Minimum Insurance; The Dreaded Scenario

     Insurance, the dreaded word everyone doesn’t like to hear until something goes wrong.  Some people view insurance as just another bill, others think of it as some kind of government rip off while others consider insurance a valuable tool to protect their assets. It is true, if you drive a car on public roads or have a mortgage on your home you have to carry some kind of insurance coverage, however, the different types and limits can be confusing if you don’t know what to look for.

     If a person with limited assets gets insurance, they commonly buy lower limits of insurance. State minimum in California is 15/30/5 covering the driver for damages they cause up to fifteen thousand dollars per person, thirty thousand dollars for injuries per accident and five thousand dollars for property coverage (car you hit, fence, light pole, etc.). When was the last time you heard of someone going to the hospital and the bill costing less than 15 thousand (full price charged)? Also, I’m still searching for a 2-3 year old car costing less than 5 thousand. If you have not figured it out, a driver should have -more than the minimum for coverage, however, I get frequent comments like “just give me whatever I need to drive” when quoting an insurance rate.

     Insurance premiums can be a substantial part of the family budget but it is meant to protect the person hurt because of a brief lapse in judgment or careless mistake. Don’t let one accident ruin a lifetime of hard work. Review, understand and increase your coverage when necessary so when something goes wrong you won’t be dreading that word, insurance.

     Call Georgetta Gans, Nency Gonzalez (hablo espanol) or Brian Walker for more information and to get a quote to protect you against people with low limits. Multiple companies available to quote if qualified.  951-672-3476

New Toastmasters in Menifee; AM meeting!

     Are you one of the many people afraid of public speaking? Does your current level of communication hold you back from a better job? Do you want to improve your current skills to gain self-confidence?  If so, another Toastmasters Club is coming to Menifee and they are looking for new members so they can Charter in January.

     Toastmasters is known for being a ‘public speaking’ club but it offers so much more than being able to stand in front of people. You will gain self-esteem and learn how to listen better to other people along with having lots of fun. “The stories and information shared is so interesting while you learn about lots of topics” says Georgetta Gans who has been a member for over a year (in another club).

     Currently, there are two clubs meeting in Menifee; Menifee Toastmasters and The Leadership Connection, both meeting every Thursday at 12:05pm and 6:30pm, respectively. The new club will be meeting on the 2^nd and 4^th Wednesday’s of the month at 7:45am for all you early risers. Nothing starts your day like speaking and coffee!

     The location is the same for all clubs: The Rilynn Professional Building located at 27070 Sun City Blvd, Menifee 92586, near the corner of Sun City Blvd and Cherry Hills Blvd between Provident Bank and Stater Bros.

     Contact Brian Walker for details at 951-672-3476 or company@rilynn.biz for more information.

 

Rilynn Company Inc.: Carry Full Coverage...or Else

Rilynn Company Inc.: Carry Full Coverage...or Else:      Traffic slows down at the common rush hour times in Southern California daily and without fail. You can set your watch on it and I...

Carry Full Coverage...or Else

     Traffic slows down at the common rush hour times in Southern California daily and without fail. You can set your watch on it and I have realized for every minute I take to leave adds ten minutes to my trip time. Not a very good ratio so I decided to buy a motorcycle and start really moving around the Southland. By some accounts, it is legal to split lanes in stalled traffic and a motorcycle can move a lot faster than a passenger vehicle.

     So my motorcycle was a thrill to ride and it was not very expensive. My commute times were slashed and I was happy to be on the road again with the wind in my…helmet. The insurance to drive the bike was cheap enough and I did not bother to get Comprehensive or Collision coverage because I didn’t care about the bike and it wasn’t worth the expense. Besides, if I crashed the bike and it was my fault then I would deal with the consequences and move on with life.

     The story begins one day while I was driving a familiar patch of pavement and like clockwork the traffic slowed and I went in between lanes. A driver in the left lane decided his lane was not going fast enough and swerved into the center lane, however, this 19 year old driver did not use a blinker or check his blind spot. You guessed it; I was next to him going about twenty miles per hour.

     With no time to stop or even brake I remember seeing his front passenger wheel suddenly get really close to me. Hitting between the wheel and the door, I was launched thirty feet into the air and came as close to Superman flying as humanly possible. Thankfully, I tucked my head and did a flip in the air so I landed on my shoulder and not my face. My flip was so fast my dress shoes flew off and I banged my ankles and feet so hard on the pavement I had bruises for weeks.

