General

The Oil Spill… Who is Really Responsible?

Posted by Andrew    Posted in Featured, General, My Rant    Posted in July 1, 2010    |    

Now this is sure to stir some feelings in people out there. The Gulf Oil Spill/Leak is still one of the top trending topics world wide, in one article I just browsed, BP have said that they have hit a cost of 100m per day to try and clean it up. While BP are doing what they can (albeit a little late) the majority of society are quick to point the finger of blame (as they usually do), something went wrong so somebody must be at fault, heads must roll there must be BLOOD. Although this is a big problem that certainly requires immediate attention and a thorough investigation, I am going to use it to highlight an even bigger issue.

The issue is one that I believe should be far easier to fix... unfortunately, it will in fact still be an issue long after the oil leak is plugged. People as a whole are quick to blame others for their 'lot' in life whatever that is meant to mean. They look at what other people have and decide in their own mind that if they are seemingly doing better than themselves that there must be some sordid reason and that they are evil. Be damned the truth, that the person they covet with envious eyes worked hard to be where they are to have what they have. And unfortunately it is these thoughts that ultimately keep them from having everything they could ever possibly need.

BP Oil DisasterIf they spent half as much time focusing on the things that they did want in their lives, as they did thinking that someone else has it so much better then they would want for nothing. So what has this got to do with Oil and who is responsible? Well I would think it is obvious... but then I am writing the post right ;)   The question that I think needs to be asked here and now (go on ask yourself) is this... 'Can these people (yourself included) actually do anything about it?' The answer is of course they can. So the next question then is this 'Is Bitching and Moaning about a Giant company going to help the situation?' the answer to that of course is NO they most certainly cannot. As I say I wanted to use this to highlight a bigger issue... if people took head of this you would notice an immediate surge in resources and solutions. But again if it was as easy as people taking personal responsibility then we would already be there wouldn't we? Doesn't everyone already take personal responsibility? If we are to look at all of the crap blatantly defaming different companies and individuals on the internet is anything to go by then NO Absolutely not.

Ladies and Gents there are regulatory Authorities that are set in place to investigate companies and individuals for a reason, they are qualified to do so... Wow... imagine that qualified... it is a foreign thought for a lot of people out there... never mind I digress...

So back to our oil spill... who is responsible? Well you are... I am... we all are, unless you drive a Hybrid, live in home that has no electricity accept Solar or wind generated, have NEVER used public transport, have never worked in a building that did not have central heating.... you get the picture..?

Now could we have prevented the situation... more than like not, we have no effective control... however stop and think for a second... if there was no demand for the natural resource that BP are obviously  supplying then would they have ever been there to begin with? Something to think about.

I know that there will be people that are upset at this post... you know what 'boohoo' get over it, you probably whine about it being to full too when there are 1000's of people starving. Note I am not hear pointing the finger, I included myself in the responsible part.

The fact remains that we can do something about this and the prospect of future disasters... the question remains will you? If you could stand as part of a global solution and truly be responsible for creating a better place for everyone would you?

The funny thing is I ask this question of so many people and they all say the same thing... yes of course I would... sadly when shown the way where they can truly make a difference they don't. There is always something that gets in the way.

If you are the former, then check this out NOW, if you are the latter... I am sorry and Good Luck... you may need it.

To Your Success

Andrew-HawkesAbout the Author

Andrew Hawkes is an Entrepreneur that has had good times and bad, he draws on all the experiences that he has had, military and in business, to provide solid information that anyone can use and understand to improve the results in thier own life and therefore show others to imrpove thiers. He believes that anyone can make a difference in the world and that ultimately anything is possible.

Effective Time Management

Posted by Andrew    Posted in Business, General    Posted in June 30, 2010    |    

So your working from home now. Great Congratulations! It is not a transition that many make very easily. People (certainly who are coming from being an employee) are used to having a bit of structure in their day and when making the transition (unless you have been responsible for your time management previously) tend to struggle here, and there really is no need to. It can be very easy to sit in your office and think that you are busy and that you are getting plenty of work done... I mean you feel busy, you look busy... you must be busy right? Yet at the end of the day when someone says, so who was your day, what did you get accomplished? You quite often find it a hard one to answer you can literally spend a whole day doing nothing and feel (at the time) that you are getting a truck load done. Unfortunately when you are working for yourself you start to realise (when its time to pay the bills) that you really haven't got that much done but how can that be? You have been so busy. I can tell you that it has happened to us all. So I want to introduce you to a concept that you may or you may not have heard of. It is that of a default calendar. It is a very simple concept that can be implemented and set up in a matter of minutes.

default calendarSo what is it? Well it is really simple... map out your week into blocks of time. You work for yourself now, no one is going to tell you when you can and when you can't have lunch go to the bathroom... whatever, however because you work for yourself doesn't mean you get to slack off, which is what some people think (not you of course) Start at what ever time of the day you choose and start on Monday, if you know that every day from 0800-1000 hours you are going to be doing a certain task then put it in. Don't get to hung up on what you are going to do in your allotted time, for now lets just allot it. Depending on what business you are involved with there may well be weekly team calls or webinars that are a regular fixture, it makes sense then to add those to your default calendar.

