Make The Rest Of The Year The Best Of The Year - Starting In Just 2 Weeks!

I was recently at an industry event when I bumped into an agent that I've known for quite some time, but hadn't spoken to recently. After about 10 minutes of catching up and checking on the family, I asked him how his year was going. He immediately became deflated and told me there was no way he was going to hit his goals for this year. I was shocked! It was only the first part of July and a very good, seasoned agent had already given up on the year.

He went on to tell me that the first half of the year had been filled with so many challenges and disappointments that there was just no way to catch up. Family illnesses and emergencies, big cases that fell through, staffing issues...he really did have a rough 6 months. Maybe you have too, but a bad first half doesn't have to break your entire year! Truth be told, every one of us has the ability to reach our annual goals in 6 months. It's not that we set our goals too low, but rather underestimate what we are truly capable of. Well, not this year!

There is still plenty of time to reach your goals and achieve greatness with a little bit of concentrated effort (and I really do mean a little bit). I'm not talking about doubling your work load or time at the office, pounding the phones or the streets for hours on end or giving up time with your family. You don't have to get radical in order to achieve radical results. 

Besides, even if you had an extreme business building plan that asked you to drastically change your life and business, chances are that you wouldn't stick with it for more than a few days. Fortunately, you can make the rest of the year the best of the year and get back on track with your goals starting in just 2 weeks, doing just 2 things. Here's how it works in 3 easy steps:

First, take out a piece of paper and write down the top 2 things you want or need to accomplish during the
rest of the year. I'm not talking about your income goals or other big picture items. These need to be 2 very specific, very focused goals that would help you call this year a success. I realize you probably have a whole list of things you were hoping to accomplish this year, but for this exercise, you need to narrow it down to your top 2. Remember, you only get 2, so choose wisely! Your list might include things like:

• Submit 48 more life insurance applications
• Submit $5,000,000 in new annuity money
• Bring 24 new clients into my agency
• Sell 60 home insurance policies

Next, on that same sheet of paper, under each of your two goals, write down the top 3 action items that

could be done easily, in less than an 10 minutes, and repeated every day that would move you closer to achieving that goal. These need to be very specific, very doable and repeatable steps that you can accomplish in under 10 minutes. I repeat, under 10 minutes (we'll get to why in a moment). Your list must also be ACTION items, things that are proactive. Things like "asking 3 people who call in if we can review their life insurance" do NOT count. Your list must be 3 things that you can do, regardless of others. No reactive items allowed. Your list should look something like this:

• Sell 48 more life insurance policies
• Call 1 term life policy owner to discuss conversion
• Call 1 auto and home client who does not have life insurance to set review
• Call 1 existing life insurance client with no review in the last 4 years to schedule a policy review
• Submit $5,000,000 in new annuity money
• Mail retirement review letter to one client over the age of 60
• Call one client over the age of 50 for ROTH IRA check up
• Call one client over the age of 70 for legacy plan review

You'll notice that each one of my action items listed involves calling an existing client. This is for three very important reasons. First, if you've had a bad start to the year or are in the middle of a slump, your confidence may be a little low. Calling on clients who already know you and are willing to at least take your call gives you a better chance of success and helps boost your confidence. Second, while most of us like to fool ourselves into thinking that every one of our clients does all of their business with us, this just isn't true in most cases. It is always easier to sell to someone you have previously sold to. Third, all of my action items listed above are focused on the low-hanging fruit, the meeting and sales that should be the easiest to make.

The third and final step is where the rubber meets the road, and how you make sure you achieve this year's

goals. Pick one of your two goals (preferably the more important one) and make a commitment to doing all 3 action items every single day that you go to work for the next 3 weeks. Do NOT try to tackle both goals at the same time. This needs to be easy so that you'll stick to it and you need to form a habit of doing those 3 action items every day.

At most, it should take you 30 minutes per day to do all 3 action items. Regardless of your results each day, do every action item every day that you go to work for the next 3 weeks. Good days, bad days...do them anyway. Increased production or bad results...do them anyway. Too many other things to do, tough...do them anyway. At the end of 3 weeks, these 3 action items will be a part of your workday and start to come naturally. They'll be a new habit, and they'll move you incrementally closer to a successful year one day at a time. Now it is time to add in your second goal! Keep doing the 3 action items for goal number one, but add in the 3 action items for goal number two for the next 3 weeks.

At most, you'll be spending 60 minutes per day doing proactive action items that move you closer to your annual goals every single day. And let's be honest, you should be spending at least 60 minutes a day working on the most important goals in your business anyway! Before you know it, action items will start to become production results. The increased activity and communication with clients will lead to more referrals and other sales that you weren't even looking for, and you'll be back on track to achieving your annual goals. Keep doing the 6 action items throughout the rest of the year and you'll find that you need to set your goals even higher for next year!