If you paid attention during history in school, you have undoubtedly heard of the Spanish Conquistador, Hernan Cortes. Cortes is credited with being one of the most influential explorers of his time. What many people don’t realize is that he was in an almost constant feud with the King of Spain. He often had to battle the indigenous people of the land he was claiming for the Spanish Crown and the troops that Spain sent to stop Cortes. It’s not my place to judge Cortes on his character or excuse the apparent atrocities that he inflicted while defeating both the Aztecs and Mayans. History has been both kind and brutal to Cortes as he is seen as either the conquering hero or the symbol of colonization gone wrong.

Instead of worrying about his place in history, I want to let you know about what he did when he first landed in what in the new world. In July of 1519 Cortes landed at Veracruz with the intention of conquering the interior of what is now Mexico for the Spanish throne. He faced fierce opposition from both the Mayans and the Aztecs. Cortes was so adamant that there be no possibility of retreat, he ordered his men to scuttle (destroy and sink) the fleet of ships they used to travel there. Ultimately he not only defeated the Mayans and Aztecs, but he also held off a much larger army sent by Diego Velazquez, the Governor of Cuba (appointed by the King of Spain) to stop him.

Many historians have looked at how Cortes and his men were able to overcome such insurmountable odds. Almost to a person they mention the scuttling of the ships as a major factor in the success of Cortes. If he and his men were unsuccessful they were probably going to die. They had no place to retreat to. There was no middle ground. Cortes had no plan B. Do you?

Over the last 17 years, I have recruited and trained over 2,000 Voluntary Benefit insurance agents. At just about every interview I have said something like, “A career in Voluntary Benefits is a horrible six-month experiment. You are going to find it is an incredible amount of work that oftentimes doesn’t pay off until weeks, months or sometimes even years after you first approach a business. I can’t have you dipping your big toe in this pool to see if you think you might want to go swimming. If you want to come on board, I need you to cannonball off the high dive.” What I am really saying to the potential new recruit is, “You can’t have a plan B.”  The following are signs you have a plan B. They are also signs that you probably aren’t going to join the 11% of new agents that survive their first two years.

 Signs You Have a Plan B

• Your resume is still active on careerbuilder.com.
• You have decided to take a part-time job to pay some bills.
• You aren’t reading at least one book on sales every month.
• You are spending time in the middle of the day working on non-sales activities.
• You are waiting to approach your friends and best leads until you are more polished/knowledgable.
• You don’t wake up each day with a plan on how you are going to attack the day.
• You aren’t spending evening hours studying your products.
• You are waiting for your manager to train you. (Read Your Manager Sucks at Training.)
• You believe that success is dependent on anything other than your hard work.
• You have blamed anyone or anything other than yourself for your lack of results.
• You believe that somehow next month will be better just because time has passed.
• Your spouse or significant other has mentioned to you recently that you need to go get a real job and you didn’t have a way to defend yourself.

Conclusion: Until you fully commit to this being your LAST career, you have no chance for success. Are you involved in your Voluntary Benefits career or are you committed. Think of this way: When it comes to breakfast, the chicken was involved in making breakfast. The pig was committed.

Question: How committed are you to this being your LAST career? Draw a line in the sand today. Leave a pledge to yourself and the world by commenting in the box below!