our collective future. Doing the same is the key to your future success.
Whoever controls your beliefs controls your actions and controls your results.
Believe in a brighter future. Surround yourself with others who believe the same and who are willing to own the behaviors and actions with you. When you do this, your results will be more predictable and you will become the feared competitor in your market.
Photo by lekstuntkite
