What’s Holding You Back? It’s Time to Set Your Self Free!

I am now an insurance man

Recently, I attended a two-day intensive seminar on life insurance customized for professionals who want to get a license as underwriter and sales agent of life insurance. In the morning of the second day, I took the exam in IIAP Makati and passed the licensure exam of Insurance Commission with a rating of 96%. With so high an expectation, I was a bit disappointed for not getting a perfect score because my mentor was so good... and charming too! (Well, her name speaks much about her looks—Charmaine). The name of the company that sponsored me is First Life Insurance. People in First Life were so nice and accommodating. They call themselves FirstLifers.

I got myself in with the company through a friend and previous officemate who invited me to try the rewarding passive income opportunity that insurance business offers for enterprising professionals. Thanks to my friend, Arnold Manapat, I am now a licensed insurance underwriter, agent and practitioner. Another feather on my cap, huh! But more than that, I consider it as another goldmine of opportunity. I can build a business empire out of it and make it a vehicle for attaining financial security for myself and my family.

Every time I brag about this new accomplishment to my associates, colleagues and friends, they would usually raise their eyebrows and ask: why do you have to add another source of income stream for yourself? You are already doing fine as an officer of your company, you have training consultancy jobs on the side, you are into real estate selling and network marketing as well, so why add another business line in your portfolio? That’s so much headache and time constraint to handle. How can you afford to manage all of those “rackets”? My answer is short, sweet and simple: WHY NOT? And as to the HOW, here’s my personal experience and philosophy that will explain it all.

What will you do if you don’t have a choice?
My extraordinary work experience at a very young age made me a success conscious person. I got married at the age of 21 before I even graduated from college. I was forced to look for a high paying job right after my graduation in 1998 because I needed to start a family of my own all by myself. I landed on a sales and marketing field work offering VIP cards to households and offices, walking all day long under the heat of the sun, getting soakingly wet under heavy rains, making do of skyflakes and softdrinks for a meager lunch wherever and whenever hunger and thirst strike.

Part of my unforgettable experience was the sight of a big mad dog, with its furious eyes and growling teeth, running towards me as I opened the gate of a prospect’s house. It was terrifying. Another irritating yet funny experience I had was being caught by a guard on duty inside an office while offering discount cards to employees during office hours. With a visitor’s ID pinned on my chest, the guard was literally driving me away out of the office premises as if I were a robbery suspect. Oh, boy! It was really humiliating.

Having all these experiences, plus the daily challenge to convert a hard sales pitch into a successful closing, made me a tougher and wiser salesman every day. One powerful belief I learned that helped me overcome every obstacle that stood my way was this: I became a salesman because I may have no choice, but there’s one thing I can choose to do despite of and in spite of anything—I can choose to be the best salesperson in the field. That was once source of power that no one can take away from me.

Will Power and Focus
Every person has the capacity to become successful regardless of his status in life. Whatever we do in life and whatever we want to accomplish, we can always make it possible as long as we want it. We can make things happen by focussing intensely on the reason why we need to do it. This is the very principle that makes a laser work – FOCUS. A laser focus comes from a strong will. My selling experience which started at a very young age shaped the foundation of my strong will power which helped me accomplished important goals in life. Will power is human being’s mental faculty that heats up every desire and turn it into a red hot burning energy that fires up human spirit. Will power provides the ”WHY” in every human endeavour. When the WHY is big enough the HOW becomes easy! A very clear and concrete alignment between the WHY and the HOW makes one a zero-limit person. This personal belief and philosophy is at the core of my consciousness about success.

Empowering vs. Disempowering Beliefs
Over the years and through the seminars I conduct, I have met several people who believe that they no longer have the chance and capacity to become better most specially in their financial status. Every time I ask them about their goals and wants in life, they have so much to share but they feel so helpless about how they can achieve them. So I tell them this. “Congratulations for having a goal and sticking to your dreams. But let me ask you this million peso question: What is preventing you from achieving them? What is holding you back from pursuing your dreams?”