     To my joy, traffic had suddenly stopped in all three lanes from where I was hit and I stood up and braced for an additional impact of someone hitting me. But nothing came and the headlights illuminated me in an unwanted spotlight. After the initial adrenaline rush, I hobbled over to the median and crumpled down under my own weight as my ankles gave out in pain.

     After the police, ambulance and reports were done, I waited for my father in-law to bring a flatbed trailer to bring my totaled bike home. The next day I called his insurance company to find out what to do next. To my horror, I was put at 50% at fault by the insurance company for this accident and determined to be going too fast for traffic conditions.

     The insurance company I had would not help me because I did not have full coverage on my motorcycle. Even though they agreed I was not at fault, they could not do anything because they were not involved. If there was a lawsuit against me they would pay but not the other way around. It was up to me to fight the insurance company for anything owed to me. Overall, I had to settle for 50% of all my injuries, bike damage and lost wages at work.

     Sure, I could have fought it in court and spent many thousands of dollars to get back a few thousand. I was not mad at the situation because it was an accident, I was mad at myself for trying to save a few bucks and not having the coverage. In life you get what you pay for; that holds true for your insurance coverage. So the next time you need to cut costs, look somewhere other than your insurance. Insurance is for accidents, and you can’t plan those, you can only prepare and have full coverage.

Healthcare in California

     Healthcare for everyone living in the United States, has been, and will be a topic for discussion lasting the next 10 years. Will it happen, will it succeed and are we as a nation better off for having access to doctors and hospitals?

     The ethical, ‘feel good’ answer is everyone should be able to get quality care regardless of income level. However, the cost for this future addition to the Standard of Living could take other things away from the general population. The money has to come from somewhere and contrary to government thinking, money cannot just be printed in abundance. So is the money taken from the schools? From Social Security? Unemployment Fund? Military and Defense? Will gas and oil be taxed at a higher rate so we pay more at the pump?

     Taxing the rich to pay for the poor is not the answer. Taxes are seen as punishments and if you punish someone for doing well they are less likely to continue the behavior; at least continue the behavior in a lawful way. Something has to change and with the National Debt growing to unfathomable levels the chance of paying it off while incurring another major expense is slim to none.

    Pray for the strength and wisdom for our government leaders. Pray they are able to make the right decisions for our country as a whole. However, regardless of their decisions, make sure you make your voice heard. Do not stand by and let things happen to you and your country you do not approve. Get out and get educated and then vote! Information is available but make sure you are talking to an expert to get all the facts.

 

One Expert for Covered California is Laura Roeder. She can be reached at 951-602-5819 or financial@rilynn.biz

Call or email for an appointment.

Brian Walker Plan & Do

Expectations of the Chamber of Commerce and getting out of your chair.

The Menifee Valley Chamber of Commerce has been around for over 36 years and could not be stronger. Of those 36 years, I have had the privlidge of serving as a Board of Director for the past 7. In 2008-2009 I served as the Chairman of the Board and learned more about business and more importantly myself than anyone could have imagined.
     When Joan Ring came to my office 9 years ago and asked me to join the Chamber I was sharing an office with another insurance agent. He and I split the cost and figured out a way to share all the phone calls waiting to pour into our office. We thought if we were Chamber members, it would be a windfall of opportunity and all we had to do was wait...
     The phone didn't ring, no one came in and we would have thought the Chamber of Commerce was a total joke if I didn't venture out to start actually meeting people. I went to the mixers, the lunches, the ribbon cuttings and all the events I could to meet people. Next thing I know, my phone still doesn't ring but I have a box full of business cards I start calling for meetings. I'm setting up appointments, and coffee times and then the business starts actually coming in. My office partner never left his chair, and his business never took off either.
     If done right, a person can make a career off the contacts they make through the Chamber of Commerce networks. Notice I said contacts and not clients from the Chamber. The difference is the amount of Care put into the relationship with the people you work along side with in this crazy thing called community. Remember the saying, no one cares what you know until they know how much you care.
     Looking back, it was a hard 7 years but they flew by as I matured and my business grew. Thank you to all who voted for me as Business of the Year (4 times) and to those keeping me on the Board. My business and my family thank you for the many memories and the bright future of this Valley.

