9 Jan 2017 · 7 min
Brent Kelly argues you don't need to know how before you start. He cites the Wright brothers and Jeff Bezos as examples of people who figured it out by doing, not planning. Your job is to act; the learning comes after.
If you're an agency leader or a producer and you've ever been stuck on something and weren't able to take the next step because you didn't know what or how to do something, I think you'll find great value in today's bizgrow. Hey there. This is Brent Kelly of Biz Griz with another Biz Growl daily podcast. Well, if you don't know me very well, there's a few things you should know about me, right? I like to inspire people. I like to. Like to see that the light bulbs go off. I like to challenge the norm. And I like. Well, I probably love this. I like to push buttons. I like to make people think differently. And let me just say this. Way too many insurance agencies and insurance producers in particular, are stuck in the comfort zone. When I train and speak with insurance agencies, I push them to do things that they haven't done before. And we often discuss new ideas. We challenge traditional ways of doing business. And what I found is this. There's this initial excitement, right? Like, yeah, we're going to do this. And it's quickly followed by the deer in the headlights expression on their face. And it's in its expression of fear. And why is that? Why do people get excited and then all of a sudden get the deer in the headlights fear look? It's. This is why. Because although they may agree, the people I'm working with, that changes need to be made, and they believe in the vision of what those changes will give their agency, and they don't exactly know how they're going to do it. Now, I recently listened to a speaker and one of my favorite mentors. His name is Paul Martinelli. And he discussed goal setting. And he said something that was absolutely music to my ears. And if you face uncertainty in your business, in your life, this will bring you comfort. And this is what he said. He said, you don't have to know how, you don't have to know how. See, insurance agencies and producers get frozen in the how. I hear statements all the time. Things like, you know, we should grow our digital presence, but we don't know how to do it. We really need to attract and train really good young producers, but we really don't know how. We know that the consumer has changed and is changing, and we need new methods, but not really sure how we'll go about that, right? And all too often, that's where the conversation actually ends. See, here's the thing. Nobody knows how to do anything until they actually do it. The greatest business successes have come from those companies that didn't let the how stop them. See, understand this. Until you actually try anything, at best, it's an educated guess, right? Until you try something. Up until that point, it's an educated guess. If you don't believe me, here's some business examples to think about. See, the Wright brothers didn't know how to fly a plane. There was no instruction manual, but they did it. Jeff Bezos of Amazon, he didn't know how to sell books online, didn't exist yet. Guess what? He did it. I can just tell you in my own personal life, from a smaller scale, I didn't know how to start a coaching and speaking business, but I wanted to do it and I did it. Here's the thing. You learn by taking action, not by talking about why it might work. You've probably heard the phrase, if the why is big enough, the how doesn't matter. If the why is big enough, the how doesn't matter. I think there's a lot of truth to that statement, because when you want something bad enough, you'll figure out a way to make it happen again. This is what Paul said to me, says you don't have to know how, you just have to know how to get it right. This is so true. If I'm talking to an insurance producer and they have a goal of something they want to hit, well, I don't know how I'm going to do that. I say, listen, if your life depended on it, would you figure out a way how to do it? Oh, yeah, that I would. Right. Because the why is big enough. Successful people in businesses that make significant positive changes, they don't succeed because they had a roadmap in front of them. Right? You know why they succeed? They succeed because nothing will get in their way. John Maxwell says this. He says the number one catalyst to change is action. So if you are hesitant to make a change, I plead with you. I offer you this one piece of. One piece of advice. I gave it away. You take action, right? If you're hesitant to make a change, you don't know how you're going to do something. Guess what? Just do something. Just do it now. Understand this, though. I'm not advising you to be impulsive and act without thought. I'm suggesting that if you just wait for the perfect solution or the guarantee of how, how this will, how this change will be made, you're never going to start. I'll start, Brent. As long as I know how the end's going to be, then I'll get started in this. This new thing that I'm going to try, this new way of doing business or this better, you know, whatever it may be, if you could guarantee me, Brent, that this is going to work out at the end, then I'll do it. Well, it doesn't work that way. When you take action, you'll likely suffer some bumps and bruises along the way. That's just the reality. But that's how you innovate. That's how you lead, and that's how you learn. So instead of spending so much time worrying about how you will make these changes, spend time making them. Thanks for listening to today's daily Biz Growl podcast again. My name is Brent Kelly of bizgris. All right. If you are ready to have someone challenge your thinking and partner with you to take your business and your life to new heights, I got some pretty good news. If you're open to this, I'm accepting two more private coaching clients for 2017. Here's the deal. I don't accept everyone. I really don't. In fact, I turn many people away as I only want to work with leaders and producers who desire real change and growth that are willing to invest not just their time, not just their money, but their energy and passion into becoming better. But here's the thing. If you're willing to give your best, I promise I'll give you mine. And together, we can achieve some amazing things. So go to my website@brentmkelly.com or bizgris.com and learn about the Peak Performance coaching program. Hey, thanks again. And until next time, remember, go face your grizzly.
