How Audacious Are Your Goals?

Have you set goals that are big enough to make you stretch? If so, do you believe you will achieve them?

If you don’t, how will you reach that goal?

If you set weak, easy to attain goals, what will motivate you to work hard enough to achieve them?

At National Agents Alliance, agents are encouraged to set really lofty goals and are taught the way to get there … by determining an extremely strong “why.” Without a very strong reason for a goal it’s too easy to slack off and fail to do the daily activities that lead to success. WITH a big “why,” you have a reason for the extra effort it takes. With the “reason” always in the back of your mind, you’ll make the extra dials, you’ll study harder to know your products inside and out, and, with that driving thought you won’t ever quit short of success.

NAA President/CEO Andy Albright teaches to make your goals S.M.A.R.T.

• S – Specific. Your goal needs to be detailed. You have to know EXACTLY what you want. Use Who, What, When, Where and Why.
• M – Measurable. Establish concrete criteria to measure progress. This will help you stay on track. Ask: How much? How many? How will I know when it’s accomplished?
• A – Attainable. When you identify goals that are most important to you, you begin to figure out ways you can make them come true. You develop the attitudes, abilities, skills and financial capacity to reach them. You begin seeing previously overlooked opportunities to bring yourself closer to the achievement of your goals.
• R – Realistic. To be realistic, a goal must represent an objective toward which you are both willing and able to work. A goal can be both high and realistic; you are the only one who can decide just how high your goal should be. But be sure that every goal represents substantial progress. Determine your “why” and shoot big.
• T – Timely. A goal should be grounded within a timeframe. With no timeframe tied to it there’s no sense of urgency. If you want to lose 10 pounds, when do you want to lose it by?  “Someday” won’t work. But if you anchor it within a timeframe, “by May 1^st,” then you’ve set your subconscious mind into motion to begin working on the goal.

Important! Your goals must be in writing.

If you believe in the National Agents Alliance mission and believe in yourself and the goals you set, you are destined for greatness. Develop that strong “why” and shoot for the stars; at NAA we don’t play small.

Want 4 More Hours in Your Day?

Have you ever thought “if I just had more time I’d get all my tasks done?”  Many business trainers advise you that you can gain four to six hours every day to improve your personal production.

What could you really accomplish if you had four more hours every single day?   If you study the leader boards you’ll find out those agents leading the way at National Agents Alliance follow many of the suggestions below.

Let’s say you create a plan for 30 days. 

This mental fast involves some personal discipline but the results will astound you.  Not only will you end up with more time to do all the things you have to do and want to do, but you will have more energy than you have had since you were a teenager on the go.

Let’s say you decide to follow the following eight steps to create more time, energy and success:

1. No TV or Radio – This is a hard one for most people, but it’s crucial.  TV is a big time waster, with little real value.
2. No newspapers – You won’t miss much when you give up newspapers.  Just like the TV news shows, newspapers are mostly negative.  Remember the old song with these lyrics:  “…bad news on the doorstep.”
3. Avoid negative people – Extremely important!  Negative people sap energy from us, and you don’t want anything to affect the positive attitude necessary for success.
4. Listen to motivational & educational CD’s – Make your car a rolling university.  Listen to positive messages and instruction from the masters of selling, including top producers in National Agents Alliance.
5. Read & reflect for 30 minutes a day – Done at the start or end of the day, this time is valuable for focusing on what’s really important in our lives and most people are in too big a rush to stop and think.
6. Exercise daily – Helps in clearing your mind, increases your energy and helps maintain discipline in your daily life.
7. Drink water – Most people are dehydrated.  Water cleans out toxins and helps control your appetite.
8. Take some high-quality nutritional supplements – Because you work for yourself, if you don’t work, you don’t get paid.  Take care of your health.

You will find that the most successful people in all industries, including at National Agents Alliance, follow these principles.

Radio, TV, Newspapers and some people give us nothing but negative vibes.  AND, you will be amazed at how much time those things eat up out of our day.  You will have more mental clarity and energy than you thought possible if you follow this program for just 30 days. GUARANTEED!!!

One Magic Hour

One of the amazing traits I see in common among all the agents in National Agents Alliance is their strong desire to better themselves. They come here because they need some extra money to pay their bills, or because they are sick of working in an environment where they are not appreciated and where they will never be allowed to fulfill their potential, or because they just need an opportunity.  NAA opens their eyes to a brighter future and to a chance to fulfill their desires.

But what is the factor that propels some of our agents to great success? Is it some innate skill set or good luck? Is it previous experience or personality? The answer to those questions is… none of these. Agents who come into this company and succeed are those people who understand that success is inside of them. They know they are fully responsible for every outcome in their business so they are the ones who go to work on the one thing. And what is that one thing? It is themself.

