Productivity eludes most insurance professionals. Why? They lack focus and discipline.

Yet, it’s your routines outside of work that will determine how successful you are in your career. It’s on you to show up every day and this episode will help you develop the right routine to stay consistent and focused week in week out.

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Video Transcript:

This transcript was auto-generated. Please excuse any typos or grammatical errors.

Hey, Hey. Welcome back to bullpen sessions. My name is Andy NEARY, and this is episode 254. Today, you are going to learn four routines that can help you stay hyper productive every single day. Now, before we get into today’s episode, as you know, I do not take on sponsors, but I do want to let you know if you are one of my insurance professionals listening in today.

Number one. Thank you for taking the time to tune in. If you have any peers or teammates in the industry that you know could benefit from this podcast. All I ask is that you share with them because this is how we grow our audience. This is how we get more insurance professionals get the content they need so they can build the business they deserve.

So please share this with peers and teammates. I would be very grateful for you to do that. So let’s dive into today’s episode for routines that you can follow to make sure you stay hyper productive every single day. What I am going to share with you today are four routines I follow every day that make sure I show up as my best every single day.

Monday through Friday. I am somebody who views what I do, kind of like an athlete. I never want to leave it. I never want to end the day feeling like I didn’t leave it all on the field. You think about some of the athletes we know in pro pro sports who have been accused of taking plays off, right?

I don’t want that. I don’t ever want to be accused of taking plays off. Now, what I share today, I’m not saying you have to do I’m not saying they’re going to be a fit for you, but I am going to share these in hopes that what I share with you maybe generate some ideas for how you could leverage something similar.

But before I dive into those four routines, I follow, let’s talk about where you might be struggling today as this episode airs mid to late September here. Q4 is right around the corner and it’s a quarter filled with a lot of stress, a lot of chaos for many insurance professionals. Right. Because if you manage a book a business, you’re probably renewing the majority of your book over the next three months.

I see a lot of agencies who take this all hands on deck approach with their renewals, especially their larger renewals. And it just it just creates an environment of chaos every day within the office. And I see far too many insurance professionals showing up every day without a game plan in the queue for their living and dying by their inbox.

You know, how many you might be guilty of having that inbox sit open all day with that ping, that ding that notifies you you have a new email. It’s kind of like Pavlov’s dogs, You know, ding. You look up every single time you’ve got this new email and instead of being productive, you are just answering one new email after another, letting other people’s priorities become your own.

And all of a sudden, before you know it, you’re in mid-November or late November and you’re not quite sure what you got done. Maybe you’ve renewed your business, which is great, but you’ve done nothing to continue growing your business, especially if you’re a producer who is responsible to go out and sell stuff. So that’s what I want to help solve today.

If you feel like you lack a little clarity around how to plan effective weeks, days and how to show up productive every single day, this is going to be a great episode for you. Now, a few episodes back, I did talk about how to plan a productive week three time management tips. That’s not what this is about. This is actually an offshoot of that prior episode that I think is going to give you a lot of clarity on how to make sure you show up as your best.

Because here’s what I encourage you are. Here’s what I want for you. I want you to be able to walk away from every day. I want you to be able to close your door every day, feeling proud that you left it all on the field. Feeling like you were focused, though you are probably juggling multiple priorities that you were able to get to them.

I don’t want you feeling like you’re just waking up and showing up every day and letting the day take you where it will. So what I want to share with you is just some daily rituals and routines that I use every day to make sure that no matter what is on my calendar, I’m going to show up as my best shot and I’m going to leave it all on the field that day to make sure I was as productive as I could possibly be.

Now, this is not a case or not a call to overwork yourself. I’m not going to tell you that you need to be working 18 hours a day. None of that shit. That’s not what I’m talking about. I’m just talking about some simple routines that I live by that help me make sure I’m putting myself in the position to win.

Because here’s how I view myself when I show up. As the founder of Complete Game Consulting, I view myself like an athlete, just like I did when I was playing pro baseball. What do I have to do to take care of myself off the field so that I show up at my best on it? So this is where I want you to start.

Even if you have a sports background or you don’t, does it matter? I want you to start thinking of yourself like an athlete. Like, what do I have to do off the field that’s going to make me perform on it? You know, when I was playing baseball, standing on the pitcher’s mound and throwing strikes and getting ahead of the batters and getting outs, people view that as your job as a pitcher.

However, that’s only a small fraction of it. It’s all the work you’re putting in when no one’s watching that allows you to show up on the pitcher’s mound and throw the strikes and get the outs. That’s the natural byproduct. And if you put in all the work off the field, yet you can’t get your job done on it.

It might just be a lack of skill set. You just aren’t talented enough to get the job done but not going to go there. What I want to use today’s episode to do is share with you a couple of things you could be doing off the field that make sure you are performing on it. So let’s let’s dive in.

The first routine that I have really started leveraging and I’ve done so religiously for the past 4 to 5 years is how I plan my my days and my weeks. And these four things I’m sharing. These routines are non-negotiables in my life. I don’t care what I’m doing, where I’m at if we’re traveling or not, we’re on vacation or not.

