Life Lessons

 It's been a while since my last post. And much has transpired with my "Journey Into Insurance" during that time. I won't bore you with all of the details, but I would like to touch on just a few of the lessons I've learned along the way. (I think I already knew some of these, but just let my guard down.)

• Promises are only as good as the people who make them. You know that old adage that "talk is cheep"? Well, that one is very true. Sometimes in the business world, people, or companies tell us things that they are going to do for us. This does not always mean that they will keep those promises. And this leads us into the next lesson.
• Get it in writing. So, when it comes to promises, or agreements, get them in writing. The more detail, the better. People tend to follow through with promises much better when there is something written down. And trust me, if there is nothing written down, people can have "convenient memories" regarding what was said or agreed to. So, remember, those promises are only as good as the paper they are written on.
• Every rose has it's thorn. Even the best situation will have a "down side". Always! Now that down side could be in the form of some aspect of the physical environment, psychological environment, or the procedural environment. In other words, the place, people or product. But every situation will have some negative "issue", somewhere. The building might smell bad, look bad, or be in a bad location. Or, all of the above. There might be a difficult person, or two, or more, and this can create an uncomfortable environment. Or there might just be something negative about some portion of the "products" your dealing with. Regardless, every situation will have at least one issue with one of these areas or more.
• The grass is not always greener. Sometimes the grass on the other side of the fence looks greener because it is just a mirage. Sometimes the grass looks greener because it is fake. Sometimes the grass looks greener because you're just not close enough to see the truth. And sometimes they change the color of the grass after you jump the fence. So be careful, check the grass thoroughly before jumping the fence. (This applies to many things. Think about it.)
• Nothing is for certain. There are no guarantees in life. None. No industry is the same as it was 30 years ago. Heck, some of the industries today didn't even exist 30 years ago. The environment can change, the weather can change, your health can change, your job can change and all in the blink of an eye. Nothing stays the same. We must be ready for things to change. We must be prepared for change.

 Now, this is all good stuff. But some of you may disagree with my "wisdom" here. And that's ok, you can live in a dream world if you want to. But the reality is that these things are true in many aspects of our lives. We need to be prepared for change and ready to jump in with both feet. Our homes, our careers, our friends, and our families will go through many changes. Change can be good. Change can be difficult. But change is inevitable.

 Be careful who you trust, get it in writing, accept that there will be some thorns, check the grass thoroughly before jumping, and always be prepared for change!