It’s no longer surprising to hear them answer this way:

“Sir, I am already too old for this kind of job.” (Excuse made by an old fellow)

“How can I do that? I don’t have enough experience.” (Reason from a young professional)

“Sir, I really want to but I don’t have the money and other resources to pursue it.” (Justification from a willing person but lacks capital)

“You can rightfully say that because you are lucky to have finished a college degree and you have the right skills needed for the job. But how about me? I am only a high scholl graduate from the province and all I know is to cook, clean the house and take care of my kids.” (A seemingly valid reason from a complaining housewife)

Here’s a very compelling argument from a student who just graduated from college. Expressing his angst with strong sarcasm (his frustration about not getting a job after several application attempts must have something to do with it), he raised his voice like an anti cha-cha protester in Mendiola and said: “Sir, I really want to become successful but what else can I do? I was born poor. My parents are poor. I went to a school for the poor. I am living poor. How can I have the opportunity to become rich?”

I pity them for their answers, not because of their seeming hopeless status in life, but the real hopelessness of their mindset and the overpowering negative beliefs that are keeping them poor in spirit. They are so overwhelmed by what they believe is true. Subconsciously, this results to a paradigm that causes mental and physical paralysis that keeps them from moving forward and pursuing greater opportunities in life. They are held hostage by their own disempowering beliefs.

What’s the real problem?
This is what I told them. You know, I really want to help you but I can’t because the real problem is within you. Therefore, the solution also lies in you. What I can only do is inspire you. The real problem is this: What is holding you back is not what you think you are, but what you think you are not. What is keeping you from achieving your dreams are not the things that you already have but the things you think you lack of and you are not capable of doing. That explains why most people were already told and taught what to do, but they do not do it. Jack Canfield said: “The real problem is not knowing what to do, the real problem is knowing why we don’t do it.”


The Truth Shall Set You Free
My friends, the saying “The truth shall set you free,” has a profound meaning that we need to take seriously. Everything starts from awareness. But for awareness to take place we must be open first and willing to learn. Becoming aware of the things or beliefs that were ingrained in our subconscious mind and how they put limits to our human capacity is a very significant self-liberating experience that will bring us to the right path. This is what is truly meant by the saying ‘real change comes from within.’ Most people are so serious about changing their results or the outside but they refuse to change the way they think or the inside. What is holding you back is inside you. What will set you free is also you.

I had the same self-liberating experience few years back. When I was 25 (that was 8 years ago but I still have the same looks and energy today...!!!) I made a promise to myself to become a millionaire in 5 years time. When I reached the age of 30, the opposite happened. I became broke. My three credit cards were all ridden with debt. Every time the phone rings in my office, I have a ready answer to the caller who looks for me in the other line. “I’m sorry he already resigned. We know nothing about his whereabouts now.” Of course I faked my voice so that the collector will not recognize me. It was a scary moment. The thought of it even haunted me in my dreams. I got mad with the situation...really, really mad! I asked myself: “Why is this happening to me? I have the best intention in life, for myself and my family, but how come life is so hard on me? What’s wrong with me?”

That last statement was stunning. It struck my internal system. There’s something wrong with me! It works like a virus that corrupts my operating system. Nothing better will happen unless this wrong is corrected. With this awareness came the realization that if the problem is in me or with me, I, therefore hold the solution. I am the key! That was the start of my self-liberation. It helped unleash the great potential in me.

The WHY is the key
I am a YES man! I exploit every opportunity that comes my way. I live with the principle that success happens when opportunity and preparedness meet. I can do and pursue several things at a given time because I do believe I am a zero-limit person. From being a hands-on father to three lovely daughters, a loving husband to my sexy and beautiful wife, a full-time employee with a key position as a junior executive, a training consultant for several marketing companies, a head of my own sales and marketing division in real estate, a network marketer, a motivational speaker, and now a licensed insurance man, all these I can do because I refuse to put a limit to myself. I assert that I am a free man, and free man that I am, I am exercising my birthright to use my freedom—echoe of William Wallace’s dialogue in the movie Braveheart.

So, what’s holding you back? If nothing, why are you not doing the things you know you are suppose to do? Remember, the WHY is more important than the WHAT. Find it in your heart. Once you discover it, the HOW will follow. It’s time to set yourself free!

May all our dreams come true.

JUN PRILA

JUN PRILA is a self-proclaimed EMPRENEUR (employee-entrepreneur), a futurist and success motivator with more than 1O years of solid sales and corporate training experience. He is an Assistant Vice President for Training and Sales Support Services of a major real estate industry player and a training consultant for MegaEast Properties (Sta Lucia) and Global Homes Realty Corp. He is known as “MR. ENERGY” of training because of his energy-filled and high impact training performance style that makes his participants scream and stand on their feet. For more information and training inquiries, call Tel No. 02-6873466 or Mobile 0922-3930361.