Brent Kelly of the Sitkins Group delivers a short motivational talk for insurance agency leaders and producers explaining a four-zone model (Comfort → Fear → Learning → Growth) that describes why people stay short of their "best version" and how to advance. He uses anecdotes (Rory Vaden's storm/cow vs. buffalo, a steam-engine metaphor) to show that facing fear, building small habits, and gaining momentum move people into a learning zone and then a growth zone where they can multiply impact. The talk ends with practical encouragement about accountability, purpose (Simon Sinek quote), and a call-to-action to join the Sitkins Network (sitkins.com).
Chapters
Hey, Brent Kelly here of the Sitkins Group, with my profit tip helping your insurance agency become its best version possible. And as you can see on my handy dandy chalkboard behind me here today, I'm going to share with you a visual, a very powerful visual on my profit tip. Before I go through it, I want to give you a little background on the importance of this. You know, one of the things that we work really hard with with our Sitkins network members, whether it be the agency leaders, whether it be the management team, or whether it be the insurance producers in particular, at our live events, are to have them truly close their eyes and imagine themselves performing and playing at the highest level possible. The best version. We always talk about the best version. You hear that on my profit tips when I come on here. But what does that really look and feel like? And we have them really just stop and think and close their eyes and imagine. Then when they open their eyes, the question I always ask is, what's preventing you from getting there? What's been holding you back? And this graph, this illustration, this visual that I want to share with you today is a big reason why. And I get careful about saying this is a life changer or a game changer because it's a bit cliche and overused. But when you really understand this and you're honest with yourself, honest with your agency in particular, this can make a dramatic transformation in your life and in your agency when you're honest with yourself. Because here's the thing, most of us and I have these as well, these areas of comfort in our lives, in our business and that even though that we can imagine ourselves playing at the highest level, the best relationships, the best processes, the best systems, the best whatever, right? Giving back to our friends and our community and doing all the things and traveling, whatever it may be, all these things that we imagine, we still live in the comfort zone in many areas. Because even though we know it's not our best version, even though we know that there's probably more for us in our life, because here's the thing, if you can visualize it, there's a reason why. There's a reason. You can reason why you can visualize it, but why don't we take the next step? Well, because the comfort zone is safe and secure and we know may not be what we want, but it's what we know. And so that we just kind of hover there. And as we work with insurance leaders and producers and we have them start to step out and be honest with themselves about what's holding them back? It's fear. It may be doubt, it may be confusion, but it's fear. When we see the fear zone is that oftentimes there are excuses. Well, I know that this is possible for me, Brent, but I can't do this, or I haven't prepared for that, or I don't know enough yet, or I'm not ready for. And we just have this head trash, this excuses that we have this fear zone. One of the greatest stories on fear that I ever heard comes from Rory Vaden, who's an author and speaker, and he grew up in Colorado and talks about how cows and buffalo approach storms differently. He said when a storm comes, the cows will turn away from the storm and they will cow run, waddle away from the storm. And of course, they never outrun the storm. They just walk with it. The buffalo turn towards the storm, face it, and charge into it. See, both the cows and buffalo are going to encounter the storm. The difference is, how long are you going to spend in it. See, cows run along with the storm, and I see that with insurance agency leaders and producers all the time, is that there are things that they know they should be doing that they're not doing because there's doubt, there's confusion, there's fear. And they may have been experiencing this for weeks, months, maybe in some cases years. And so you've got to break through the fear zone by jumping to the learning zone. To take that step from fear to learning is going to require you to have some new skills, go back and maybe revisit some things that you haven't done for a while or learn some new things that you haven't learned before and take that risk, take that step, because you also need to improve your habits. I believe we have to be intentional about where we want to go, but we also have to be consistent. And. And that's really hard. That's really hard to build habits that get you to where you want to go. Because guess what? Some days are hard. Some days you don't feel like it. But when you start to do some of these things, you gain confidence and you gain momentum. Momentum is one of the most powerful forces you can possibly have in your life and in your business. And it starts by getting just a few wins, having some level of success. I believe that you should think, think really