These get done. The first one is how I plan my weeks and my days. You know, go back and listen to that previous episode. I went in-depth on how I plan my weeks and days, so I’m not going to spend a lot of time in this episode going into details. However, what I am going to share with you is you have to make sure this is just a natural part of your routine.

So for me, planning a week happens every Sunday morning no matter where I am or what I’m doing. Sometimes if I’m feeling a little eager, I might get it done on a Saturday if you haven’t done it on Saturday evenings. But getting my week plan up before I wake up Monday morning is a non-negotiable. Now when it comes to planning my days, how I plan my days is also a non-negotiable.

Because even though the week is planned, there’s going to be adjustments, right? The week is going to shift and evolve throughout the five days. So before I go to bed every night, I make sure I look at tomorrow, I write it out because I might have to make adjustments. But here’s why that’s also very important. If I look at the next day before I go to bed and I plan the next day, I know exactly what my priorities are.

When I go to sleep, my brain starts thinking about how it’s going to execute the game plan tomorrow. I’m not a scientist, but there’s actually science behind that that your brain starts going to work for you even while you’re sleeping. And then I wake up and I just follow the plan. I don’t negotiate with the calendar. So that’s tip number one.

That’s routine number one. How are you planning your weeks in your days has to be a non-negotiable, especially in the fourth quarter. You have got to have a plan of attack. You can’t wake up going, I wonder what I’m going to do today. You’re already behind the eight ball. You can’t wake up on Monday morning going, What a what my week looks like.

Too late. Be very proactive planning what your week like looks like. And then on Monday night. Tuesday night. Wednesday night. Thursday night. Make sure you’re constantly looking at what tomorrow looks like. That’s routine number one. Routine number two, That is a non-negotiable in my life. And there’s flexibility on how you design this. But I am going to tell you, you you have got to have a morning routine just like an athlete.

Stretches, goes through drills before a game, starts to make sure he or she shows up on the field of play. Your office, your work is your field of play. What are you doing before that job starts? You’ve got to have a morning routine. Now, I understand. I do not have kids. You. There’s a good chance you do. So you have some more responsibilities.

An idea. But where that however it’s going to share with you some of the non-negotiables as part of my morning routine that really put me in a position to win every single day. Number one breath work. Now you might call it meditation. Maybe it’s reading scripture for you. I don’t know what it is, but something spear ritual that grounds me and aligns me.

So what I do here at our place now that we live in Wisconsin is every single morning I actually go outside without any socks or shoes because I want to get my bare feet in the ground. I want to be grounded and I do breath work anywhere from 7 to 10 minutes. Now, while I’m doing that, I’m also watching the morning sun go up because as the morning sun rises early in the morning, just as it’s peak in the horizon, you can actually stare at the sun without hurting your eyes and this simple practice of the breath work combined by the morning sun gazing does a couple of things.

Number one, the breath work ground you right. The breath work to sets your mind up to handle any challenges that might come with the day.

But the mornings sun gazing also helps you set up the next night of sleep. Believe it or not, there’s science behind how morning sunshine getting morning sunshine in your eyes kicks off your circadian rhythm. That will actually help set up a better night’s sleep The following night. So one of the first things I do every morning is I get out barefoot in the grass and I just do breath work looking at the morning sun.

Now, of course, there’s days where it’s raining or days it’s cloudy. There’s still benefits to doing this. It as the seasons shifts, obviously the sun rises later and earlier, so you got to make adjustments. But this has been such a big part of my morning routine and I’ve got my exercise right. Exercise for me is a non-negotiable exercise.

This can mean many things from walking to running to sprinting to lifting to CrossFit. I don’t care what it is. You got to get your body moving before the day starts. Now, if your calendar just does not allow for it, you have to be. You’re somebody who has to work out. At the end of the day, I get it.

But got to figure out how to exercise, how to get your body moving every single day. And it doesn’t mean you had hit the gym every day. Just get out for a walk. And then the last non-negotiable as part of my morning routine is my journaling. I sit down every day and I write out this question How does a founder, how would a founder of $1,000,000 company operate today?

And the reason I write that question out is it forces me to think like I need to be thinking every single day, What would a an owner of a of $1,000,000 plus company be doing today to make sure he’s successful or her she’s successful or the business is successful? What would they be doing today? And I just write out my day from that viewpoint and then I go out and I execute it.

So not only my planning, the day I’m writing out in my journal what today is going to look like as the founder of $1,000,000 company. Now, I don’t care what size company you’re talking about here. The point is this journal Exercise forces me to think the way I need to be thinking to run a successful business that’s growing.

So those four routines are a big part of my morning habit. Now, I’m not going to go into the cold shower and everything else, but the point is these four things allow me to put the work in off the field, right? It’s like stretching for an athlete so that when the day starts, I’m not only ready to go, I know exactly what the game plan is.

And no matter what happens with the day, I’m going to call home state of mind to take on whatever throws itself at me. I’m not starting the day with In Chaos. So the second routine that must be a non-negotiable is having some form of morning routine. Now I challenge you to make sure the routine is not something you’re doing just to check the box.