You begin this journey by getting your insurance license, but that is only the first step. Take one hour a day and change your life. All the information that one needs to be successful is available. Commit to one hour a day for 365 days to better yourself. Go through NAA University. Read Andy Albright’s 8 Steps to Success and Millionaire Maker Manual. Ask your agency manager and shop the NAA store for all the books and recordings that you need to become a superstar in this company. One of the hallmarks of the most successful people is their willingness to share, and there are countless books and recordings where people have explained their success step by step.

One of the favorites is “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill. This classic book was written almost one hundred years ago, and has been inspiring and motivating people since. Learn what a “definite major purpose” is and what a “master mind” can do, and apply these principles to your business.

Too many people use the excuse of time, but time is not an excuse, it is the reason. How will you ever have more free time if you don’t improve on what you are doing? Turn off the TV…in fact, be bold and cut off your cable/dish service until you reach a particular income goal. Use your car as a classroom on wheels – While you’re driving to appointments, listen to audio-books. The best time to do your reading is to wake up a little earlier in the morning and start your day off with some inspiration and education.

National Agents Alliance has laid out a road map for each of us but only we can walk it. The average person in the United States spends thousands of hours a year in front of a television set. If you want to change your life, you have to change yourself. One hour a day will bring magic into your life.

Your Behavior Never Lies

Your behavior indicates who you really are.  It shows how you really think.

We all remember the words our parents spoke:

• Do as you say
• Practice what you preach
• Walk the talk
• Actions speak louder than words

At National Agents Alliance, CEO Andy Albright puts it this way:  Trust Only Action.

When you say one thing and do another you are a hypocrite.  Our clients have a hard time with trust when an agent doesn’t follow through on their promises.  This kind of behavior not only affects the reputation of the agent, but impacts, in the eyes of the client, the image of National Agents Alliance.

When an agent sends mixed messages it creates doubt in the client’s mind, and we know when there is doubt, it is difficult to complete a sale.  There are enough hurdles to scale without adding the confusion and disappointment that comes with the failure to keep your word.  Clients want to feel like they can count on what you say, that you are someone they can trust with their business.  If you show up late and unprepared you just planted a seed of distrust, and the client wonders if this is the real you.

Top producers at National Agents Alliance work extremely hard to build a reputation that clients trust and rely on.  They have made it to the leader boards by consistently matching their words with their deeds…they really do mean what they say and prove it with action.

In this business, results are everything.  If you are not satisfied with the results, examine closely what you are doing, not what you are saying.  When necessary, change what you do.

To maintain the confidence of colleagues and clients, implement these ideas into your daily actions:

• Model behavior you want to see from others (we learned the Golden Rule as children)
• Follow ALL the rules you set
• Reward good behaviors
• Do what you say you’ll do (creates trust)
• Honor your commitments – practice what you preach

Leaders at National Agents Alliance follow these basic tenets because they know from experience that who you really are is defined by your behavior, not by your words.

Affirmations

Affirmations for success are just one of the ways that National Agents Alliance agents positively change their life. Whether you are looking to make changes in your personal or business life or perhaps even both, affirmations are a great way to get you on the road to change. Many people use affirmations without even realizing it, so just imagine what kind of changes you can create if you put in your best effort.

Affirmations are simply positive statements that you use to help bring about a change in yourself. However, affirmations are not just a bunch of positive words thrown together to form a sentence, they are much more specific than that. In order for them to be effective, they must be specific to any goal you are trying to achieve with National Agents Alliance. (e.g. Every month I am on top of the leader board for sales)

Here are some tips that you can follow to ensure you are using them successfully.

Affirmations Need To Be Done Daily

If you are not going to work at this every day then there really is no point in trying. In order for affirmations to be successful, you must use them every day, so you must have discipline and dedication.  Little by little you are programming your subconscious mind.  Believe in yourself and soon you will start to see the positive changes.

Be consistent every day.  It doesn’t happen overnight, but you will see some changes quickly, like an improvement in your mood and outlook.

Use Affirmations That Inspire You

In order for the affirmations to be successful, they have to use words that stir passion. Come up with some words that really tug at your emotions; they need to get you motivated.

The affirmation should make you a little uncomfortable because you’re trying to create something you never have before.  Don’t be shy about it.  Make yourself do it.

Find A Comfortable Place

While the thought of changing your belief system is going to be uncomfortable, I don’t mean uncomfortable in a physical sense. Find a quiet, peaceful place where you are alone and repeat your affirmation for 5 minutes each day.  You can do it silently, but it would be better to speak out loud.  To help turn this into a habit, do it at the same time every day, and before you know it you will have developed a new routine!