At first it may seem a little strange blocking out time slots for no apparent reason, and to be fair to an employee it would be. There is a reason for this, in fact there are a number of reasons for this the biggest is that it allows you the time you need to get the things done that you have to do... to put that into context think of this work expands to fill the time allowed for it meaning simply that a 5 minute job can in fact take you 2 hours if you allow it to. If that is the time you have allotted to do it, it will take that long. The same works in reverse you can get a 2 hour job done in an hour and a half if that is the only time you have available to do it in. I remember as an apprentice Mechanic in the Air Force and my Senior NCO was trying to teach me a lesson in time management (and something else) and he informed me (at 1100hrs) that the vehicle that I had to work on had to be ready to go on a run down country by 1500hrs. The didn't believe the job could be completed in the allotted time frame, and as a result I actually dragged my feet for an hour... until it was made clear to me that it was going no matter how late I had to stay to finish it (it was Friday) So after dragging my feet for an hour I realised that if it was going to be done I had to work through lunch! Long story short it was completed, it was set out, and it was done. Your Default Calendar can help you do the same.

Now with your allotted time slots start thinking of tasks that must be completed during the week, think about how long each of those tasks should take and then take 15 minutes of them and put them into your time blocks. To get you thinking perhaps you could be thinking about 'Team, Distribution, Production, Marketing, Finance, Demand' these are actually the core elements of your and any business. Become masterful in these and your success is guaranteed (you will only be as successful as your weakest  element) You will also want to think about continued education (may be within your elements)  and personal development.

Decide what works best for you with your time, work it around the things you want to get done during the week, most of all STICK to it!! This is truly the way that you can stay on top of what it is that you are looking to get done... If people want your time (and they will) make an appointment for them, because of course when you create your default calendar you will set appointment times (it doesn't matter if you have none to start, you will have them right?)

OK so a simple why of actively (yet passively) managing your time.

To Your Success

Andrew-HawkesAbout the Author

Andrew Hawkes is an Entrepreneur that has had good times and bad, he draws on all the experiences that he has had, military and in business, to provide solid information that anyone can use and understand to improve the results in thier own life and therefore show others to imrpove thiers. He believes that anyone can make a difference in the world and that ultimately anything is possible.

Personal Branding…. It’s too important to Leave to Chance

Posted by Andrew    Posted in General    Posted in June 26, 2010    |    
AndrewHawkes.com Here is an ad we did for Andrew Hawkes love to hear your feed back about it. If you want to know more about creating your brand go and check Andrew's site out
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Homebased

Posted by Andrew    Posted in General    Posted in June 26, 2010    |    
only90daystofreedom.com Working from home lets me see all of the little things that my boy does as he grows
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Article or Post Ideas… Where to get them…

Posted by Andrew    Posted in Business, General    Posted in June 22, 2010    |    

So you want to write a new post or article but what do you write about and where can you get some information? A Friend of Mine Amy Scott Grant has spoken of this and gave me some great insight into what to write about, and it is really quite simple. Write about things that excite you, it doesn't necessarily have to be specific to your business opportunity or and niche in particular. By doing this you are going to attract the people that have similar interests to you which is great as you have a better chance of them becoming a raging fan and perhaps even making a purchase from you in the future.

OK so that was and still is useful information... however how do you get your blog noticed? Talk about a trending topic so here in this clip I show you two really simple and easy ways in which you can do just that... so enjoy the clip.

So as you can see... it really is simple right? I think so... so let me know how you get on when using this technique to inspire your inner writer.

Talk soon

To Your Success

Andrew-HawkesAbout the Author

Andrew Hawkes is an Entrepreneur that has had good times and bad, he draws on all the experiences that he has had, military and in business, to provide solid information that anyone can use and understand to improve the results in thier own life and therefore show others to imrpove thiers. He believes that anyone can make a difference in the world and that ultimately anything is possible.

Creating Your Personal Brand

Posted by Andrew    Posted in Business, Featured, General    Posted in June 18, 2010    |    

This is a subject that is really more important than people realise, and more often than not when overlooked can become the downfall of any person and any business.

I have spoken before about not being congruent with who you are, and really knowing who you are before your create your brand can be quite important. But what if you are not sure of who you are? You know you have a gift to share, you know you can stand as a testament of triumph... but for what? And more importantly can you create brand awareness without knowing? Well... not really. You can make nice pretty pages (and we can show you how to do that) however they really serve no purpose if you have no clue as to what it is you are representing.

