Every day—and I mean every single day—I receive an email from an agent who is frustrated, challenged, or upset about the current state of their business.

I love emails like this.

Because I love solving problems. Problems provide me with the amazing opportunity to do what I love to do best: Help agents find out where they went wrong.

Notice I say where “they” went wrong. I don’t blame the economy. I don’t blame circumstances. I put the impetus of success or failure squarely on the agent.

Because I truly believe that you are the driver of your own destiny. Wherever you are right now in your business, you drove yourself there.

Are you the top agent in your area? If so, then it’s because you held onto the wheel, avoided bad traffic, took good care of your vehicle (your business), and accelerated to your destination.

Are you floundering right now? It’s because you hit a slippery curve and drove yourself into a ditch.

“Denise, how can you say this? You can’t just toss aside the market challenges of the last two years!”

I am well aware of the problems agents have faced since the market took a nosedive in 2008. I know that it is much more of a struggle to survive now than it was 4-5 years ago.

However, I have one piece of information that trumps everything:
There are agents RIGHT NOW who have had the best year in the history of their businesses.

This is such an important piece of information that I’m going to repeat it so it sinks in:
There are agents RIGHT NOW who have had the best year in the history of their businesses.

I know it may be hard to believe, but I know these people. I’ve seen it for myself. No bad economy was going to get in their way. They were determined to succeed, put in the time and effort, and reaped the rewards of their toils.

They also took out insurance by changing their strategy. When the market crashed, they were very smart. They immediately adapted to a new way of doing business. They didn’t do everything the same as they did before—because they knew that we were no longer living in the freewheeling boom time. Different times require different strategies.

They looked at what was happening and didn’t say, “Oh no! Everything is over. I’ll never survive.” Instead, they said, “Okay, fine. The road is getting rough. It’s time to put some new tires on my business and drive forward past the obstacles in my way.”

Yes, the road has been rough. Yes, it’s not easy. Yes, you have to take action in ways you never had to before.

But the very fact that there are agents out there who are having their best year EVER is a sure sign that you, too, could be one of them. Because all they did was drive their business toward the destiny of lots of paychecks—regardless of the world falling down around them.

You can do this too.

Wherever you are right now, it’s time for you to take 100% responsibility. It’s time for you to ignore the boulders crashing down on the road on which you’re driving. It’s time for you to develop the resilience to drive around them and keep plowing forward.

Do you have leads right now? If not, then it’s time to get your lead generation campaign rolling. Don’t tell me that there are no leads out there. The agents having their best year ever found them. If they found them, then you can find them.

Are you getting referrals from your past clients? If not, then it’s time to fix your follow-up system. Don’t tell me that nobody is sending any business to anyone right now. The agents having their best year ever had a TON of referrals. If they can get them, then you can get them.

Are you taking 100% responsibility for the success or failure of your business? If not, then it’s time to get honest with yourself about what you’re NOT doing that you should be doing. Don’t tell me that you’re not the driver of your own destiny. The agents having their best year ever decided that they absolutely were. If they can adopt this mental attitude, then you can too.

You can get yourself out of any jam. You really can. Whatever the problem, challenge, or struggle—you have the power to get out of it.

All it takes is honesty. Get honest with yourself about what you need to do. Develop an action plan to tow your business out of the ditch and get it back on the road. Stock up on provisions and fuel—lead generation, follow-up, client care—and get behind that wheel.

Drive yourself to a new destiny.

By Denise Lones CSP, M.I.R.M., CDEI