The Law of Diminishing Intent

Welcome to the Agent Leader podcast. My name is Brent Kelly, your host. Thanks so much for joining me for another episode and I hope that everything is well in your world, that you're happy, that you're safe, that you're sane as we wrap up 2020. I'm actually recording this podcast today, the week of Thanksgiving, so should be released sometime probably in early December, right after Thanksgiving between Christmas and I just want to wish you and your family and your team, everyone, just a safe and happy holiday season in general. I'm sure I'll say it again in more podcasts, but just always want to challenge and encourage all of you to make sure that we're also spending time in gratitude and appreciation even though I know it's been a very challenging year for many of us. So those are my opening thoughts. Also want to make announcement too that I teased this a few different times. I'm going to be doing a podcast, the next podcast that will be released where be with myself and Roger Sitkins together talking about this. But we have just recently launched our all inclusive model for insurance agencies and to say that we're excited about it is probably a little bit of an understatement. We were always looking for ways to impact and reach and just change, you know, the dynamic of agencies and now obviously using different aspects of technology and just some of the experience and learnings that we have from from 40 years of teaching and training at Sitkins and now taking that even the past year of how to really leverage technology at the absolute highest level for interaction and learning and growth. The all inclusive model is here. If you just go to sitkins.com aim so it's all inclusive model. Keep it simple. Sitkins.com aim you can learn all about that. An absolute great opportunity to get a huge return on your time, a huge return on your money by doing something that honestly it's never been done in the insurance industry before, that we're going to have an opportunity to impact every aspect of your insurance agency and while at the same time keeping you sane to do so. And so a great opportunity for agencies is so again go to sitkins.com aim to learn about our all inclusive model. I think you'll like what you see when you go to that page, so check that out and let us know what you think and sign up. So let me get into the content for today and I was thinking about what I wanted to share and always looking through coaching calls and content that I'm creating for other programs and say, you know what would be the most impactful thing that I could share on this podcast, certainly during this time, this season. Now, you may be listening to this podcast several weeks after its release, so maybe it's already into 2021, I don't know. But for many of you, if you're listening to this shortly after it comes out again, it's probably sometime in December. And, you know, one of the things that I hear quite a bit, and I've said this myself many times, is that, you know, when next year starts, I'm going to, you know, I'm going to go do this, you know, when this year ends, then I'm going to start doing this. And it's always that idea of, you know, someday, someday. But now we feel better about ourselves because it's not just a someday. It's, you know, after Christmas or at the start of the year, I'm going to start doing this. And of course, that's why we have New Year's resolutions, which you probably know almost always fail. And, you know, why is that? Well, I think there's a number of things, but what I want to talk about today on this podcast, and I'll keep this pretty short today, is this idea that if something's really important for you to do now, it could be a number of things. If it's really important for you as an agency or producer to really get serious about identifying your future ideal clients in your pipeline, because your pipeline is your lifeline, right? If it's really important, why would you wait until January or six weeks or eight weeks or whatever the case may be whenever you're listening to this, if it's really important for you to go out and, and make a, a true deposit into your relationship to your best clients, you know, why would you wait till after the year? Or why would you wait for six to eight weeks? You know, if you're, it's really important for you as an agency leader to understand and really get clear on the mission and have very authentic conversations with your team or on one, on ones. Why would you wait till after the end of the year? Again, if these things are really, truly important, why would you wait? Now we can give ourselves excuses. I've given myself excuses. Well, I'm going to wait because typically this time of year, well, it's Christmas, people are busy. You know, it's Thanksgiving, people are busy. It's a pandemic. People are busy, whatever it is, right? And there could be some truth to that. But if we're really honest with ourselves, in most cases, if it's really important. You wanted to do it. If it was something that was really important to you, you wouldn't wait till after the year. Right. But part of it is we wait because there may be a level of discomfort, there may be a level of uncertainty, lack of clarity, whatever it is, and how it's going to turn out. And so we're just going to wait till later. And of course, the short phrase for this is you're procrastinating. Right. And we've all done it. I've done it, You've done it in different ways. But it makes me think of one of the most powerful laws that I heard several years ago. In fact, this is actually written in the book the 15 invaluable laws of Growth that I've referenced before by John Maxwell. And to set this up, I'm going to tell my version of the law of diminishing intent as I share this story. Please note that my oldest brother knows that I tell this story. I love my oldest brother. He's a great guy. But it's just a fantastic story about the law of diminishing intent, which I'll share with you. And it goes back. It's probably been at this point, maybe four or five years ago, we were at a swim meet. Now, my oldest daughter, who is now 17, and his youngest daughter is 18, almost 19, I should know. But they're about a year and a half apart in age. Okay. And my oldest brother is 15 years older than me, so we're spread quite a bit in our family. But even that being said, his youngest daughter and my oldest daughter are pretty close in age. So we were at the same swim meet. And just to give you some frame of reference, the swim meet was held. It was like the very last day or two of June, like the last week of June, like June 29, June 30. And there's a reason I'm giving you that date. You'll find out in a minute. And so we go to the swim meet, and if you've ever been to a swim meet, you know that there's a lot of sitting, you know, because there's time between the events or whatever. So we're sitting there with our lawn chairs and around the pool or whatever, and the stuff's going on. And my oldest brother, I paid no attention at the time, but he went off to the concession stand and had come back and had several items in his hand. I mean, I don't remember exactly, but he had like, you know, a hot dog and a bag of chips and you know, something else might have been a candy bar or something and a Coke or whatever. And I didn't really think anything of it. Whatever. I mean, we eat snacks and stuff all the time at these swim meets. Keep ourselves sane, I guess. Something to do. But he looked at me and