Do You Love Your Job? (And Would You Still Love It With 10 Years to Live?)

Commentary January 04, 2010 at 07:00 PM
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At the 28th annual convention of the National Association of Independent Life Brokerage Agencies (NAILBA), best-selling author Dan Pink raised a question that gave me – and countless others in the room – much food for thought.

Pink, the author of such books as "Free Agent Nation: The Future of Working for Yourself," "A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future," and the recently released "Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us," was the keynote speaker for the Nov. 12 general session. Pink primarily focused on how those with great left-brain abilities – organizational, analytical number-crunching skills – but zero right-brain abilities – creative, artistic, outside-the-box types – will fail in today's new economy.

He threw out a lot of compelling statistics to support his thesis that any job that can be reduced to a list of steps with only one "correct" outcome (e.g., accounting, software development, etc.) will continue to be outsourced to countries whose workers will work for far lower wages than their American counterparts.

One such statistic was that only 15 percent of India's population is greater than the entire population of Japan, the world's second-largest economy, and more than the entire workforce of the United States, the world's largest economy.

He then went on to talk about how audience members could strengthen their right-brain skills. This includes things like storytelling when selling insurance, and showing people how they need something they didn't know they were missing, such as life insurance.

But the last thing he said, the question to which I referred at the beginning of this post, was the kicker. He called it the "20-10 Test."

"If you had $20 million in the bank and 10 years to live," he asked, "would you still be doing what you're doing, and would you still be doing it the way you're doing it?"

How many people can truly answer "yes" to that question? Can you? Based on the hundreds of conversations I've had with successful insurance producers over the past five years, many of you can. Some of you, however, may not be able to.

Over the next 12 months, you should all strive to pass the 20-10 Test with flying colors. In today's world – where so many are floundering financially, where so many lack the security that we once felt we were entitled to, where so much is uncertain and fleeting – it's crystal clear that life is too short to do something that has no meaning to you.

So what would you change about your practice and the way that you do business that will make you love your job so much you wouldn't give it up for any amount of money, or to do anything else with your time professionally?

Christina Pellett is the editor of the Agent's Sales Journal.

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