by Gene Strother, President of Adjust U
Every day, people Google, “How do I become an insurance adjuster.” In .39 seconds, Google renders 3,480,000 results. My question for the prospective adjuster is this: do you want to be a claims adjuster or do you want to be a great claims adjuster? Do you want to participate or do you want to dominate? Do you want to earn a living or do you want to make a killing?
Do you think Tom Brady would be satisfied to Google, “How do I become an NFL quarterback?” Or, would he more likely Google, “How do I become the greatest NFL quarterback ever?” Was Babe Ruth satisfied to hit a Major League pitch or did he want to crush it?
Everyone wants to excel but few will
I found this meme the other day. It shows two sign-up booths. The first one has a sign that reads, “HUNGRY TO WIN.” A long line of people waits to sign up at that booth. The guy working that booth is smiling and busy signing up people.
The second booth’s sign reads, “HUNGRY TO DO WHAT WINNING REQUIRES.”
The guy working the second booth has his chin resting on his hand, looking bored and sad.
I speak to hundreds of prospective adjusters every year. In almost all of their eyes, I see stars. I see the dreamy-eyed hope of making tons of “easy money” in many. In a few, however, I see something else. I see a hunger, a passion, and a commitment to training to become a successful claims adjuster. They understand that, as in every endeavor, you have to outwork others if you want to be at the pinnacle of your profession.
I immediately thought of the famous quote by the legendary Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi: “Winning is not a sometime thing; it’s an all-the-time thing. You don’t win once in a while…you don’t do things right once in a while…you do them right all the time. Winning is a habit.”
Winning is not a sometime thing; it’s an all-the-time thing. You don’t win once in a while…you don’t do things right once in a while…you do them right all the time. Winning is a habit.
Vince Lombardi
“Winning is a habit.”
With that, I transition to what I really want to work on here…
Old habits die hard
Habits, whether good or bad, are hard to break. Entire industries are built on the desire and inability to kick old habits, whether it is smoking, or drinking, to excess, or anger management for those who cannot keep from “flying off the handle.”
Just like “bad” habits, good habits are also tenacious. My grandfather was a cotton farmer until he was 40, at which time he left the farm and entered the pulpit to become a Baptist minister. As a farmer, he was in bed early and up at the crack of dawn to begin a hard day’s work. He was the same as a minister. He carried those habits to his grave. My father never touched a meal until he had offered thanks. He didn’t even have to think about it. It was a habit. I, too, am a creature of habit – and a forgetful one if I break habit. Every evening, I put my car keys, wallet, and wedding ring in the same place. Every morning, I retrieve them from there. On the odd occasion when my routine is thrown off, you can bet I will forget one of them or desperately search for all of them.
Habits take time to form, but when formed, they are tenacious. So, make sure your habits are good for you and good to you.
You are what your habits say you are
American historian and philosopher Will Durant said, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”
Will Durant
Stop asking, “How do I become an insurance claims adjuster.”
The answer to that question is easy: Get your license and get yourself hired. Voila! You are an adjuster.
Start asking, instead, how you can become an excellent insurance adjuster, and how you can stand out (in a good way) in a competitive but rewarding and lucrative industry. Ask that! Hurricanes are littered with the broken hearts and dashed hopes of the dreamy-eyed hopefuls who found themselves ill-prepared for success in the demanding field of insurance claims adjusting. Do not be a casualty of a storm. You can be a hero. You can be a difference-maker…if you are prepared. Begin with getting the proper instruction and guidance from industry insiders who are prepared to share their knowledge and their hearts with you. People like Jonathan Rice.
Start forming the habits of success now. If you are an aspiring field adjuster, check out this article. Desk adjuster, check out this one.
Follow this path to form good claims adjuster habits:
- Begin with a quality education. It makes a difference from whom you learn because what you learn will be directed and determined by them.
- Seek worthy mentors. Don’t hitch your wagon to a sourpuss or malcontent. They will only regurgitate the same practices and habits that have brought them to a place of disillusion. Find one who is happy to be an adjuster, who is proud to be an adjuster. Glean from them. Soak up their spirit and their knowledge.
- Learn what you learn. Don’t just study for the Texas license test. This is not like some public school education. We are not teaching to the test; we are preparing you for the real test that begins after you get that certificate, that license.
- Live what you learn. Eat it. Breathe it. Sleep it. Live it until it becomes second nature until it becomes the way you do, the way you are…your habits.
- Pass it on. The happiest people I have ever known are the ones who invest in others. The most miserable and least successful are the self-absorbed, the ones wound up like an enchilada around their own misery. Give! Give and it will be given back to you.
Samuel Johnson, one of the most important figures in the history of English literature, and the creator of the first real English dictionary, offered my favorite quote on habits. He said, “The chains of habit are too weak to be felt until they are too strong to be broken.”
The chains of habit are too weak to be felt until they are too strong to be broken.
Samuel Johnson
I look forward to hearing from you along your road to success. Email me here.