CHAMPION CHAT

Happy Thursday Voluntary Benefit Champions!

This week we are going to talk about developing and maintaining a positive mindset. Those of you that know me understand that I believe you have to train your mind in order to be successful.

Many feel that insurance sales is a world filled with rejection. I strongly disagree! When you get told no by a prospect, employer or employee it really means "no for right now.". Why do I say that?

Well the answer is fairly simple. Statistically speaking it takes an average of 22 contacts to obtain a yes from a prospect to conduct a decision maker presentation, yet most of us give up after 1 or 2 contacts. We give up because we take the 21 NO's personally, but what if we persisted all the way to 22 contacts per prospect? You would make more employer presentations and as a result close more groups.

So now you're probably asking...."How does a successful agent take all those No's and turn them into a yes? The answer lies in training your mind. Training your subconscious mind is key to becoming a successful voluntary benefits agent, manager or agency owner. Now I'm not going to sugar coat it....training your mind takes patience, hard work and persistence. I started the process of training my mind back in 1998 and I am still working on it daily. There are days that I struggle with negativity just like anyone else. However, I use my positive affirmations and meditation to overcome those damaging thoughts and behaviors.

Today I am sharing with you my coaching module: Creating A Positive Mindset! Take the time to read it and do the work. A few things I do daily to ensure that I stay positive:

1. I journal daily and in that journal I write down three things that I am grateful for, three positive affirmations, three short term goals and my overarching long term goal that is essential that I attain this year.
2. I read what I write down out loud at 6:00 am, 10:00 am, 12:00 pm, 2:00 pm, 6:00 pm and at bedtime. By reading it out loud my mind absorbs it better and doing this helps me banish negativity!
3. I visualize. In the morning at 4:00 am daily I lay in bed and visualize what sucess looks like for me. How I do this is by closing my eyes and in my mind seeing my successful life and what that entails.
4. I meditate for 5 minutes before lunch and at bedtime. This brings focus into my life and focus yields results when channeled.
5. I tune out negative people and turn off negative influences.

Now please read the module below and share it with others in your life and folks start applying it TODAY! Everyday I hear from people that they will apply things when it's the right time.....there is one right time and that is NOW no matter what change you want to make.

Enjoy this module and remember: Be A Champion In Everything You Do!

POSITIVE SELF TALK

Discussion Questions

• When are you most susceptible to negative self-talk?

• What holds you back from making conscious efforts to improve yourself talk?

• Who in your life talks about you in a way that makes you feel better about yourself? Key Concepts

• Your mind is not your friend

• Think it. Speak it. Take action!

• You can't say something out loud that is positive and be thinking something negative.

• It is with language that you invent possibilities, then with action that you live it!

• Self-talk is not only what you think to yourself, but it is also what you tell others about yourself and what you believe about what others say about you.

WHY IT MATTERS

Ideas to Consider

• Success results from our actions

• Actions are filtered by our feelings

• Feelings are based on our attitudes

• Attitudes come from our beliefs

• Beliefs are purely how your mind is programmed Self-confidence cycle

• We are being programmed every day whether we like it or not

• We are programmed by the media other people and outside influences

• It is your choice whether or not to allow yourself to be programmed by society or like to program yourself by using positive self-talk

• Positive self-talk improves your self-image

• An improved self-image leads to improved action and behaviors

• All of this leads to improved results

AFFIRMATIONS & PROCESSING

Let’s Talk Affirmations

• The words you say create images in your mind.

• The more powerful the picture is in your mind the stronger the feelings it creates.

• Our feelings influence our actions. Your Processing System

• Earlier in the module we touched on the fact that your mind is not your friend.

• Your mind is trained to keep you feeling safe and comfortable.

• We have two parts to our mind, the conscious and subconscious.

• Our subconscious can be influenced in a variety of ways.

• Using positive self-talk and affirmations influence our conscious mind.

THE PROCESS OF THE CONSCIOUS MIND

Your conscious mind has a three-step process that it follows when you make decisions.

Step One: Drive

• As information is presented, your brain asks itself the following:

o What am I aiming for?

o What's in it for me?

Step Two: Creativity

• Next, your brain asks: “How can I achieve this?”

• This reaction is the creativity step

• We need to know how something can be done to think that it is possible.

Step Three: Regulation

• Finally, your brain asks: “Am I comfortable doing this?”

• This is the most dangerous step in the process.

According to Albert Gray in the book The Common Denominator of Success, the most successful people form the habit of doing daily what unsuccessful people do not enjoy doing. In other words successful agents are comfortable doing what most agents think is uncomfortable. When we ask ourselves, “Am I comfortable doing ____?” (i.e. extra prospecting, asking for referrals, making more calls, reading, booking more appointments, exercising more, eating healthy, etc). Most of the time our mind will tell us no. This is why positive self-talk matters!

