Executive TLDR
Your first event can change your entire financial future.
Growth requires overcoming fear and increasing belief.
Prospecting discipline determines long-term success.
Independent producing legs build lasting income.
2024 is about focus, organization, and bold action.
Video Summary
From First Event To Breakthrough
Dave Harms reflects on attending his first major event with his wife Kelly. They arrived with five people — themselves and three guests — knowing very little about the business.
Their first speaker was Jimmy Meyer.
At that moment, Dave didn’t know the path ahead — but he felt something powerful. He made a decision that one day he would rise to that level.
That decision changed everything.
Planting The Flag After Convention
Six months later, they attended a major convention at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
They don’t remember every word spoken.
They remember how they felt.
After that event, Dave quit his airline mechanic job. The first year wasn’t glamorous — $30,000 in income.
But then:
$80,000 the following year
Promoted to Regional Vice President
$147,000
$200,000
$300,000 by age 30
$250,000 cash saved
The business didn’t just increase income — it transformed their entire life.
2024 Is Your Year
Dave challenges everyone to declare 2024 as their breakout year.
But before charging ahead, he encourages reflection:
What did you do well in 2023?
What must you improve?
Stop beating yourself up.
Start fresh.
Growth begins with clarity.
Declutter And Get Organized
Success requires mental and operational clarity.
Dave compares it to cleaning out storage:
When you remove clutter, you feel lighter and more focused.
In business, decluttering means:
Eliminating distractions
Organizing your schedule
Clarifying your goals
Tightening your systems
Focus creates momentum.
Confidence And Belief Win
Two people can say the same words.
One wins.
One doesn’t.
The difference is belief.
Dave emphasizes:
Smile more
Speak with conviction
Move with energy
Develop certainty
Confidence converts.
Commit To Daily Self-Improvement
He recommends structured personal growth:
Read nightly instead of watching negative news
Schedule self-development intentionally
Identify skills that must be mastered
Train people daily
A key lesson from Mike Pressler:
What are you doing today so someone becomes independently producing in 90 days?
Independent legs create stability, leverage, and long-term growth.
Ask For What You Want
When recruiting, don’t qualify people prematurely.
Ask:
Who are the top three people you want to introduce me to?
This shift in approach creates ownership and expands reach.
Stop controlling the list.
Start expanding the vision.
Toughen Up
Dave delivers one of the strongest messages of the talk:
Business requires resilience.
Nothing in life is perfect — not jobs, not parenting, not marriage.
So why quit when one obstacle shows up?
Instead:
Go on more appointments
Prospect more
Increase activity
Develop thicker skin
Most people fail not because of talent — but because they don’t prospect consistently.
Protect Prospecting Time
Dave and Kelly blocked out 9 AM to noon for pure prospecting.
No texts.
No distractions.
No incoming calls.
In a distracted world, focused time becomes a competitive advantage.
Turn off the phone.
Lock in.
Bigger Than Income
The impact goes beyond money.
Dave shares pride in seeing his children grow up with strong people skills and financial awareness because of this environment.
His belief:
There may not be a better place to raise a family than Primerica.
The mission is larger than commissions.
It’s about:
Recognition
Legacy
Financial independence
Community impact
Core Themes
Decision over hesitation
Belief over doubt
Discipline over distraction
Growth over comfort
Legacy over limits
Dave’s closing challenge:
Are you done being average?
2024 can be the year everything changes.
FAQs
Q: Who is the speaker of this message?
Dave Harms.
Q: What event changed Dave’s career path?
His first major Primerica convention.
Q: Who was his first event speaker?
Jimmy Meyer.
Q: What job did Dave leave?
He left his career as an airline aircraft mechanic.
Q: How much did he earn his first full year after quitting?
Approximately $30,000.
Q: How quickly did his income grow after that?
It rose to $80,000, then $147,000, then $200,000, eventually $300,000 annually.
Q: What title did he reach?
Regional Vice President.
Q: What is a key focus for 2024?
Clarity, discipline, and intentional growth.
Q: What daily habit does he recommend?
Reading positive material before bed instead of consuming negative news.