big. Big dreams, big goals, big vision. But you need to act small. Meaning that, what are the things that I can do today? What are the habits, the small things I can begin to build and compound upon to get me to where I want to go. You look at a steam engine, for example, right? This powerful steam engine. And if it's sitting on a train track and there's no momentum, you could put a block of wood in front of it and it won't move. Yet you give that steam engine momentum power, and guess what? It can blast through an entire building. That's the power of momentum. That's the power of the learning zone. You break through the comfort, through the fear, into learning some things that may be uncomfortable. Because remember, all growth starts on the outer edge of your comfort zone. And you build confidence and you start to have these small wins, which gets you into the final zone, which hopefully is a lifelong endeavor for all of you watching this, which is the growth zone. You're always looking to grow, to evolve, to change, to be your best version in so many different areas of life and business. And you live with purpose. You know, I think one of the greatest questions that I heard comes from Simon Sinek, who says, why do you wake up each day and why should anybody else care? That's purpose. That's a hard question. But when you begin to know yourself, when you begin to gain momentum, build confidence, achieve success, you start to say, wow, there's some purpose here. And that will continue to develop and evolve for you. But it gives you increased capacity. It gives you more than you think. Because as you begin to grow beyond goals, as it says here, goals are great. I love goals. You should all set goals. But it's not the goal itself. If my goal is to lose 50 pounds and I lose 50 pounds, that's a great goal, and you achieved it. But what did you learn in the process? Did you become a healthier you? Did you become find ways that you have more energy, a way that you can be more active, ways that you can be more, have greater capacity, whatever it may be. But it's what you learn along the way. This is why the growth zone is so powerful. And you're also accountable in the growth zone. You know, I've got five children, and I love my kids as they grow and learn. One of the hardest things to learn as a child is that you've got to be accountable for your own actions. And I think many adults still struggle with this. I struggle with this time to time. And it's not about blaming others. It's about what did I fail to do? Where did I fall short? Where did I not lead my team effectively? Where did I not lead myself effectively? Because growth is lifelong. The minute you stop learning the minute you stop growing is the minute really, I believe, you start dying. And so why are you not continuing to grow and evolve? Why would you be complacent? I hate that word, complacency, but it's a poisonous word, especially in the insurance industry today. And lastly, what I want to share, the power of the growth zone. And this is so huge. You know, when you fill your cup up, right? So we all have this cup. Let's say it's our skills, it's our habits, all the things that we're trying to do to learn and grow and be our best version. As you fill your cup up, at some point you go, well, my cup's full. I'm all done. But when your cup is full, the coolest thing is you can begin to pour your cup out into other people, pour it out into your clients, pour it out into your insurance cares, pour it out into the most important group that you have. If you're an agency leader, your team, your teammates, help them grow, help them learn, help them become the best version, because that turns addition of growth into multiplication, and it turns success into significance. Success is personal achievement, which is great. Significance is team. It's, what's your legacy? What difference are you making long term? And so I share this with you because you may be at different levels of this and in different parts of your life and in your business, but all progress starts by telling the truth. As Dan Sullivan says, you, your comfort zone. Where are you safe and secure? Where are you trying to step into your fear zone? And then you hop back in your comfort zone. What are the areas that you need to be in the learning zone to get that momentum, to get that confidence, to get the skills so that you can be a lifelong learner, lifelong growth. The last thing I'll share with you is this. If you're an agency leader watching this, if you're an agency producer, that has impact with your agency. I would love for you to take a look at our Sitkins Network membership, because this is an area we work very closely with agencies and we see directly where these agencies are in comfort zones, where they're in fear zones, where they're learning and where they're growing, identify those areas so they can become their best version possible. If you feel like maybe you've been holding back, if you feel like you've been waiting for the right time, this may be a message for you. And if you're interested in becoming a Sitkins Network member, learning from our team of coaches, learning from other peers that are doing things that are learning these same type of things. We'd love to hear from you. Go to sitkins.com apply and we can set up a phone call to learn how we can help you move from comfort all the way to growth. I wish you all the best in your success.