Missed Goals and Attaining Status

Three years ago I made a plan and set my sights on something BIG, something to set me apart from the others and solidify my name as an elite.. After a year of hard work, planning and late nights, I failed…miserably. Even though the numbers were close, not obtaining my highlighted goal threw everything I knew into the trash. Or so I thought…


They say you grow from losing and not winning, they say it is better to have loved and lost then to never have loved at all. But when your friends and business partners call to ask if you made your goals you want to crawl under a rock and have it fall on you. Then you realize you just can’t quit. Walking away is not an option so you have to inch your way forward and continue the push towards the next goal, you WON’T accomplish.

Many people use monetary status as a way to measure their self worth and abilities. Many want the recognition of plaques, trophies and admiration from peers over anything else in the world. I’m part of the latter group because I know if I have the fame then the money will come into the bank. There are plenty of famous stupid people making tons of money they probably do not deserve in the world. I’m thinking of a few but they aren’t worth mentioning…

“If you do shoot for the moon and miss, you’ll land among the stars.” That saying really isn’t true because depending on your trajectory you probably will either burn up in the sun or freeze way before you land next to another star. (Just Saying) But the point is you need to continue to shoot for something, something important to you that may make you feel uncomfortable. The giant goal making you take action while you would rather watch TV or pet your goldfish.

It’s time for you to start planning, it’s time for you to walk over to the Window of Opportunity and instead of knocking, throw a brick through it and dive over the sill. Make this day count so when you do look back in three years you’ll be able to say you did something. Even if you don’t succeed at first, try, try again… you’ll get there.

Scoreboard: Friend or Foe...depends what you expect.

SCOREBOARD:

5/16/13

“You either hate losing bad enough to change or you hate changing bad enough to lose,” Resolved book pg 131.

A powerful statement can really hit home. In the past, we spoke about Plan and Do, so it is only fitting that we move on to the next steps, Check and Adjust in the PDCA model. After you have your plan figured out and you start to do or move on your path towards your goals, at some point you have to slow down and check if the steps you are taking are moving you closer to your goal.

Like many people I started a weight loss journey and signed up at the local gym. I was great at going everyday and found myself really enjoying the classes. I never really bothered to weigh myself; I just figured that since I was exercising I would start losing weight. After a few months of no change in the way my clothes fit, I decided the scoreboard was not looking so good and I had to check what I was doing and adjust to move closer to my goal. I found a trainer and after doing some workouts and talking nutrition I learned two important things: you cannot out train a bad diet and you need to understand muscle groups to get results. I was eating worse than before I started working out and I was working muscle groups that I did not want to change.

Think back to 5 years ago, were things different? Did you have an idea of what you wanted your life to look like? What were your goals? Are you where you thought you would be? Think back 5 months, the beginning of 2013, did you set a goal for yourself? Take a moment to reflect on January 1st and what did you want for yourself and then check the scoreboard, are you there? Is the path you are walking leading you to that goal or have we taken a side road?

Without checking and adjusting it is common to look at the past 5 years and realize that we took so many side roads along the way to our goals that we cannot even see our goals any longer?

I started to think of this in simple terms, my family loves my baked potato soup. I use the same recipe eveytime, the same ingredients and so forth, but I also check the soup as I go through the steps. Sometimes the soup cooks faster or the potatoes take longer. I have different brands of ingredients and I do not need to add salt. Without checking and adjusting the ingredients I might be much skinnier.
If we understand and practice the Check and Adjust in the simple everyday task of our lives, why is it so hard to do with the bigger parts? “Simply put, a person’s defense mechanisms, which are designed to protect his fragile ego from the painful revelation of his current performance kick in.” pg 132 Resolved book. We live in a society of IT WAS NOT MY FAULT, our generation is awesome at pointing the finger at everything in site to protect our egos from admitting that we might not have done what we needed to do to succeed.

It is difficult to check the scoreboard because it gives us an accurate picture of our work and accomplishments. If we get in the habit of checking our progress along the way we can adjust for desired results. This requires honesty on our part and stepping out of our comfort zone. The Scoreboard will become a proud accomplishment, not a fearful reminder of what could have happened in our life.
Plan, Do, Check and Adjust the Scoreboard for greater success!

