Thinking A Bit Clearer Now

I've been really frustrated trying to figure out what to do next.  When I first stopped teaching, I immediately picked up the phone and tried to make insurance sales.  I also signed with a group company so I could have someone local to help me.  My "help" wanted me to work in a phone bank 40 minutes away from my house, and it was difficult to make the drive.  I also found out very quickly that I really HATE cold calling.

I started to get some referrals from local property and casualty seeds I had planted earlier in the year, but when I tried to get help from my general agent for individual sales, no one would return my calls.  I felt stranded.  Even when I could hot leads, I didn't know how to efficiently work with them.  I was days away from giving up on the business when I saw something listed under one of the franchise ideas.

I went a little nuts last night debating whether or not I should continue in the business with this "new help."  Then I went more nuts trying to figure out why I was having so much trouble deciding what I wanted to do.  I've been working for 20 years now but I've got another 27 or so years left.  I was really beating myself up for being interested in so many areas and not having "one passion."

I picked up one of my books again, this one screamed my name from the clearance section of Half Price Books.  The title is I Could Do Anything If I Only Knew What It Was but it might as well have been called "Brenda, Read This!" I got to chapter 6 yesterday just as I was feeling bad about myself for not having any clear goals. The title of the chapter convinced me someone was sending me a message: "I Want Too Many Things; I'm All Over the Map"

It was this chapter that has really helped me take a breath and release my stress.  According to chapter 6, there is a reason I don't know what I want to be when i grow up.  I have a title! I'm what this author calls a scanner.  It's wonderful to have a title!  This new title of scanner even explains why (as I blogged yesterday) my aptitude test came out with no highs and lows. 

Smith and Sher describe me to a T on page 102: 

Scanners want to taste everything.  They love to learn about the structure of a flower, and they love to learn about the theory of music. And the adventures of travel.  And the tangle of politics.  To scanners, the universe is a treasure house full of a million works of art and life is hardly long enough to see them all. 

They go on to say:

If you're a scanner, you have extraordinarily special and valuable skills.  You love what is new, you don't suffer from fear and indecisiveness.  You're highly adaptable to new cultures you're so flexible you can turn on a dime.  You're a lightening-fast learner, curious about anything you don't already understand; you like and respect all kinds of thinking.  Although you may be unwilling to dedicate yourself to one path, you don't lack discipline or have a low IQ.  On the contrary, you're dedicated to learning all that you can, and you're intelligent enough to delight in all that you learn.

After they told me what I was, they told me how to deal.  The book had me list out ten "lives" and then place them into areas of my life.  I felt so good, I knew what to do!  I can still write and act, but my main source of income is going to be from educating people about insurance.

I signed up with my new general agent this afternoon.  I've already attended one web seminar and I'm going to work one on one with my general agent tomorrow afternoon.  I know I'll still be making some cold calls, but I also know its only one small part of my entire new life.  I'm sooo excited!