That’s a place I’ve caught myself from time to time, just doing things because I think I have to like Breathwork where I’m just checking the box instead of being fully immersed in that activity. So don’t just create a routine to check the box. Make sure you’re creating a routine that allows you to be fully immersed in the activities that are a part of that routine.

Now let’s get into number three. Throughout the day. I am hyper focused on what I put in my body when when I say what I put in my body, I’m talking about supplements and nutrition. And I am not a nutritionist, a dietitian, but I feel like I have some simple rules that I follow on a weekly basis that allow me to be at my best and my body to be at its best so I can stay productive.

This is a very overlooked part of having success in any kind of profession, especially insurance. So when I look at my days as far from what I put my body, of course I’ve got my vitamins and my supplements that I put in take in the mornings. But when I look at what I eat, I look at the food I eat like fuel for my body.

And one of the rules I live by is throughout the day I am going to make sure I maximize protein, which is good for strength and minimize calories. Too many people actually do the opposite. They take in minimal protein and have way too many calories going into their body throughout the day, especially a time like you for when you’re stressing out minimal calories, maximum protein.

And I typically eat my first meal probably around nine or 10:00 in the morning, and I fast about 15 to 16 hours between dinner the night before breakfast the next day. It’s just a good way to get your body roll and get the get the metabolism flowing. But then throughout the day, the food I put in my body is very nutritious and very protein dense, and it minimizes the calories that are going in my body.

And it just helps me stay energetic, especially in that afternoon when it’s so easy to get that energy zap after you’ve eaten lunch. I don’t have that issue anymore because of what I’m putting my body. In fact, I’m going to be doing a video here in the near future where I walk through what I eat on a given day.

I will tell you my diet is very boring. I eat almost the same thing. Should I say almost? I do eat the same things for breakfast and lunch every single day, Monday through Friday. Now dinner we adjust based on what Amy and I are making, but breakfast, lunch and my snacks throughout the day are exactly the same Monday through Friday.

Me Talk about alcohol for a second. Another thing I just live by and I’m not saying you have to is from a standpoint of what I put in my body throughout the week, I made a rule. I don’t drink Monday to Thursday. I’ll have a beer on Friday, Saturday, enjoy the weekend. But Monday to Thursday I don’t drink.

It’s just how I make sure I wake up every day. Alert, clear and productive. If you don’t want to follow that, that’s up to you. But I will tell you, this has had a profound impact on my productivity. When I had my leg infection two years ago and I was forced to go alcohol free for a while, I couldn’t believe the clarity I had and I really haven’t gone back.

So that’s another rule I live by as far as what I put in my body. So routine number three is be hyper conscious about what food, nutrition and drink and liquid goes into your body throughout the week. And then the last routine I really am hyper focused on is how I sleep. Sleep is a very overlooked productivity hack.

I’m recording this off the heels of a rough weekend of travel due to some flight cancellations, and the this travel inconvenience forced me to get a lot less sleep than I normally do. 5 hours one night, followed by another six the following evening when I normally try to get at least 7 hours a night. But when I’m at home, I am hyper focused on sleep.

Amy and I make sure we are in bed at a certain amount by a certain time. We know exactly how much sleep we need to be productive. I get up at the same time every morning, Monday through Friday, but it’s the key of making sure you’re getting enough sleep. The whole adage of, you can sleep when you die is bullshit.

One of the biggest reason people are not productive right now is because they’re not getting enough sleep. Without sleep, you will not be focused the next day. It is very hard. I see people who go to these industry conferences that they’re out drinking late at night, getting their almost no sleep, showing up completely half assed the next day.

My clear objective is I want to be absolutely focused, locked in clear Monday through Friday. So these four routines that I follow have allowed us to become a hyper productive company. Here. I complete game consulting. Now, my employees, I don’t force this on them, but they tend to do the same things, kind of part of our culture here, right?

So how we brand ourselves, we attract people who are into the same things. And so I wanted to give those share those tips with you, because I know as I we enter a very busy period for our business, I just am confident that we’re going to show up every day and we’re going to leave it all on the field because of how we operate our daily routines.

Make sure you’re planning your weeks and your days so that you are focused on the right priorities. Make sure you’re starting your day with some form of solid morning routine so that you show up on the field of play at your best. Focus on what you’re eating and you’re drinking. Throughout the week. I look at myself like an athlete, I admit it.

And if I am not drinking constantly, I’m not eating like shit. And my competition is I know I’m gaining a competitive advantage on that. And then the last routine is asleep. Make sure you are getting an adequate amount of sleep. Remember even how you start your morning can impact how you sleep the next night. So one bleeds into another.

How you eat, what you drink, impacts how you sleep. So I hope this helped. Like I said, Q4 is going to be an extremely busy time of the year. I know there’s going to be a lot of unexpected surprises, but I want to make sure no matter what happens in your life, you are prepared to attack it, to handle it without all the stress and show up every day and be as productive as you can possibly be. Be well.