When you’re in the picture, you can’t see the frame

One of the early lessons most martial arts students learn, often the hard way, is the importance of keeping their hands up when they are sparring or practicing self-defense.  A white belt will execute a technique, knocking his opponent to the ground.  He exhales, drops his guard, thinking the fight is over.  He looks at the crowd, eagerly awaiting approval.

The next thing he knows, he’s either taken to the ground or knocked backward as his opponent either sweeps his legs or executes an up-kick to take him off balance.

The black belt approaches sparring and self-defense differently.

When his opponent goes down, his guard remains up. His senses remain alert.  He stays on the balls of his feet, ready to pivot and move at a moment’s notice.  The black belt remains situationally aware, prepared to respond to whatever may happen next.

This is Zanshin.

Zanshin is a Japanese martial arts concept that translates as “remaining mind” or “lingering spirit.”  It’s a state of relaxation, total alertness and continuous presence.

Grandmasters will tell you that Zanshin is what separates a technically proficient student from a true martial artist. Anyone can learn to block a punch, counter and strike an opponent.  Zanshin is what happens three, five, even 10 seconds after the punch.  It’s the situational awareness that determines whether you’re truly safe or you need to remain on guard.

Zanshin is also the difference between a competent agent and an exceptional one - and it has nothing to do with product knowledge.

Walk into any agency, and you’ll typically find an insurance professional who understands their product. They can track the status of business submitted, money transfers in process, and they know when they are going to get paid. They know the caps and rates on the fixed indexed annuity, and how the optional riders on the product actually work.

Now, let’s go a bit deeper, beyond the white belt aspects of running a successful insurance business, and see what’s lurking beneath the surface.

Ask this same agent how they came across in the first appointment. Not how well they believe they did, but how well the prospect actually perceived them. Did they take the time to make the prospect feel seen, heard, valued and appreciated?  Did they take the time to ask good questions to make sure they truly understood what the client really wanted to accomplish?

Or did they simply go through the motions, selling as they have always sold?

We’ve trained ourselves to become good at what we do, but how much time have we taken to become better at who we are?

Why does Zanshin matter?

Zanshin is a state of mental and emotional awareness. It’s a state of continuous personal and operational awareness.

Why does this matter?

Zanshin, a state of self-awareness, isn’t something we’re born with.  It’s a learned skill we develop over time. Just as the martial arts student elevates their situational awareness over years of training, so too should the insurance professional elevate not only their operational awareness, but their personal awareness as well.

Why is this important?

Because our clients, who are also human, make their initial decision to do business with us based solely on emotions. The limbic system, the emotional core of the brain, reacts instantly to stimuli from our five senses.  If we’re emotionally unaware of how we’re showing up, we may sabotage the sale before we ever get a chance to make our pitch.

We all have a story we tell ourselves about ourselves, and we tend to have an overly rosy, positive view of how we show up. We judge ourselves by our intent.

But our clients don’t experience our intent. They judge us by our actions.

We may think we’re being thorough in our presentations, making sure all our clients’ questions were answered. To our clients, we are seen as long-winded and boring.  We may believe we’re being direct, but we may be coming across as dismissive or arrogant to the client.  Again, we judge ourselves by our intent, but our clients judge us by our actions.

The goal of Zanshin

The goal of Zanshin is about closing the distance between who we believe we are and what our clients are actually experiencing.  Emotional intelligence is the key.

I love asking agents what matters the most in their practice.  The answer is often some version of “my clients” or “building real relationships.”  I then ask them to pull out their calendar, and together we examine what they prioritized over the past two weeks.

Your calendar doesn’t lie.  It’s an honest record of what matters to you. Your calendar is a reflection of your decisions, not your intentions.  If you’re bumping client reviews to put out administrative fires or bumping a second appointment because you haven’t had time to prepare for that meeting, are you prioritizing what really matters?

When your voicemail box is full, and your inbox has hundreds of unread, unanswered client emails, because you’re too busy doing busywork, what is your silence telling your clients and prospective clients?

Without your clients, you have no business.

It’s about developing your state of Zanshin, improving your emotional intelligence.

If you walk into an appointment frustrated from the meeting you just left, or distracted by a personal issue, this gets communicated to your client even if you never say a word.  As much as 95% of communication is nonverbal, and as a species, we’ve gotten pretty good at reading nonverbals. Your tone, pace or body language speaks volumes, and this can make or break that appointment.

If you’re emotionally unaware, you’re unaware you are unaware.

It’s about relaxed awareness

At its root, Zanshin is about sustained, relaxed awareness of your physical and emotional state. This means your frustrating appointment at 10 a.m. doesn’t walk uninvited into your 11 a.m. meeting. Practicing Zanshin means you’re not only self-aware of your physical and emotional state, but you’re actively self-regulating how you show up.

The master consciously resets before the next meeting.  The undisciplined agent carries the entire day with them, then chalks it up as “just another bad day at the office.”

My dad used to tell me, “When you’re in the picture, you can’t see the frame.” Zanshin is about self-perception, but it is also about submitting yourself to the instruction of someone who can help you see what you can’t. After all, the very patterns that limit us are often invisible to us.

When we’re unaware, we are unaware we are unaware. We can’t see what we can’t see.

So this week, ask someone who knows you well - a trusted colleague, a mentor or a family member - “What do you notice about me that I don’t seem to know about myself?”

Then do the hard part. Don’t explain. Don’t defend. Don’t excuse. Just listen, and then thank them for sharing. The answer they give you is one you cannot generate on your own.

Zanshin is having the mental discipline to remain in a calm, highly focused state of physical and emotional awareness, even when under pressure.

It’s about being intentional about becoming a better version of who you are and how you show up for those who matter most.

Read more from John L. Terry III's Mastery in Motion series:

The framework that builds excellence

The stories we tell ourselves

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John L. Terry III is a 3-time martial arts Hall of Fame inductee, multi-discipline black belt, L.A. Tribune Best-Selling Author, and a Real Leaders Top 50 Executive Coach and Top Impact Speaker. He is the founder of Black Belt Leadership, the creator of The MORE Score, and the author of multiple books on human performance, leadership and professional excellence. Contact him at john.terry@innfeedback.com.