By Jennifer Walker

The Value of Vacation (recharge to reenergize)

     "I can't leave now, I have too much work to do!" In some cases this may be correct but sometimes you have to make it a point to tear yourself away from work and recharge the batteries in your emotional machine. Burnout is always present if you continue to do the same thing over and over without any progressive results. Just because you are working hard doesn't mean you are producing the results you are actually working for and you may need to regroup your actions.
     While taking a break, look at the entire picture of what you are trying to accomplish. Why did you start doing what you are doing in the first place? Are you taking the steps to make yourself successful or bogged down behind a pile of papers with a looming deadline. Are your actions set to make you money or waste your time and stretch your wallet.  At the end of the day, do you know you accomplished something or are you wondering what happened to the time? 
     It's not too late to take a break, find a quiet spot and close your eyes. When I do this I have a million things run through my mind and I have trouble focusing but it is OK for this to happen and it will pass. If you are not physically located where you are dreaming of being, look at a photo and picture yourself there, possibly by yourself as cool, calm as collected as possible totally enjoying the moment. Do you prefer the beach, forest or desert sand as your backdrop for success?
     Scheduling and time management are important parts of planning for a vacation. Everything will never get done because there is always something to do and knowing this is part of business. Implementing a forward thinking calender can be the difference between positive successful thinking and burnout failure. Plan to recharge the batteries and reenergize your thinking and you will be preparing yourself to make the jump from being self employed to a business owner, work on the business and not inside the business.
     Step away from the paperwork and find the Value of vacation! 

Speech notes from Jennifer Walker about Character. Used April 2nd, 2013

LIFE: Living Intentionally For Excellence.
Meetings are Tuesday nights at 6pm at the Rilynn Proffessional Building.
Contact Jennifer Walker for more information: 951-309-1032


Resolved: To Choose Character over Reputation Any Time They Conflict


“We can often do more for other men by trying to correct our own faults than by trying to correct theirs.” Francois Fenelon. Francois Fenelon lived from 1651 – 1715; he was a French Roman Catholic archbishop and today remembered mostly as the author of The Adventures of Telemachus, an attack on the French monarchy. I googled quotes on character to get inspiration for this speech and came across this quote, immediately it spoke directly to me. I thought so many times I point out the flaws in others rather than looking at myself. As I researched the man behind the quote I found it humbling and sad that a man who lived 300 years ago spoke such truth about humans then and it still applies to us today. We as people like to think that we have come so far, maybe in our technology this is true, however when it comes to our thoughts and behaviors it seems the opposite. As I read the quote I instantly thought of my kids, I am blessed to be able to be involved in my kids’ life. However, this can be challenging as well, there have been plenty of times I sit down with one of my kids to talk about a situation and realize the character issue is one they picked up from me. You can learn so much about your self watching your children. My daughter and I are very close, she has been by my side since we was born. One day we were driving in the car and her brother was doing something to agitate her, I cannot even remember what was going on, but I do remember hearing her scold him in the loudest meanest voice. I wanted to laugh and cry all at the same time. I think she was 4 years old, so it was cute to hear her tiny voice use such language, but it was not that cute when I realized that she was modeling my behavior. I sat there for a minute and thought to myself, is this how my children see me? Do I really handle conflict by raising my voice and scolding? I tried to explain to her that her brother just wanted her attention and made a note in my heart to remember, next time slow down and evaluate, do the kids want my attention or are they misbehaving. As I read more books and listen to more audios I am learning that the best thing I can do for my children I lead by example. If I want my children to have integrity I must first show them how to live a life of integrity. John Wooden’s Three Principles of Integrity are 1. Never lie. 2. Never cheat. 3. Never steal. At first glance it would seem that living by these principles would be simple, they are simple principles that most people would say they do live by. However, when we dig a little deeper, how many of us have told our children to lie about their age to get a discount? In this situation we are not hurting anyone, just trying to save a little money, but the outcome is that we just showed our children that it is ok to lie to someone and cheat them out of money to save a few dollars. The other day I was grocery shopping with my daughter and her friend, we picked out some grapes to bring home and continued shopping, and a few minutes into our trip the girls asked if they could have a few grapes. I could have easily said yes, it would not have hurt anyone. Instead, I told them no and explained that grapes are charged by the weight, if we eat grapes before paying for them, we would be stealing the grapes as they would not be able weigh them properly. Everyday we are given opportunities to live these principles or not, it is our choice and our consequence based on the small decisions that me make. Resolved: 13 Resolutions for life says, “Integrity is a crucial attribute, but a person can have unimpeachable integrity and still not have character.” Page 54. The book points out that integrity is not doing what wrong and character is doing what is right. Integrity tells us that when two people are gossiping about another person to us, that we do not join in. While character tells us that not only do we not join in, we also stop the wrong from being done. It can be easy to listen to others gossip and just not join in to feel as though we did nothing wrong, however, by not stopping the wrong our character has been tarnished. Doing the right thing is more difficult as it requires us to step out of the shadows and into the light to stand often by ourselves.

