Success is the Best Revenge

I was 32 years old, had just relocated to my childhood home of Youngstown, Ohio, married 9 years and the father of two young children; Lindsay who was 22 months old and Tony who was 8 months old. The first Gulf War had just ended and I was a brand new civilian who had just separated from a promising 9 year career as an Air Force officer.

It was my first day of work as an account executive, or agent, with one of the largest life insurance companies in the country. I had never sold a thing in my life, but then at my age, most things were still new to me anyway. From career soldier to insurance salesman; it was a very uncertain time for me and my family.

Part of my introduction into the company was a quick tour of the branch office I was to work out of while selling life, health, investments and auto and homeowners insurance. It was a bland office, very sterile; not a stylish place at all. It was the kind of office that you would expect work to get done…There was no time for anything else at this place.

There were 5-6 smaller interior offices reserved for the top producers in the branch and approximately 15 cubicles for those who have yet to earn that distinction. My cubicle was in the back.

I was being introduced to the staff when one agent, who was young and a recognized top producer, took the opportunity to pull me aside in order to share with me some friendly advice about the insurance business. This is what he said:

“You’re number 41.”
I said, “Excuse me?”
He said again, “You’re number 41. I’ve seen 40 come and 40 go.”
“You’re number 41.”

My response back to him can’t be published. Afterward, I walked to my cubicle thinking about what had just happened and I took a piece of paper from out of the desk and wrote on it, #41. Then I pinned it to the cubicle wall.

Every time I sat in my cubicle to print a proposal, work up a quote or use my phone, I saw that piece of paper and could hear that guy say, You’re number 41. It made me angry.

Six months later, I was accepting the company’s award for top producer in sales. In less than a year, I had out-produced hundreds and hundreds of agents, some with as much as 40 years of sales experience to their credit.

There were a lot of reasons why I was able to accomplish what I did in such a short time. I had planned out each work day, kept my focus on executing my marketing plan; scripted out my sales conversations and tracked all my sales and made sure nothing got hung up in underwriting.

I also had a great manager for whom I will ever be indebted to for his guidance, encouragement and solid sales training. He was instrumental in making my introduction into the industry a positive experience, and he took the time to share with me the benefit of his years of sales experience and expertise.

But the person I am most grateful to is the agent who branded me, number 41. Because of him, I was inspired to succeed and not fail. In life, there will always be people who tell you what you can and can’t do…They will try to limit you in what you can accomplish by the words they use. They are negative people; small minded individuals you will want to stay away from or else you might begin believing what they say.

And there will always be personal doubts and circumstances that plague us from time-to-time; questioning our own abilities to succeed and achieve things. It’s a struggle against the environmental forces of life on the outside that tell us we won’t succeed, and the personal doubts about our own abilities to succeed that most people quietly harbor inside. It’s a normal part of the human condition.

The lesson I learned; you can choose to accept the estimates negative people make of you or you can choose to prove them wrong. You can let that quiet, small voice that causes you doubt about your chances to succeed convince you that it is true, or, you can put it to rest and muzzle it for good by staying focused on your goal and accomplishing what you set out to accomplish.

I despised the agent who called me, number 41. I despised him for what he said and thought of me as a person. But, I despised him even more for the fact that he may be right; that he may have validated my own self-doubts about my potential for success as an agent. I could have gotten revenge against that guy in a lot of different ways, and that would have been wrong. Instead, it was my success as an agent that was ultimately the best revenge...and it was one of the best lessons in life I could have ever learned.

Success is the best revenge. It quiets your critics and proves them wrong about their low opinion of your capabilities…and it puts steel in your resolve to achieve things in the future.

What about you? You may not have someone telling you that success is reserved for others and not you. But if you are like most people, you probably struggle with some degree of self-doubt. Whatever your situation may be, are you getting your revenge? Are you muzzling the quiet voice inside of you that says, you can’t do it?

Don’t live with the weight of doubt and criticism about your chances to succeed. Silence the critics…especially those in your own mind. Refuse to succumb to estimates and predictions of your failure. Get your revenge…make your success. It is the best revenge of all.

By the way, after I was awarded the distinction of salesman of the year by the company, I was granted a private office within the branch for being a top producer. The office I was offered was that of the agent who called me, number 41.

Success is the Best Revenge. There is nothing like it!

Copyright © 2009 - Tony Cefalu