Rock & Roll!

 

Happy Friday!   Yes, I have been gone for a few days.  Did you miss me?  Many of you checked on me (thank you!).  Some of you are way too busy right now to notice (thank you too!).    Those of you that read the whole week's worth on Saturday morning will find it a few Daily Crumbs short.   Great apologies.   I was struck by technological adversity.  It rendered by email account helpless and hopeless...but I am back.   I also want to wish a couple of hundred of my Medicare agent friends and colleagues that read this daily a belated Happy AEP!  For those of you that don't know, that is the Annual Election Period where 50 million Medicare beneficiaries get to make a decision...to stay or not to stay with their current coverage...that is the question.   It is a busy time and I must tell you that my cup overflows. It is not a cup half full or half empty optimism of which I speak - there is simply more than I can physically do.  I am not complaining, mind you.  I know many people this time of year harvesting and "making hay while the sun shines".    It will not come to you - you have to go get it!   There has also been a litany of challenges.  Beyond my technology issues there have more challenges this season than I have seen in quite a while.  Some sales people are moaning, whining and complaining about the chronic issues that we seem to deal with each year...they have yet to get out of the gate.   Others are adapting and finding a way - out of no way...and succeeding.    What is the difference?    When stuck between a rock and hard place, successful people roll with the punches.  When it comes to sales, adversity, challenges and those "rocky hard places" are a fact of life.  What separates the wheat from the chaff is a hard blowing wind. It is not necessarily the seasoned veterans that are winning the fight...I am watching newbies fight through things that would turn a lessor person around.   I have always maintained that I would rather have 5 hungry fighters on my team than 20 people with an entitlement complex - sometimes success makes us feel entitled to more than we are willing to fight for.   "It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog." Mark Twain    I understand that we don't all fight the same way, but if you want to win...you better fight!   At first glance and on the surface, I know I don't seem like much of a fighter (I'm a lover!). People who just met me immediately get a sense of my outgoing personality.  They can sense my genuine desire to help and see people develop and grow.  Those that know me would also say the same things.  But they will also tell you I am intense.  I question everything and I have a deep resolve to win...and I am not afraid to fight.   I frequently use the analogy of Samson and Daniel from the Bible.  They both defeated the same adversity...lions.  Samson ripped them apart with his bare hands and Daniel put them to sleep.   Diversity of approach, but victory nonetheless.   How do you fight?  I want to encourage you today to fight through adversity, to fight for the things that you want...to fight for the things that matter.   Each one of you is engrafted with a defense mechanism that triggers a fight or flight response.  If you are facing an obstacle today, I want to tell you to stand your ground.  Get flat-footed and brace yourself to push.  Don't back down this time.  When faced with a touch challenge...    Rock and Roll!   Until tomorrow, I wish you Money, Power, Success!