he said, hey, do you see this stuff? I said, yeah, I see this stuff. And he said, well, you're not going to be seeing this for much longer. And I said, okay, what's up? And he said, well, I'm going to start going on a fitness program. I'm going to get in shape. I'm going to go on a diet. I said, okay, great. Good for you, man. That's awesome. I said, what are you going to do? Well, you know, I'm going to, like, anybody going to diet. I'm going to start eating better. I'm going to get rid of all this stuff. I'm not going to eat this anymore. Oh, okay. And I'm going to start working out every day. Okay, great. That's awesome, man. That's great. And so here comes the point of the story. I said, well, that's fantastic. When are you going to get started? Because he was telling me why he was doing this, and it was important and he wanted to get in shape and all that kind of stuff. And. And I said, so, when are you going to get started? And he said, oh, yeah, right after the holiday. So my brain immediately says, well, that's July 4th, right? This is the very last day of June. July 4th is a week away. I said, great. So after the Fourth, huh? And he said, oh, no, no, no, no, not that holiday, Labor Day. He said, I got a really crazy summer with some basketball stuff with the kids and all that, and travel. He's like, so I'm not going to start that now, but after Labor Day, when the summer ends, that's when I'm going to get started. And I kind of laughed and shook my head. I mean, the fact that I have to give him a hard time. And I've done this kind of stuff, too. So I'm not trying to pick on them by any means, because, again, I've done this, too. But it's just funny from the other perspective of, like, wait a second, you're telling me that you want to start eating better and working out and it's important, and you're going to wait another, what, six to eight weeks till Labor Day? And he said, yeah. And so here's the point. You probably know where this is going. Did my brother, after labor day start this detailed fitness plan and diet plan. No, he didn't. And again, not to say. And by the way, he has since then, so kudos to him. But years ago when he did this. No, he didn't. And it brings up a point that's referenced in the book the 15 Laws of Growth. It says the law of diminishing intent says this. The longer you wait to do something that you really want to do, the less likely it is that you'll ever actually do it. The longer you wait to do something that's really important to you, that you think you should do, that you know you should do, that you really want to do, the less likely it is that you'll ever actually do it. That's the law of diminishing intent. And so I share this with you. Just a quick story and I'm going to keep this podcast very short, as I mentioned, to say this, if there's something that you really want to do for your agency or your book of business. Right. I'm going to be very frank with you. I can't make any promises on this, but if it's really important to you right now to do, and I mentioned some examples earlier, it's pipeline or, you know, an agency leadership strategy or, you know, retention work or, you know, working on your processes in different ways, whatever it is, it could be a number of things. But if it's really important, say, man, It really, boy, 2021 would be a much better year. It will be a much better year when we do this or when I do that. Okay, great. And then the follow up is, well, then I'll start that in 2021. Well, the law of diminishing intent is going to say that if it's really important to you, or at least you think it is important to you, you say it's important to yourself, but you wait. And again, I don't know what the situation when you're listening to this is, but you're going to wait three, four, six, eight weeks, whatever it is, to do something, I will be willing to bet that you'll never actually do it because there's something holding you back. And if you can make excuses over the holiday season or whatever the case may be, and there's some pretty good ones out there right now, right? But if you make those excuses, you'll find different excuses. And I say that, and I know that from not just my brother's experience, from my own experience. I mean, I've had many experiences where I've said to people, yeah, this is really important. I really want to do this. I really need to do this. And then I wait. I'm going to do it after this. I'm going to do it after this. And guess what? Something else gets in the way. Something else gets in the way. And then we really do turn to this island that no one wants to live in. The island is Someday I'll. Someday I'll. Someday I'll finally get my agency in the place I want it to be. Someday I'll really make sure I have the right people in the right positions in my agency. Someday I'll really get focused on a clear mission and vision. Someday I'll really understand my client pipeline, my future ideal client pipeline, and have a strategy around it so I never have an empty pipeline. Someday I'll really be able to change the conversation from a quoter and a transaction agency or person to a true risk advice and relationship agency or person. Now, I'm just giving you a bunch of examples and things certainly that we teach and coach around. But that's my message to you. I'll keep it very simple. The law of diminishing intent. What is something that you are wanting to do that you know that if you do it, it's going to make your life and your business better, but you put it off. And the more you put it off, the less likely it is that you'll ever actually do it. So I just want to challenge you and I'd love to hear from you, too. There's something that you said. Okay, Brent, I heard you. And this is what I'm going to do. And I'm not going to wait until after, you know, 20 or in 2021 or six or eight weeks. I'm going to start today or I'm going to start certainly this week or next week, like right away. I'm going to plan and I'm going to at least get momentum. Because here's the last thing I'll say on this, too, is the fact that I think one of the frustrations is we think that we have to complete it all. You don't need to complete it all. You just got to get started. You got to get that momentum. Those small wins, right? Those little things that you do. Build some confidence. Don't go into 20, 21 or whatever next period of it is for you. Second quarter, third quarter, fourth quarter, with no momentum. The momentum starts today. Go create the momentum. One thing that I mentioned, John, Max before, one thing I love that he said in a live event I was at, is that you're either a momentum taker or a momentum make right. You're a momentum taker, a momentum maker. So go make some momentum and I wish you all the best in your success. Thanks for listening. And again last note I guess last two notes again check out our new program, our all inclusive model. We would love to see in your agency part of it again, no other. It's never been done before in the industry. We want an opportunity to really impact your entire agency at a very reasonable rate where you're going to 3x5x10x and I feel very confident saying that your return on your time and your return on your investment by being part of the all inclusive model. And also if this podcast has provided assistance and hope for you, always looking for more positive ratings, I'd much appreciate it. You can do that wherever you listen to this podcast. So again all the best and your success and I'll talk to you soon.