Q: What builds stable long-term growth?
Developing independent producing legs.
Q: What is his biggest warning?
Distraction and lack of prospecting time will prevent success.
Q: What time block did he recommend for prospecting?
Dedicated, uninterrupted daily hours such as 9 AM to noon.
Q: What mindset does he encourage?
Toughness and resilience.
Q: What makes the business meaningful beyond money?
The generational and community impact.
Glossary
Regional Vice President RVP
A leadership position in Primerica representing business ownership, team growth, and independent income streams.
Independent Producing Leg
A team within your organization that produces business independently, creating leverage and stability.
Prospecting
The disciplined activity of identifying and contacting potential clients or recruits.
Self-Development
Intentional personal growth through reading, learning, and skill mastery.
Financial Freedom
Having sufficient income and assets to live without financial constraint or dependency.
Leverage
Building systems and teams that generate results beyond individual effort.
Plant Your Flag
A decision to fully commit to a long-term goal without retreat.
Transcript:
What an incredible event. And we are so fortunate to be in a business like this. We remember like it was yesterday. And Kelly, we’re dividing and conquering. We have a big event in Georgia at the home office. Kicking off that, and then I’m here. So Kelly’s there. But it would have been great to have us both on the stage. But you’re stuck with me here tonight. But we remember like it was yesterday, coming to our first event. So when they asked, how many of you is this is your first event? We remember like it was yesterday what we felt like we walked away. And guess who our first speaker was at our first event? Jimmy Meyer. And I remember just sitting there. We didn’t know nothing about nothing. We had five people at our first event. It was my wife, I, and three guests.
And we just sat there thinking, man, one day I’m going to play golf with that guy. And now we’ve literally traveled the world. We’ve been to Ireland a couple of times and built an incredible business together. So whatever you decide after this event, you’re going to make it happen, aren’t you? Right, because you can pull up the slides here if you want. Is 2024. Turn to your person next to you and say, 2024 is our year. How many of us are ready to go to the next level in 2024?
Right?
Kelly and I have never been more excited going into a new year than we are right now with where the company is at, where the economy is at, where our team is at, we can double, triple, quadruple, ten times. Some of you are starting from scratch. And we didn’t get off to this incredible fast start. I mean, think of that. Write this down. You want to get off to a fast start, like we did our first six months? We made $200. We were just flown all over the place asking us to speak. It was incredible, right? But then went to a convention, and I was an aircraft mechanic, my wife was a nutritionist, and we’re all have a convention six months from now. Isn’t that interesting? So exactly six months from now, we’re all going to be at the Mercedes Benz Dome.
I actually hope you make the decision at this event. Don’t wait till the convention. But six months later, we go to this convention, we don’t remember what all was covered or what was said, but we remember how we felt. And we remember, this is where we’re going to plant our flag. I thought I had a good job. I was in the air force for four years, and then I was working at the airlines making what I thought was good money. And we quit our job after that convention and only made 30,000 the next twelve months, but this was 96. But then the next twelve months made $80,000 as regional leaders. Then the next twelve months went to regional vice president, made 147,000, then 200,000. By the time were 30 years old, making 300,000 a year and had a quarter million cash saved.
Changed our whole life, this business. And you can do the same thing, right? So let’s just talk about a couple of top tips. I get a control of that. This is fancy stuff right here. This ought to be a goal to speak at this thing. I know Mark Martini, Mark and Kathy were direct to them. And I asked him, I said, I don’t ever have to speak in front of people, do I? And he said, oh, no, you never have to speak in front of people if you don’t want to. And I said, good, I don’t want to.
Right?
And then all of a sudden, now it’s like, oh, my gosh. I’m, like, sweating a little bit of my hands. I’m like, oh, my gosh, there’s a big crowd here. But isn’t it worth overcoming our fears? Isn’t it worth doing things that you’re uncomfortable doing?
Right.