Every day we must fight our number one enemy -- ourselves!

NEGATIVE SELF TALK

Self-talk works both ways. Positive self-talk can change your life in a positive way and, just as powerfully, negative self-talk can impact your life in a negative way.

RationaLIEzation

• Everyone has an excuse or a rationalization on why they can't succeed.

• It's the rare individual who knows how to harness self talk to go over under around or straight through any obstacle in the way.

• We all rationally lie to ourselves to feel normal.

• If we are not succeeding at anything in life, surely it's not our fault.

• It must be some other external circumstance that is the cause.

• We lie to comfort ourselves and feel better about ourselves.

• Rationalization can just as easily be changed to Rationa-LIE-zation!

• Examples of RationaLIEzation:

o It's not me it's the market.

o I could have hit my goals if I really wanted to.

o People just don't want to talk about benefits.

o I don't need to write my goals down. I've got them in my head.

o The top agents in our office don't work hard -- they're just lucky.

o Business owners are too busy to talk to me.

Monthly Negative Affirmations

• January

o Short month due to New Years and business owners are too busy with the start of a new year.

• February

o Only 28 days! Winter weather affecting mood and driving.

• March / April

o Easter. Tax Season. Spring break

• May / June

o Kids are out of school. Summer vacations.

• July / August

o Summer vacations and Back to School

• September

o Catching up from Summer

• October

o Lots of Business Travel. Gearing up for Q4

• November

o Thanksgiving. Preparing for Q1

• December

o Christmas. Too busy with Q4 goals.

POWER OF POSITIVE AFFIRMATIONS

There is a distinct difference between being a positive person and positive self-talk. Self-talk has nothing to do with being a positive person. It has everything to do with looking in the mirror and honestly saying what you think about yourself.

I believe your self-talk is one of the most important things in your career, your business and your life.

The core of your self-talk is your belief system.

Your beliefs construct your attitude.

Your attitude affects your altitude.

Your attitude and altitude determine your actions.

Your actions come from your feelings.

Your feelings are a product of self-talk.

If someone stuck a recorder inside your brain over the past day I'm sure you would agree that the things you tell yourself about yourself would be scary. Most agents spend their life telling themselves what they can and cannot do.

Henry Ford once said “Whether you believe you can do a thing or not you are right” Spencer Hayes once said, “The key to success is having amazing self-talk.”

Remember these quotes and what the words mean. How you see yourself, yourself image, is a byproduct of yourself talk. When you look in the mirror do you see someone fat, ugly, dumb, a failure, a victim, a jerk, a mediocre agent or do you see someone who is fit, smart, a winner, a stellar agent, someone who can overcome any obstacle in their way?

Do you see a victim or a victor?

As people we are programmed to think a certain way whether we like it or not. You have a choice: either give up control of your programming and let media, society, family, friends, coworkers program you with what you believe you can achieve or you can take control of yourself talk and start programming yourself with the things you want to believe achieve and do!

If you want to take control of your self-talk, the most impactful way to do it is to take a pen and paper and write out a minimum of 15 positive affirmations.

After you're done make a dozen copies.

Carry one with you and post the others around your Home Office, in your car, or anywhere you can see them. Also be sure to share them with your manager, accountability partner, significant other, best friend, and read them out loud three times every day.

WRITING GREAT AFFIRMATIONS

A simple and effective way to change your life is to take what was a weakness or growth area and write an affirmation about it. Tips to writing great affirmations

• Write in the first person. I statements.

• Write in present tense. “I am…” “I am becoming…”

• Use powerful words that convey pictures and elicit emotion.

Examples:

• I am an unstoppable prospector!

• I can, I will, I am going to overcome any obstacle in my path!

• I am OK with the word no. Every no gets me closer to a yes!

• I am becoming a better salesperson every day!

• When I see more business owners, I close more groups!

• If it is to be it is up to me • I relish pressure it brings out the best in me!

• I love prospecting because it leads me to success!

• I am calm and cool under pressure and I always deliver!

• I am fearless on the phone!

ACTION ITEMS

1. 15 Affirmations

• Write out your 15 favorite affirmations and categorize them by the time of day you will use them.

• Give this to your manager, coach, significant other, accountability partner or best friend.

2. Practice

• Post your affirmations in your office and on your vision board.

• Read your affirmations out loud every morning afternoon and evening

• Choose your top five and write them in your journal every morning.

3. Recommended Reading

• The Greatest Salesman in the World by Og Mandino

Conclusion

Folks a positive mindset leads to a positive life. A positive life is one full of accomplishment. Today let's pledge to eradicate negativity, regret and, "would've, could've and should've" from our lives. Ask yourself.... "Do I want to exist or live a full, happy, successful and prosperous life?". Choose to make your life better.....CHOOSE TO BE EXCEPTIONAL!