Oh man, I’m sure I shouldn’t be telling this, but I can’t help myself:).

This is a recent conversation I had with a small coaching client, Brad (name changed to protect the innocent/guilty.)

Me: So, what have you been up to? Or better yet what are your goals this year?

Brad: Oh Charles, I’m just so busy trying to keep up with everything.

Me: With what?

Brad: (Looks at me like I have three heads) - You know, all the stuff with Congress, stimulus packages, the virus, and not to mention how crazy the world is in general. Cancel culture and such.

Me: Sure...but what are your goals for this year.

Brad: Just to keep my head above water I guess.

Me: No, I mean how much money do you want to net?

Brad: Well, I’d love to make over $150K!

Me: Cool. How much did you net last year?

Brad: About $60k.

Me: Oh...um, how are you basically gonna triple your income.

Brad: Not sure. Just too much going on right now.

Me: Yeah, but how does that actually impact you? You’re an insurance agent. I understand that you need to know what’s going on in the world, but…

Brad: (Incredulous now) I’m just so busy keeping up with it and my clients are too! Everyone is just waiting to see what happens before they make any big moves.

Me: How much time do you spend keeping up with everything on your phone and the news versus how much time do you spend trying to keep clients and get new clients.

Brad: Oh I don’t spend much time on my phone or the news.

Me: You just said you SOOO busy keeping up with everything!

Brad: (Sheepishly) Well, yes, I guess I could spend less time on it.

Me: And getting new clients?

Brad: Not enough.

Me: Let’s just assume you are on your phone for 4 hours a day, which is the average, and you watch and listen to the current events of the day for just 1 hour. Assuming 20% of the time is necessary, then 80% isn’t.

Oh lord, that’s about 28 hours a week on this crap! That’s like another full-time job!

Brad: But, I really don’t think it’s that much. And I have a responsibility to be an informed citizen or I’ll just be another sheep lost in the…(blah, blah, blah drones on for nine minutes in a zombie-like manner).

Me: Then what actions have that other full-time job led you to take? Did you rally, protest, counter-protest, write your Congressman, create a series of compelling videos or seminars to change other people’s minds, etc.?

Brad: No.

Me: Dude, turn off the tv and quit doom scrolling. Call your existing clients, write a legit newsletter, create content, and call prospects instead. If you do it for 28 hours a week, you will feel much better and destroy your $150k net goal!

Brad: (sounding defeated) Yeah, I should probably do that.

This was last month.

I checked in on Brad recently. He’s in the same spot.

He’s not gonna net $150k. I don’t think he’s gonna net $60k.

But he sure can tell you everything wrong with Congress and the latest thing on Facebook that made him mad.

Don’t be like Brad.

Unplug yourself from the Matrix. It doesn’t care about you,

Put down the other full-time job of being an “informed citizen” and make a real difference in other people’s lives.

Oh, and feel free to make a little money and be happy too:).