4. You’re Pushed To Improve Your Mindset
Sales is hard. You’ll face a lot of rejection and doubt yourself but you can either push past that negatively and hopefully experience a breakthrough.
Or, you can quit being a life insurance agent and do something else. I’m all about personal development and hard work which this is crucial if you want to make it as a life insurance agent.
What I Didn’t Like About Being A Life Insurance Agent?
Life insurance has a much bigger learning curve than I expected.
Looking back, I don’t really think I had the time and mental space to take on that responsibility in addition to my writing business.
1. The Commissions Are A Big IF
You have to sell a lot of life insurance policies and preferably at higher premiums if you want to make more money as an agent.
The smaller, $50 to $100 per month policies were still fine, but you’d exhaust yourself trying to make a career out of those sales.
Unless you have some stable financial support, most people have to get into life insurance on the side of a full-time job.
You could easily put in a full 40 hours of work and your earnings may not reflect that.
2. Lots Of Cold Calling
If you don’t like sales or cold calling, life insurance may not be for you.
In the past, I had a bad experience working at a call center when I had to walk out of the job to protect my mental health.
Once we ran through our list of friends and family who I could talk to about life insurance, I had to start prospecting.
As an introvert, it felt weird to always take an activity like going to the store or attending a friend’s gathering and turn it into an opportunity to meet more people who I could potentially sell life insurance to.
3. I Really Didn’t Want To Build A Team
I realize now that I like working remotely and mainly alone. The pressure to build a team paired with also having to find clients to sell to was strong.
My husband and I bought a house shortly after I got licensed and my upline team convinced me to try to recruit some of our housewarming guests to join the company under me.
I hated every moment of the presentation and just wanted to enjoy our party.
4. Shame For Not Performing and Toxic Hustle Culture
The straw that broke the camel’s back was the guilt and shame the company would inflict on others if we failed to perform.
If I couldn’t make a Saturday training meeting because I wanted to take my son somewhere instead, I was often made to feel like I wasn’t hustling hard enough to make my dreams a success.
People who would invite guests to our meetings (so they could be convinced to join the team) received praise while the rest of us got scolded for not talking to enough people during the week.
During one of the meetings, one of our mentors wanted to honor an agent who sadly passed away unexpectedly.
They mentioned how much of a hard and dedicated worker they were and how they were always in the office striving hard to sell and build their team.
At that moment, I remembered thinking that if I only had a few months to live, I didn’t want to spend it feeling the immense pressure to recruit people in that toxic work atmosphere.
I’d rather someone say I spent time with my family and made space for hobbies and genuine connections with others.
Related Blog: How Many Jobs Are Available In Life Insurance?
Is Being An Insurance Agent Worth It?
After realizing that being a life insurance agent wasn’t for me, I was happy to quit.
Agents can enjoy a lucrative career in life insurance, but it’s not for everyone which is why so many people quit being a life insurance agent.
The constant hustle mentality, endless networking, and sales pressure are a burden not everyone can bear.
I do believe life insurance is valuable. However, it’s not necessary to push products like annuities and whole life insurance on people who either don’t need them or don’t want them.
My MLM company wanted to make me believe that there’s only one way to become successful and build wealth.
I never believed this. Instead, I prefer to continue building my content writing and marketing business while also prioritizing my values since life doesn’t have to be all work and no play.
