What is passion and how do you find it!

Certainly this business has something to do with it.  I know our business inside and out and I love it.   So mastering a business probably has something to do with passion. Being a professional versus an amateur.  It is unlikely you can gain passion about something unless to truly learn about it.  Your thirst creates passion, if your thirst is rewarded.

I guess it also about wanting to make a difference.  Make a difference in people’s lives; your customers, your team and yourself.  Being passionate, when rewarded, is very stimulating emotionally, intellectually and physically.  Yes physically!  I am physically energized to do my job because of the intellectual and emotional rewards.

Doing something of value stimulates my spirit.  When the light goes on in the eyes of anyone I train or coach I get such a buzz from it.   When they get it.  When I successfully reach them and they understand.   When they go out an use what I train and it works … WOW!   I explode!

To truly be passionate you need to believe in what you do and not allow doubts to cloud your thinking.

I believe each of us has passion, but most of us keep it bottled up and hoard it for another day.  Some feel they cannot get too excited or too involved, therefore never experience true passion.   I feel my passion gives me special gifts like; persistency, enthusiasm, commitment, energy and great love of what I do.

I hope my passion is well directed and of value to all who recognize it and ultimately to God.

I wish each person would seek and find their inner passion and let it out.  Don’t be afraid to be passionate about what you do or say!

Jim just signed a contract to have two of his five books translated and published into Hungarian. Many of his books are published in various languages. He is now published in English, Chinese, Taiwanese, Russian, Turkish, Slovak, Czech, Romanian, Polish, Lithuanian and now Hungarian. He is in discussion to publish some titles in Greek and Ukrainian. He is in discussion to publish titles in Greek and Ukrainian. His is a best selling author of some of his titles. For more information about his books and how to order them go to <a href=”http://professionalsalesplus.com/Books”>http://professionalsalesplus.com/Books</a>. All his books are available in paper and e-book versions.

Another Flippin Change Book - The Picture

A positive book on change - 5th book in a series
by James M. Heidema and Carol A. McKenzie

We believe the path through change is easier, more successful and more rewarding if you can be passionate about the change and comfortable with the change process…

Learn more about Another Flippin’ Change Book.
This book is available as a paperback & eBook.

Building The Passionate Team - Book in Russian

Building the Passionate Team - Now in Russian
Authors: James M. Heidema & Carol A. McKenzie

Building the Passionate Team is a very practical workbook to assist any member of a team to more effectively build a high performance team. This book is a problem solving manual where you can learn to diagnose the problem and find workable solutions. It is written by James M. Heidema and Carol A. McKenzie.

Now it has been published in the Russian language. Building the Passionate Team is also published in Polish. If you would like to learn more about these books just go to this link:
http://professionalsalesplus.com/BuildingthePassionateTeam

Recently I wrote an short article on becoming a partner with Berteig Consulting.

View the Article by Jim Heidema

Dear colleagues!

As 2008 draws to a close, I wanted to wish you all the best in 2009. I am sure for some of you, 2008 was a great year, for some it was a good year and others not as good as you expected. I had a good year with many important milestones. My 4th book - The Passionate Service Recipe Book was printed, book 5 - Another Flippin’ Change Book was finished, I added two new languages for my first two books, Russian and Lithuanian. My books are in 9 languages. On a personal note, I celebrated my 35th wedding anniversary and will celebrate my 62 year (December 30) in this world. Most importantly I met and worked with some very interesting people from many cultures which includes you. As well, I have been working with two top teams in Slovakia and one in Greece. These teams are leading in their respective companies and countries.

It is very stimulating and encouraging when the individuals in those teams adopt the ideas I present and therefore lead. Remember these are not all my ideas. I gather the systems, processes and tools from around the world. What is obvious to me is that these ideas work in every culture, if the individual or team is courageous enough to try them. Unfortunately many individuals are afraid or unwilling to try them. As you know, success is a choice. In this business we get out of it (meaning success, money, recognition, whatever) what we put into it.

Individuals can always find excuses not to change their behaviours. This does not only apply to our industry, it applies to every industry; culture, race and person on this planet. We can easily find discouragement everywhere. There are those people who tell us it is not possible and won’t work, whatever we suggest. Those people who do not grow and develop, do not adopt new ideas and are the same people who follow rather than lead. Those people work for others. The leaders work for themselves.

