Note: Trust Your Gut is an updated and revised edition of Trusting Yourself as of 9/04. New book reviews of Trust Your Gut will be available soon as we get the the new edition out to be reviewed. Since the content is essentially the same, this book review is valid for the new edition.

Aptly subtitled: "How To Overcome the Psychological Barriers to Reaching Your Potential Selling Life Insurance, Investments and Financial Planning Services," Sidney C. Walker's Trusting Yourself is the perfect antidote for anyone who feels his career is drifting or about to flounder. His themes are to follow your intuition, believe in yourself, foster rapport with your clients and build trust by working throughout your career to earn a reputation for integrity. In other words, respect yourself, respect others and you'll get respect.

We often ignore the inner voice that tries to teach and guide us. Walker insists that intuition tells us when to call a client, when to back off because we're pushing too hard and when to go for the close.

Listening to our inner voice, he says, is imperative for success in our business. It allows us to break out of our comfort zone and brings immediate positive results.

According to Walker, we develop confidence in ourselves and a positive self-image by discarding all negative views of ourselves and focusing on clear, positive images of our strengths. Concentrate on who we most enjoy working with, what areas we find most interesting and congenial. Avoid the temptation to stray into other markets that will only bring frustration and financial failure. "Why bother trying to work with people if you have to be someone other than your best self," he contends.

The problem, he says, lies in thinking the only way to make big bucks is to land that multimillion-dollar case. Many small and medium-sized cases will accomplish the same degree of success. Long-term security comes from having more clients, more repeat sales and many more referrals.

Long-term imaging in our mind's eye is a critical step, says Walker, when it comes to developing a long-term goal. When you can imagine how it would feel to reach your goal through all your senses and emotions, you give your mind the opportunity to begin working out ways to achieve your daily goals. If your goals are too short term, the analytical and survival side of your brain will convince you to remain where you are.

I found Walker's section on building rapport with clients especially enlightening. Without first creating rapport with our prospects, he points out, we cannot build trust and acceptance, which means there will be no possible way to sell our products to them.

There is much in Walker's 151-page book to spark the career of anyone in the business, but I highly recommend it to general agents and managers who must teach and inspire others to reach their highest potential.

S. Thomas Greeley is an agent with Northwestern Mutual at the Frieling Agency in Wellesley, Massachusetts.