Now that you know what to do it is time to get started and utilize this information to succeed with National Agents Alliance. However, getting started is the hardest part for most people, so set aside at least 5 minutes a day and practice them each day. To help turn this into a habit do it at the same time every day, before you know it you will have developed a new routine!
Check out the National Agents Alliance Online Store to find great books to get started!

Is Your Dream Big Enough?

We get what we expect.  If we expect to be successful in our business, we need to take on the task of becoming educated in running our business with skillful effectiveness.  Success in our business is a numbers game.

If we begin with the unrealistic expectation that we can speak to just a few people and sit back and watch our income grow, we are fooling ourselves.  National Agents Alliance agents are taught to use the NAActivity book, to track the numbers diligently.  Successful agents learn the success ratios of the numbers, and then it’s simply a matter of speaking with enough people to put the odds in their favor.  If it takes fifty calls to get five appointments and you want ten appointments, double the number of calls.  If your sales ratio shows one sale for every two appointments, then to get more sales you need to increase the number of appointments.

When you begin to build your agency and you’re recruiting new agents, the same principles apply.  You track your effectiveness in recruiting the same way you do with setting appointments.  If you hire one agent after interviewing twenty applicants, you just need to speak with more applicants to find the person you want to work with.

A few suggestions for improving your recruiting skills:

• Immerse yourself in personal development.  You’ll be more effective in communication as you, yourself, grow.
• Develop a rock-solid recruiting presentation.  With experience you constantly improve and tweak the way you speak to potential team members, throwing out unnecessary information and adding more pertinent data.  Record your conversation and have your manager review and make suggestions.
• Learn to ask good questions to learn more about the individual.  Don’t take just anybody on your team.  Be selective so you don’t regret the hire later.
• Develop a system to find more prospects.  You want to increase the numbers and the quality of the people you interview.
• Make sure you revisit your dream often so you don’t forget “why” you are doing this business.

The last point cannot be over-emphasized.  Your tolerance level for temporary setbacks will increase dramatically if you are driven by a dream that is big enough.  More importantly, you will send out an invisible message to people you speak with about joining your agency that you are going somewhere in life.  People like to be on a winning team.  They will see your passion, feel the vibe you exhibit, and will naturally want to be part of your agency.

Make sure you sell the dream!

Debbie Key Knows Importance of Sharing the Opportunity

In October 2009, Debbie Key and her family purchased their first home. A few months later, the family received a letter in the mail regarding mortgage protection.

Key’s sister and brother-in-law, who lived two streets over, also expressed an interest in mortgage protection. Both families filled out the information and mailed it back in.

An agent met with Key about various products, but never mentioned the opportunity to help protect families with National Agents Alliance.

“I was looking for an opportunity at the time, but who thinks about life insurance?” Key said.

“The agent never mentioned the opportunity to me, and now I now see that it was National Agents Alliance. This realization has opened my eyes to the importance of sharing – at least mentioning the opportunity to everyone that invites us into their home.”

Key only wishes she had found out about National Agents Alliance sooner.

“If I had started this business in 2010, who knows where I would be?” Key said. “If we’ve overlooked someone, reach back and contact them – there’s still a chance that they are looking for the thing that will change their family’s future.”

Key is a mother, works a full-time job in addition to part-time work with National Agents Alliance and she is plugging into the system. She consistently writes business, attended National Convention with her two daughters (who are in the process of earning their licenses) and is coachable.

Titus Soaks up National Convention Experience

Titus Soaks up National Convention Experience Looks Forward to Big Things in 2012

Penny Titus, of Reno, Nev.; joined the National Agents Alliance team three years ago in April. During that time, Titus, a member of the Andrew Taylor team, has been ill. However, her doctors have assured her that she is healing and will be able to walk across the stage at NAA’s National Convention in Jan. of 2013.

Titus says that Taylor has a big heart and has been more than understanding when it comes to Titus’ illness and recovery. Titus was able to attend the “Be Your Own Rock Star” Version 2.0 National Convention thanks to Taylor.

“Andrew believes in me and his team,” Titus said. “I know that the Lord put Andrew in my life and I am very grateful for this. I have learned so much from him and will continue to learn from him. It has been a great pleasure to watch Andrew develop into a loving and kind leader. He wants his whole team to be leaders! Andrew truly demonstrates ‘have fun, make money, and make a difference.’ He makes a difference in all the lives he touches.”

Titus said she appreciated hearing from members of the National Agents Alliance family, who have experienced struggles and success. She was particularly touched by Jane Albright’s story during the women’s seminar in Raleigh, N.C.

“She listed off all the reasons you could crumple a dollar bill and I could relate to 95 percent of the list,” Titus said. “Seeing her there knowing that she walk throw the shadow of death, overcame and moved on made me realized that I can too. I came away from the convention with a new believe in myself.”

