I Used To Sell Life Insurance, But I Myself Didn’t Have Any Life Insurance.
“I learned that before pointing the finger at others, I had to first point the finger at myself.”
In 2006 once I graduated from the University of Georgia, I took a personal training job at the Omni Gym in Athens, GA. Wanting to get the hell out of Athens and move to Atlanta to enjoy city life, I quit my job at the gym and took on a job with a company called Aflac. The position was 100% commission so if I didn’t sell I didn’t eat. Also, the company offered neither a car package nor insurance benefits. I was in no hurry to get any insurance. At the time I was 24 years old and I thought that I was invincible. I didn’t see the value of having any type of health or life insurance policy. Of course, I had car insurance because it was mandatory to have in order to drive, but I had no policies on myself. I have been pulled over before with no car insurance, but I guess the police officer was having a great day so he let me go. I have had friends who have been pulled over without insurance and had their cars towed and they were arrested. I did not want to play Russian roulette with the police when it came to my car insurance but had no problem playing Russian roulette with my health and my future legacy when it came to the lack of health and life insurance
I would go into appointments and preach the importance of having a life insurance policy, cancer policy, or accident policy, but I myself did not have any of these policies. I was a whole hypocrite. The majority of life and health insurance agents, especially the ones who are 1099 or independent contractors, do not have insurance. The majority of insurance agents lie about what they earn. Many are just making it. They do not have insurance, for many cannot take on the additional cost of insurance.
In 2007 I finished as the #1 rep in life insurance sales for Aflac in the state of Georgia. The man with no life insurance policy ended up being # 1 in selling life insurance policies. The irony. But I worked my ass off and the title of being #1 was well deserved. Is it unethical to sell insurance and you yourself not have insurance? I would say it’s very grey. Nowhere in the rule book is it mandatory, but it is wrong. It is unethical to lead customers in a certain direction, but you yourself will not go in that direction. In retrospect, being an adult without any health or life insurance was and is irresponsible. My priorities were misplaced for I had plenty of money to spend on the weekend, but no money to put towards protecting my future generations and legacy.
I have spoken about this before. I have criticized people for buying Jordans but I have a pair of Jordans. Actually, I’m giving my Jordans to my cousin as a graduation gift. Even in that, I would have rather bought him a plot of land in Nigeria than the Jordans. I have been pushing a movement that encourages buying land in Africa over buying Jordan’s in America. I have spent thousands on Italian designers, the same designers who I criticized for having a lack of black representation on their runways. I have learned to not be so judgemental. It took me a while to get to this point. But through life experience and personal growth, I am finally here. As my friend once told me, “Who are you too judge for you will also be judged.”
We are not perfect. We all have internal demons and issues. A lot of times the faults that we see in others are nothing more than the faults in ourselves. That imperfect person is nothing more than a mere reflection of you. I have had my problems in the past with projecting. What do I mean by projecting? I would openly criticize others and tear them down, cut them down with my tongue, but this was me simply projecting the problems that I was struggling with inside. I would reprimand others, when in reality I needed to go into isolation and reprimand myself.
I had to learn that before pointing the finger at others, I had to first point the finger at myself. It’s called holding yourself accountable and it takes a certain maturity level to do so. It takes a humble man or woman to admit when they are wrong. I love this quote, “When does a man become man, when he quickens to correct his mistakes.” Now, the 38 year old Dynast Amir makes sure that before he sells a product or service that him himself has tried it or currently owns it, for it is the honorable thing to do.