So then this is assuming you know who you are and what you want to represent. Now given that you know what and who you are then the rest should really come into line and you will understand the logic in behind what we are doing.Personal Branding

Personal Branding is in fact just that, it is creating an association between yourself (your image and outlook)  and a given field or cause (this can even be a niche of something bigger). Now of course these fields and causes can and do vary significantly... I mean can you have more than one association? Of course you can. Let's look at Sir Richard Branson, he in himself is iconic, yet he is not his brand, 'Virgin' is his brand... And although it made its entry into this world as a mail order record company it soon become a major player in the music industry with its 'Virgin Mega Stores' and of course its record label. Yet when people talk of virgin today there is many things associated with the brand. Mobile Phone Plans... Air Lines... Money (yes they lend money)... holidays, just to name a few of the associations that they have.

So why can they have so many associations? It is simply because 'Virgin' is a name they people trust, the name itself is now synonymous with great value and as someone who fights for the underdog. Making the brand it self a winner among everyday people.

So where do we start? In today's day and age there are a plethora of opportunities and ways in which you are able to brand yourself and start to promote yourself as an expert in pretty much any field you choose. There is a blog (hint, hint) YouTube, Facebook, Myspace (apparently people still use it) Twitter... the list really could go on and on. And it can really come down to your imagination in the ways in which you could get yourself out there.

A good friend of mine Nat King has a great article on one of the ways to help with your branding on her site check it out for a good place to start with your blog.

Now this article could go on for days and days, really it could... I am about time and good use of it, so rather than type it all out here I thought a practical run through would suit a little better... So I did exactly that, I have put together a four step Personal Branding Video Course, and you can get started right here. Simply fill out the form for instant FREE access;

I am sure you will find value in this series, and of course if there are any improvements you would like to see then by all means let me know and I will get it sorted out!

To your Success

To Your Success

Andrew-HawkesAbout the Author

Andrew Hawkes is an Entrepreneur that has had good times and bad, he draws on all the experiences that he has had, military and in business, to provide solid information that anyone can use and understand to improve the results in thier own life and therefore show others to imrpove thiers. He believes that anyone can make a difference in the world and that ultimately anything is possible.

The Past is Not the Present

Posted by Andrew    Posted in General    Posted in June 17, 2010    |    

The Past is Not the Present, and the Present is Certainly Not the Future!

How many times have you been stopped in your tracks when attempting to accomplish something because someone says to you “You’ve tried that before and failed” or “you have never had the ability”? It is an all too common scenario. Countless people with potential beyond their own comprehension are deterred or put off even attempting something due to their past circumstances. Or even worse, because someone else they know has attempted what they want to attempt and not succeeded.

We as human beings are breed like no other. You never see an elephant ‘wonder’ who he is, you never see an eagle question its purpose. Instead they just are. They have been for 100’s of 1000’s of years and will continue to be (at least until our ignorance of nature brings it to an end).

We often allow our own experiences to stop us from achieving what it is that we truly want in life. We allow our past to dictate what happens today, and in the future. Your past does not dictate what happens for your future… you do. Your well meaning (and sometimes not so well meaning) friends do not dictate what happens in your lives… you do.

So why then are we so quick to accept our limitations? Just because someone calls you a name, or doesn’t hold the opinion of you that you think they should does not mean that what they think is correct. (Take it from Henry Ford, it doesn’t matter what other people think… they probably don’t!) It doesn’t make it true… there is a caveat here, if you allow it to be true then it will be. If you live up to the expectations or rather their opinions then yeah… it can be true. You have the choice. You always have the choice.

So I guess what I am saying here is this, you can be do and have anything. So long as you know who you are, know what you want and don’t buy into the BS that people (including yourself at times) feed you. You are infinitely powerful, step in to your power and don’t be afraid, half measures avail us nothing.

Time is an illusion the same that Money is an idea, so therefore if you can picture yourself in the possession of ‘things’ then you already have them. Just act is though you had and they will appear as you pictured them to be, most people don’t really see themselves in the possession of, it is always just outside their reach. Therein lies the problem.

I have been fortunate in my life to have had many great lessons and also many amazing experiences, and I have much to share, for me to rest on that and rob the world of my findings because someone who doesn’t (really) know me and who has been feed a line of garbage from a source with ulterior motives, well then I allow that garbage to be true. I have that choice. I can act as they expect… or I can be who I am. Simple!

To Your Success

Andrew-HawkesAbout the Author

Andrew Hawkes is an Entrepreneur that has had good times and bad, he draws on all the experiences that he has had, military and in business, to provide solid information that anyone can use and understand to improve the results in thier own life and therefore show others to imrpove thiers. He believes that anyone can make a difference in the world and that ultimately anything is possible.

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