Jennifer Walker

Time Blocking

     Why should I time block if I only have this little bit of work to finish and then I'm done with what I have... what's that over there?
     It is very common to be distracted during the course of your day. You get up, go to work and while your morning is commencing you have your plan about what will happen that day. Then you get to the office and your fate has already been decided by a coworker, a client or there is a problem with your car, babysitter, or school. Sometimes it is all of the above happening the same day.
     Once you are ready to work (if there is such a thing) you sit down and start what you planned. Then more distractions happen like the phone ringing, email alerts and someone asking what is for lunch. If you time block your day, you know exactly what is ahead of you and if you are distracted you know where you left off.
     Most clients do not want to be called early in the day so I make most of my calls after 10:30am. By then, my email is clear, my lists of things to do is made and I've had three cups of coffee. I time block 10:30-11:15 to call people back and set future appointments. For the next twenty minutes I assist and check with my staff about whatever needs they may have. Then lunch for two hours and then to the golf range for a bucket of balls before going home.
     If it were that simple, everyone would be doing it. Here is your homework: get out a calender having days broken down by 15 minute intervals. Decide when you feel the most comfortable to do each item and assign it an amount of time during the day. When your day is full you can start and when you do a new item, do it to the best of your ability. If you finish early, plan on when you will do it again the next day or week. Don't be afraid if you didn't have success with something in the morning to move it to the afternoon. Make adjustments to make each item count.
     It's your day and you only get an undetermined amount of them so make it count.  What will you do with your next 15 minutes?

Nothing to do?!%#@!*)

The other day at work, a business associate came and told me she had nothing to do.  My initial thought was "great, glad you got it all done." Then I started to realize what this meant to her business and looked deeper into mine and wondered if there would ever be a point where I am actually done.
    A business owner has the ultimate responsibility to 'finish' every job detail in the business whether it is there direct job or they have staff to delegate the duties. Organizing, cleaning duties and strategy development should be a never ending battle of time and manpower.
     Growing up I always wanted to do the 'hard' things first, get them out of the way and then the rest would be easy. However, after trial and error I've found it more important to get the 'easy' things out of the way. If you finish the quick things first you satisfy the most responsibilities just in case you are not able to finish everything at that moment. The pile in your inbox becomes smaller and the mental challenge of having lots of paperwork is not so daunting moving forward.
     Distractions and procrastination can hinder a project from happening so it is important to leave yourself notes. A list works well if you may find yourself jumping back and forth between objectives and tasks. Make sure to cross off, crumple up or delete notes to give you the immediate gratification of finishing something. If you are working on a long term project, make notes of what must be done before hand and when you have time leading up to the event you can accomplish items from the list so not to wait until the last minute.
     With a never ending Inbox, lists of jobs, and strategy sessions to plan for, you should never find yourself with nothing to do during your day. Understanding your job will never end is a difficult lesson to learn because as kids we are taught to finish things. Finish your homework, finish your practicing and my favorite, finish your vegetables all come to mind. And if you are a business owner, you are finished with reading this so get back to work.

Providing a service

We don’t start a business to hire employees, we start a business to fill a need and provide a service.

     So many people have big dreams and they don’t understand it takes a team to accomplish the bigger goals. Finding the right people can make all the difference but setting the correct expectations can make or break a business. If the expectations are too low, nothing gets done but if you push people to new heights they never thought they could reach, the business and the employee can grow. This improves moral with everyone involved and the customers will notice a positive direction for the company.

     Delegation is very important when a person has a team to rely on. Sure the main person can do everything better than anyone, but the head guy can not do all the things all the time. Therefore, proper encouragement and training can help the employee to not only become proficient at what they do, but they can get so good at it they become the teacher. Henry Ford was called out for not knowing everything about his company, and he simply stated that he did not have to know everything; he just had to know the people to ask everything to.

     A boss who constantly is offering advice, corrections and/or recommendations, stifles the employee’s ability to learn. Just like a parent never allowing a child to fall down. If a child falls, they learn to get up, and ‘mentally’ getting up is a hard thing to learn for some adults. For the leader who leads too much, they are not learning themselves because they are only doing what they already know and complaining they don’t have enough time in the day.

     Starting a business does fill a need for some, just look around to see who is willing to grow and start looking to the sky with them.