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Creating Space In Your Members Head For Passion For Your Association

By Tom Morrison posted 09-22-2015 02:47 PM

  

Creating Space In Your Members Head For Passion For Your Association

With any human being there is only so much space in our head and our heart for emotion and Associations bank on getting their portion of that space to create passionate members who lead them to success and overall strength passion.
 

When someone’s glass is overflowing with the demands of daily life members have no room for either emotion or passion for an association to make a connection. When you look at associations we are all about engaging a member’s passion with our purpose to have a positive impact on the association cause.  If there is no room for the purpose and passion of the association retention and volunteerism suffer. 

Hear me on this. If a member is NOT personally fulfilled in life they cannot be professionally fulfilled in the long term.  If they are not professionally fulfilled you will not reach them as a member. 

Anyone reading this understands the personal daily grind of life. For many
trying to keep all the balls in the air in meeting the demands on your life can truly suck the passion right out of your soul. Studies show the frustration and challenges faced by many of our members:

  • 55% of Americans are unhappy in their current job
  • Over 60% of Americans have some type of debt in collection
  • 50% of marriages are ending in divorce
  • Over 60% of America are overweight
These are a lot of our association members. While they are dealing with debt, marital issues,
unhappy with their job or battling health issues, we are trying to grab their attention and get them involved in our associations. Unless we can make a personal and emotional connection
especially with the younger generation associations will always struggle to sift through the maze of the daily grind.
 

Between all of the personal and professional responsibilities and demands in our members’ lives it can be almost overwhelming to many. Just to name a few are: 
  • Increasing debt
  • Family responsibilities
  • Overwhelming children activities
  • Work related demands and stress
  • Relationship issues
  • Volunteering
  • Not enough time to get everything done
  • Health issues creeping in
The 4 numbers I mentioned earlier illustrate this. Just these four areas of people’s lives are enough to create undue stress and anxiety that makes it hard for members to buy into the passion an association desires and needs.  When members are overwhelmed personally they are overwhelmed at work. If they are overwhelmed at work they have no emotional space to become connected passionately to the cause of the industry association. In life many want to improve their circumstances but many don’t know how to or what path to take. They want more than a return on their investment…they want a RETURN ON LIFE.

People need hope. They need to know there is a path for moving from struggle to success…from sorrow to joy...from no time to “I got this”… from emptiness to fulfillment. They need a path that can actually help them live out their hopes wishes and dreams that they aspired to when they left their parents house after high school and college.
 

I want to encourage associations to give thought to the following: how can you help your members find that path of hope, success and fulfillment that will help them to eventually free up the space in their head and connect in with your association.
 

Regardless of what you do in 2016 and 2017, don’t just give your members a return on investment.  Give them a RETURN ON LIFE. Members who receive a return on life will create more passion and member engagement than you could ever pay for.
 
My book, How to Get People to Scream Your Name and Beg For More, speaks to this topic and since its launch has been changing the way reader's think about their life.  
- Read the first chapter for FREE by CLICKING HERE
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