What makes a winner?

I went to the Chamber Business Awards last night and witnessed some well deserving people receive recognition for their hard work over the last 12 months.

 It was great to see the enthusiasm and passion some people have for their business - although the drink may have added to the occasion a little bit too me thinks ;-)

It did, however, lead me to thinking 'what is it that makes a winner'?  Why are some people turning their work into a passion and some just do it 'to make a living'?  Well I believe it boils down to your internal value's.  If you believe that what you are doing is your valuable contribution to society and you genuinely want to provide a solution to your customers problems then you will automatically have more energy to get out of bed in the morning.  Alternatively, if you see you're business or profession as having no real significance then the desire to produce credible work will diminish.

People who see themselves as working to 'get by'seem always to produce mediocre results whereas those that put their heart into it and recognise their valuable contribution to society will always experience greater success.  The good news too is that the byproduct of this belief is that YOU will have more fulfillment and joy in your days and, just as your quality of work will increase, so too will YOUR quality of life.

At Ideal, we try and put this into action with our belief that a client should always benefit far more from our relationship than we do.  We believe that a clients money is not the important thing, it's their life.  When we find out about a clients goals and dreams, value's and concerns then, and only then, can we create financial plans to make sure that their life is enhanced with the way they handle their finances.  The money is simply a means to an end really.

The greatest joy I've ever had in my client facing experience is not selling a big policy to someone.  It was calculating a clients lifetime cash flow and helping them realise that Mrs 'client' didn't have to work anymore in a corporate job she didn't like, in fact the stress was making her ill.  Showing someone, in real terms (and justifiable calculations) that they 'had enough' was worth far more than the fee we were paid.

So, congratulations to all the winners last night.  For those that didn't win here's some words from my one of my favourite authors Og Mandino "the only certain measure of success is to render more and better service than expected.  People who only do what they are paid to do are not earning an increase.'

warmest regards

Brian