Exam Info

Dealing With Change

We often hear that "no one likes change."

While I'm not sure that's true (I think I'm a big exception), let's go with it for a minute. Change is going to happen, and we need to learn to deal with it.

For examiners, change is a fact of life. If you do this full-time (and even for part-timers), every day is different. You see different people, for different companies, for different agents, at different times, and different places.

So even if you think you don't like change, the reality is that you deal with it every day of your life. And if you can embrace change, even relish change, you'll find that it can make your life better, easier, and even make more money.

Here's an example. You've been with a company, maybe one of the big 4, for a while. You know the manager, know how their system operates, know how to order supplies, even know the office staff.

Going independent means a whole learning curve to master. You have to learn all of the above "stuff" from scratch.

And there are fears. Will I get paid on time? What if I'm dealing with unscrupulous people who don't pay me at all? Will I be making a huge mistake? Will I be able to go back, if being independent doesn't work?

I think it's good to face fear. Facing it, even grabbing hold of it, often lets us realize that the things we fear are not as bad as we thought.

Ask yourself: What's the worst thing that could happen in this situation? Think about that for a few minutes. Writing it down helps, too. Get a piece of paper (or open a new page on your computer) and start writing. List every bad thing that could happen to you in whatever new situation we're dealing with.

We'll talk more about the fear tomorrow.

posted by Jim Huffman @ 12:43 PM