Titus has chosen “Faith” as her word for 2012. She said she had lost some of that faith in the last couple years. She lost faith in herself and in the Lord. Titus said she is tired of being broke and tired of feeling like she is walking alone. After spending time with four other women at National Convention, Titus knows she is not alone.

“We became friends,” Titus said. “We shared, cried and laughed together. The Lord did answer my prayers with the new friendship from each of these young ladies.”

Titus was also impressed by National Agents Alliance President and CEO Andy Albright’s “Eight Core Values” speech.

“I became excited when you shared your values with the National Agents Alliance family,” Titus said. “Each value is what I strive to live for. These values are what the Lord wants each of us to live.”

Titus shared the following quote via email with Albright.

Rich vs. Poor

“A person is poor when his character is honeycombed with greed and warped by dishonesty. When we yield to misconduct under pressure, we are poor. A person who has to beg for bread is not poor if he has not bent to expediency. An individual is headed for personal bankruptcy when he sells his character and reputation for cash, honor, or convenience. We are poor in character when we think getting by is a substitute for doing our best. Virtue, action,
and truth properly blended in life make a person rich.” – Marvin J. Ashton, “It’s No Fun Being Poor,” Ensign, September 1982.

Titus said that passage made her realize the heights she can reach in 2012 with National Agents Alliance.

“From this quote I realize that I am richer than I believe,” Titus said. “I do need to work on giving my all to achieve my very best. Thank you!”

Common Sense

In our business at National Agents Alliance we use a lot of specialized knowledge including understanding of state insurance laws, knowing the many and varied policy options available from all the carriers we work with, and how we can help clients protect and grow their assets.

What is sometimes forgotten, and missing in some cases, is common sense.

Common sense involves the things we learn as we grow up; simple things like having the sense to come in out of a pouring rain.  We were taught the “early bird gets the worm” and we have to “take the bitter with the sweet.”

We learned a lot of common sense listening to and watching our parents and other relatives when we were kids.  I learned from my older sister; I caught on pretty quickly about some things:  to not do the things she did that got her in trouble!

Common sense can be thought of as conventional wisdom, and our basic governing principles of life, things you learn, not from books, but things you know intuitively from experiencing life.  It includes learning right from wrong, what’s helpful and what’s harmful, and has nothing to do with intelligence or college degrees.  We use common sense to solve everyday problems common to all people.

If we’re paying close attention, we see that everyone we come into contact with, good or bad, provides a lesson in living, whether we witness them doing something right or something wrong.  Then it’s up to us to do something with what we learn. We interpret it and decide what it means and apply it; no one else can make you wise or ignorant.

The National Agents Alliance agent should certainly learn the specialized knowledge needed by:

• Reading The 8 Step to Success and the Millionaire Maker Manual
• Master the coursework at NAA University
• Learn the insurance laws and all the products
• Attend weekly HotSpots trainings
• Be at all corporate functions

But don’t forget to use common sense.  Use common sense:

• When making decisions
• When setting examples
• In how you spend and save
• In how you manage your time

Do the right thing, at the right time, for the right reasons.  Don’t throw out logic when you make decisions; learn from the successful agents.  Learn from the mistakes of others, and don’t repeat poor decisions.  Make common sense a common practice with National Agents Alliance.

Follow The System

National Agents Alliance has invested heavily in your success by preparing all the information, tools, and materials you need to have massive success in your business. While this is your own business, you are not alone and you do not have to re-invent the wheel to get your business up and running and generating a serious income right off the bat. The secret to succeeding quickly is to follow the system.

Michael Gerber, author of The E-Myth, writes about McDonalds. He says that McDonalds system is so well designed and fool proof, that a bunch of teenaged kids who can’t make a bed or wipe their own noses are put into the McDonalds system and the result is one of the most consistent, predictable, and successful restaurants anywhere in the world. So if McD’s can achieve an incredible level of success with a bunch of rookies, think how well you can do if you plug into the system National Agents Alliance has prepared for you.

We’ve all heard of OPM (other people’s money); here at National Agents Alliance we have something even better: OPE: other people’s experience. NAA was built on a foundation of using the best systems available in the insurance world, and has continued to hone and perfect the system to lead to greater levels of success. The agents who have the most success build their businesses fast. The key to building fast is to follow the path that has already been laid out, and not lose any momentum trying to figure out a system.

Brian Tracy, who is one of the preeminent success coaches of our time, frequently reiterates that the basis of his and anyone else’s success is to find out what successful people in your field are doing and do the same thing until you get the same results. Successful people in National Agents Alliance are plugged into the system. So if you’re just getting started, or your results are not all you know they can be, then plug in, follow the system, and soon you’ll be one of NAA’s rising stars.