You may have heard a famous quote from Calvin Coolidge: “Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not: unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not: the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.”
I was thinking about that quote a couple of weeks ago. I bought a new mountain bike, and the seat post was too high. Yes, I have short legs. Anyway, I called the bike shop and asked if anybody every cuts their seat post shorter. Apparently, this is reasonably common, and they offered to do it for me, but I decided to do it myself.
I’ve got a really old hacksaw, and in all honesty, I’m not that great with tools. If you’ve ever tried to saw through metal, you know it takes a while…longer still with a 30 year old, dull hacksaw (I should note here that old and dull are not good descriptions of the person doing the sawing). It was a slow go, but I knew if I kept sawing, if I remained persistent, eventually I’d get through it. Didn’t matter how long it took…eventually it would work. And it did.
So, how does this have anything to do with employee benefits? For many business owners, HR managers, and people in the benefits industry, the 4th quarter is a super busy open enrollment season. For a lot of us, it’s the busiest time of the year.
It’s no different for our team, who I’d argue is the best benefits team around. Cheryl and I have added new clients, new services, and new responsibilities to their plates in the last few years, but they just keep plugging away…being persistent, working late, and delivering on our promise to delight our clients time and time again.
So, for all of you in the busy throes of the 4th quarter, remember the great quote by Calvin Coolidge, the bike, and the old, dull hacksaw. Persistence will get us through it.
If you’d like to talk about ways to make your open enrollment process better and more efficient, we’ve got some great ideas for you. Give us a call at (866) 724-0008 or click the link below.
