Forty-five percent. Did you see that? According that now somewhat infamous Aflac survey, nearly half of you brokers soon won't be reading this column. Seriously y'all, I think it's time for a little prayer meeting.
My two younger sons play football, and as we're embarking on another season I'm already preparing for the inevitable "Dad, I don't think I want to do this anymore" talk.
You know the one. If you have kids, you've delivered it. And if you were once a kid yourself, you've heard it. It's usually on an afternoon when we're tired, when the heat has lingered a little farther into September than we'd like. Maybe we had a tough day at practice, when the ball just didn't bounce our way or the coach asked us to take on the best athlete on the team and everybody was relieved he didn't pick them because they didn't want to get embarrassed like we just did.
Recommended For You
Suddenly that thing we were so enthused about just a few weeks ago has become something we no longer want to do. And here's what I've noticed. I have never had that conversation with my boys after they've won a game on Saturday.
Do you know what it means to be a prisoner of the moment? We see it every day. The quarterback has a bad day and suddenly he's washed up. Next week, he has a good day, and we're going to the Super Bowl!
In the moment after a loss, it's only natural for us to hang our heads, speak in self-defeating hyperbole, and erroneously conclude that it's time for a change.
Have you ever heard that you should wait 24 hours before committing to a major decision? We talk about that in our leadership training. Especially when it's a potentially negative situation, give your emotions time to cool. Give yourself time to think things through with an eye for the long-term.
When we're imprisoned by the moment, we're not thinking rationally or with a level head about the future. We're not thinking about statistics or performance history or emerging markets or any of the indicators that a rational third party would see as positive. Instead, we're thinking about today and the emotions of it. We're focused on how uncomfortable we are; how inconvenient it is for us.
I know the moment says, "Run, Forrest, Run!" But we're smarter than that. We know that the moment will change tomorrow, so we can't base our decisions on that. We'll look to our strengths. We'll educate ourselves on the changing landscape and see what new opportunities might be a good fit for our proven expertise.
So please allow me to tell you what I'll tell my boys in a week or two: "You suck it up and get your a–" er… um… Did you see how bad Peyton looked Sunday?
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
