2013 December IFAPAC

There are no shortcuts

Brian Tracy said, "There are no shortcuts. To be a big success, start a little earlier, work a little harder and stay a little later." 

In the world of sales we are playing in the major leagues. We are still here because we didn't seek shortcuts.  We sell a product that is for the most part invisible, without an aroma, taste or feel. We work in an environment akin to the Great Wallendas; without a safety net. We survive and prosper by working hard and smart, beginning early and finishing later than most others. We have learned that work spares us from three great evils; Boredom, Vice and Need.

We don't let economics alone determine our career or how we spend the majority of our time. Instead, we learn the rope-a-dope and conserve energy to make the moves that make it possible to achieve our goals. Anyone that has been in this noble profession a while has developed the skill of endurance and self-determination to get beyond the challenges that pop up from time to time like the obnoxious quarry in Whack A Mole.

We help people avoid the economic disasters that begin with the philosophy of doing less and wanting more. We teach self-reliance and industry, family protection and business transition. If we live long enough and see enough people we bring financial stability to the core unit of society, the family. Stable families enrich the community and foster the generosity, volunteerism and compassion that helps those in need. Yes, that is what you do as a life insurance salesman and financial advisor.

Your clients know you as someone that has helped them take care of essential aspects of being successful; protection against the events that can impede their efforts to do well. You help guard their family security when disability strikes, when life ends too early or lasts long after productivity wanes. Your work is important to each of your clients and in a larger sense important to the community. You have every right to be proud of the good you do.

When governors and lawmakers seek new revenue or more control over their constituents they often overlook or ignore the value of the insurance professional. Maybe they have not had the same experience with your work as have the widow clients in your practice. Perhaps they seek to harm your career out of ignorance of the value you bring to society. Worse yet, the decisions they make in the halls of congress are driven by the philosophy that their success depends on a populace that wants more for doing less.

NAIFA is an organization that advocates for you and me in the State Capitol and our Nation's Capitol. NAIFA stands with other insurance organizations to protect the integrity of what you and I do in the community that builds a strong America. And NAIFA has been successful in advocating for you since you entered the profession. In fact, NAIFA (then NALU) worked to ensure the foundations of your chosen profession before you were a gleam in your daddy's eye. Advocacy takes work. It takes time. It takes money.

We belong to NAIFA and contribute to the Political Action Committee because we can't do it all. We can't spend every day in Olympia talking to legislators. We just don't have the time! We can't as individuals, spend the money it takes to get the ear of governors and lawmakers. And yet each of us can sacrifice a dollar a day to support the efforts of the NAIFA spokesmen; the NAIFA attorneys and lobbyists that are very good at representing this great profession where it counts.

Thank you for taking the time to join your peers in Olympia at Day On The Hill; perhaps the only opportunity you have to shake hands with men and women that can affect your career in this State. Thank you for taking the time to travel across these United States to speak with Senators and Representatives in the other Washington, people that can affect your entire industry. And thank you for contributing what you can to IFAPAC that keeps our message on the front burner in Olympia and D.C. on a full-time basis. Without your support both in time and money many of the challenges to our career would go unanswered. There are no shortcuts.

Richard Ek, LUTCF

IFAPAC Chairman