That’s really the key to success. So let’s just go to a couple of slides here. The first thing is, what did you do good in 2023? It makes us so sad how many people just beat themselves up and beat themselves up. And I didn’t do what I wanted to do. Let’s put that aside. Can we put that aside? Don’t bring that home with you when you leave here. Put it aside right now and start fresh with 2024 because I’m looking at that slide. It’s not there, but this is big time. But let’s also leave here with, what do we need to change? What do we need to improve going into 2024? You all know, right? You can ask your RVP, you can ask your coach, but you know, deep down, what is holding you back, don’t you? So ask for what you want.
Declutter and get organized. How many of us know people that run, they just run around like chickens.
With their head cut off, right?
And you do that in this business in an organized fashion, right? You can’t have all these things. We cleaned out our storage thing over Christmas. And doesn’t it just feel good when you just clean it all out and you have the junk place take it all, you just feel great. Well, let’s declutter our minds. Let’s get really focused on what we want going into 2024 and get organized. So what are we doing today to grow our confidence, our belief, our skills? Isn’t it interesting? People can say the same exact words, and one person will have tremendous success and one will have no success. It’s something in their belief. It’s something in their confidence. Let’s all practice a big smile.
Right?
Talk faster, walk like Jimmy was talking about earlier. Smile right. You get more results with belief and confidence and conviction. And my eyes aren’t good enough to see on the slides. What books are you going to read? So when you leave here, what books are you going to read? I would encourage you to have two or three books already bought sitting where you’re going to read them each and every day. What skills do I need to master? When will I put scheduling my time for self improvement? I like to do it late at night, like from 1030 to eleven, when I get home, after appointments, after everything, to just read something good. Don’t watch the news, don’t put bad stuff in your brain right before you go to bed. I mean, just get something positive in your head right before you go to bed.
What are you doing every day? This is what Mike Pressler has always taught us, is, what are you doing today to train people so that in 90 days they’re independent producing on their own. How cool would it be in 90 days from now? You have one more independent producing leg and then two more and then three more, and then by the end of the year, you got three, four, five independent producing legs. You got a nice base shop going, your business is growing, you feel awesome. What about this? Can you go to the next slide, please?
You all excited?
You ever spoke in front of a group and then the technology doesn’t work, then it’s really nerve wracking. But what do you want? Can we start asking for what we want when we recruit people? It was interesting. One of our top regional vice presidents, he showed me how he developed his list and how he got, and he just said he didn’t ask. He said, who would you like to go see first? Who are the top three people you’d like to go see? I’m like, I qualify the list. I decide who we go see. Why would you ask them who they want to go see? I want to go see who I want to go see.
Right?
It was a huge breakthrough for him because I was like, that’s crazy. They take you to their brokest people right? I want to go see the people that we need to go see. Start asking for it.
Toughen up.
Can we all do that?
Right?
It’s a weird deal, man. So many people are just soft in a loving, caring way.
I mean, it’s like, golly, did anything go perfect at your job? Did anything go perfect raising your kids? Did anything go perfect in your marriage? And then just one little thing happens in business and they like, throw in the towel and, oh, poor me, I got to pray about this. No, you need to go on more appointments.
Right?
Toughen up. My goodness. And most of us will not win in Primerica because we just don’t put the time in to prospecting. There needs to be dedicated time in our day that you don’t take inbound text, you don’t take inbound emails, you don’t take a call from your wife, you don’t take a call from your team. We did it from nine to noon. Some people. I don’t care what. There needs to be an hour, 2 hours, 3 hours in every day that you are dedicated and not distracted. Are we all distracted by our phone?
Right?
You got to put that thing down and make, well, turn it off or whatever just to be focused for a period of time during your day. Because we are going to do something so special. We already have. We’ve created more financially independent families than any other company on the face of the planet. We’ve created more millionaires.
Right?
Are you going to be the next one? Are you going to leave this event and say, that is it? I am sick and tired of being broke. I am sick and tired of not being recognized. I am sick and tired of not winning for my family.
Right.
Our kids now are 22 and 24. And to see how they are, how their people skills are, how good with their money, the impact you’re going to make in your community, in your church, in your lives is second to none. I don’t think there can be a better place to raise kids than Primerica.
Right.
And we are going to do something big in 2024. Thanks for listening. Proud to be your teammate again. Yeah.
