There are many wonderful books related to the topic of overcoming adversity, finding happiness and becoming successful. This message will hopefully contribute to giving you that extra edge in your continued quest for success – It did for me.

I have lived at the coalface my entire life, an unconventional and full life filled with enormous life altering adversity, success and happiness. I reached my childhood dream of becoming financially independent and on the way lived a life of extreme adventure. These activities took me beyond a life of most people. Passion, determination and resilience allowed me to push myself beyond the limits.

As the Founder and CEO of the National Small Business Chamber, I spend my days meeting with life`s most successful entrepreneurs; both national and globally. The purpose is to learn from these zero to hero, back to zero, and back to hero again mercurial individuals. Here are some “Tips” on how they reached the top of their game:

Tip # 1
Love What You Do - This will give you that extra edge! If you don’t love what you do - Change NOW!

TIP # 2
Ensure That Your Customers Love What You Do - Do you have the right product or service? Have you surveyed the market - Are your customers prepared to pay for what you have to offer?

TIP # 3
Get Happy - Make the Happiness Factor your priority and change your attitude NOW – It is well known through research that the # 1 Reason why people do business with you - is because they like you. It’s not because of your product and/or price!

TIP # 4
Get the Right Passengers on Your Bus — Hire people who fit into your culture and whose values fit the job description. A big rule amongst the most successful recruiters of personnel – Don’t hire people with baggage. Take potential employees to lunch or dinner before you hire. Dig into their past, passions, values, etc.

RULE # 5
Get Out of Your Zone and Innovate - Slow down and delegate – Put 80% of your efforts into the big stuff. Do things differently, walk on the wrong side of the road, swim upstream and challenge the status quo – Always keep looking for the next big thing. Remember, don’t be afraid to fail, every failure (let’s rather call them obstacles) are steps to the top of the success ladder. Yes, if you keep going you eventually have to reach the top of the ladder.

RULE # 6
Stop Hard Selling – Change the way you build your top line. Be that nice guy, network through referrals; focus on listening and satisfying needs. Build long term meaningful relationships. What is important - Never take NO for an answer - It sometimes takes up to 18 impressions (three visits, 4 phone calls, 2 e-mails ...etc!). Remember, the sale will always come if you adopt the never give up attitude.

RULE # 7
Be Brutal on the Money - Control your overheads and expenses. Before paying any expenses, commit a percentage to a savings plan. For eg. Start with 10% and increase it quarterly. You have to become accustomed to saving and not paying debt - The priority # 1 expense is a savings plan.

RULE # 8
Do GREAT Work - Define 3 things a day what matters most - forget those long lists of things to do. Know who matters – Surround yourself with people that matter most. Say NO to unproductive meetings, task etc, and start saying YES slowly. Time your meetings with military discipline. Get rid of what’s not working – If a project or business is failing, stop and change direction. Accept ALL things thrown at you and just keep moving ahead positively.

RULE # 9
Always Do The Right Thing – “If You Have Integrity, Nothing Else Matters. If You Don't Have Integrity, Nothing Else Matters” - Alan K. Simpson. The honest, fair and just will always prevail. Whenever you are at a cross roads when making a decision, always just do the right thing.

RULE # 10
Just Keep Going - As  long as you get up and keep moving, you will succeed, there is no way around it. The ability, courage and desire to keep going positively during trying times is what counts and that’s what separates success from failure – Never Surrender.

FMI is proud of claim statistics that give claim payment certainty to our policyholders as well as our Financial Advisers. Below are some of the highlights from 2009:

• In 2009, FMI paid 99.7% of all valid Temporary Income Protection claims lodged. This statistic together with our previous temporary claims payout ratio of 97% in 2007 and 97.3% in 2008, serves to illustrate our commitment to paying our client’s claims in the time of greatest need.

• In 2009, the average Temporary Income Protection claim lasted for 87 days. This shows that disabilities of a temporary nature is where the real risk lies, which is why we insist on Temporary Income Protection being a compulsory benefit.



• Our experience shows that the younger than 30 age band is more likely to have an accident claim than an illness claim, for this reason FMI have developed an accident only benefit designed to cover those below the age of 32.

Remember FMI’s special offer is only valid until the 31st July 2010! This offer is extended to all Financial Advisers and their clients for all existing and new income protection policies. You or your client may qualify for R50 000 per month cover on our Temporary Income Protector benefit and R20 000 per month on our Business Overhead Protector benefit under our Business Person Elect Policy, with no medical underwriting. Take advantage of this special offer today as it will only be available for a limited time!