The end of the year and the beginning of a new year is a great time to assess what is working and what needs to change in your business and your life. I encourage you to be honest and assess what you have accomplished in 2008. Then look at what you believe is possible in 2009. Look at your capacity. Can you do more? I believe each of us can do more. The question is … are you willing to do more. Maybe being mediocre is enough for you. Strong words, I know! I have hope and a vision for every person I meet, you included. I see potential and capacity in all. Unfortunately, no matter how hard I try, some never see their true capacity. Please take advantage of the gift God gave you, your capacity!

This is your wake up call. Wake up and get involved in your business. Take control of your potential. Commit yourself to doing more rather than doing less. You only pass through this reality, this world, once. Why not make the most of it.

For the past 3 months I have written to you on almost a weekly basis. You know how I feel about you. You know that I only want the best for you. You know I see capacity and potential in you. I continue to wish you well. Thank you for listening and thinking about my messages. Hopefully they have some affect upon you.

Have a happy holiday season with your loved ones. Until we chat in 2009, I wish you the best.

Warm regards,
Jim

Another threshold has been achieved. Jim has written his 5th book and just had his first book translated and published in a 10th language - Lithuanian. He now has books in Chinese, Taiwanese, Turkish, Russian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Romanian and English. He also has 3 more books in the process, of which one or two will be published in 2009.

To order the books go to http://professionalsalesplus.com/Books

WinNews-JamesHeidema

Win-news - a newsletter from Slovakia. James Heidema did a seminar with a team to help them become very successful. This was taken in November 2008.

This is a new team Jim is working with in Slovakia - pictured with Michal Tabaka.

Good day my friends!

Winter has arrived in my part of Canada. The ground is covered with snow and the temperature is hovering around 0 degrees Celsius. This must be difficult for you to imagine when you do not even get rain in Cyprus. I love the seasons in Canada and the weather changes makes it very interesting and a positive experience. Generally I love change.

Even when I have to deliver the same seminar to different groups, I never deliver it the same way. Now you may assume that some participants get a better seminar than others. Well, because I pride myself on my professionalism, I make sure every group of participants get value. I acted this way when I was an advisor just like you. I constantly looked for ways to add value to my customers. I think most MDRT members think this way.

My desire to add value gave me a competitive advantage and a competitive edge. It allowed me to reach the top ranks of our profession. I worried about how I could add value and what would that value look like. The first policy I adopted was to ‘under-promise and over-deliver!’ When asked to do something by one of my customers, I would be slow to accept, generous in my response commitment, and then I would always respond sooner and ‘wow’ the customer. Here is an example … the customer asks me to get some information … I would say … humm, I might be able to get it to you in 3 or 4 days, okay? The customer would say ‘okay!’ Then I would get the information right away or the next day and call them back with it. I would say to the customer, that I really valued them and made it a priority to get back to them. The customer would feel special. If gave me a competitive edge.

Another way to gain a competitive edge or advantage was to be more professional than my competitors. I memorized my scripts, practiced and role-played until I knew the word-for-word. Some advisors think memorization is too hard or they feel it is unnecessary. Actually memorization is hard until you get in the habit of doing it. then like anything, the more you do it, the better you get at it. As well memorization allows you to be creative in how you respond to the customer. Memorization empowers you for you always know where you are going and what to say. Most advisors who are struggling don’t memorize or role-play! Remember success is a choice!

As well, my competitive edge is not what I say, it is what I do. As we have talked about before. People do not trust words. They do trust your positive behaviors, actions, gestures and what they can actually see. Are you truly listening to them? They can tell, just like your spouse or child can tell if you are listening by watching your behaviours. Remember to show them and me the money. Don’t promise, don’t say I will try, don’t say I hope, Just do it! As the Nike ads say, just do it!

Soon you will see a video from me. It is a very basic one but hopefully you will get and understand the message loud and clear. Your success, happiness and future is entirely in your hands.

By the way December is a wonderful time to sell insurance. In my next note I will talk about it.

All the best,
Jim