A few years ago, Karen became a “Top Ten” representative out of the several hundred agents at her financial services firm.  She received a certificate, a $15,000 bonus, and a great deal of attention from her peers.

A year later, she barely made it into the Top Thirty…

In January, Karen called me for help.  “I didn’t do anything differently this past year than I did the year before,” she told me.  “Maybe it’s the economy,” she continued, “’Cause it just seems like fewer and fewer people are saying ‘yes’ to me.”

“When you made the ‘Top Ten’ two years ago, were you consciously pursuing it?” I asked her.

“Well, no, actually,” she responded.  “I was totally surprised by it.”

“What were you focused on, then, that year?” I continued.

“I guess, my total focus was on helping as many people as I could in as many ways as I could,” she explained, with a note of pride in her voice.

“Well, did your focus change this past year?”

There was silence on the other end of the line.  After what seemed like minutes, Karen responded:

“I wanted to make it to the Top Ten again, and I guess my focus was on that, and not really on helping anyone,” she realized, “But would that really have made the difference?  I was helping people, either way!”

“There’s a way to find out,” I hinted.  “Start focusing again on helping as many people as you can in as many ways as you can, and see what happens.”

Karen called me a few weeks later to let me know she had already made it back into the Top Ten for the month, but that she was no longer focused on either getting there or staying there.  Her focus was, once again, on what got her into the Top Ten in the first place.

“But what about the economy?” I teased.

Karen laughed.  She knew that this had been a lame excuse for her slip from great standings to less-than-exceptional service.

Stop worrying about your standings, your income, or the number of cases you’re opening, and instead focus your energy as Karen has remembered to do: on serving.  If you do, you’ll undoubtedly find the personal success and satisfaction you’re after, no matter what your numbers are.

If you’re having trouble with your focus, contact me, and I’ll help you get back in [the front of the] line.  In the meantime, keep REACHING…