Andrew HorderBusiness strategy coaching : The Busy Fool blog Page 5 | Business strategy coaching : The Busy Fool blog

Andrew Horder
Founder of TheBusyFool.com, Andrew has been working with business owners for many years, helping them find and maintain their Focus - those activities and opportunities that they love, and will produce their success. Andrew's first book, The Busy Fool's a to Z of Loving Work is available from Amazon http://www.thebusyfool.com/amazon-azlw
The Busy Fool on Moments of Light Radio Show
Posted April 26, 2011 By Andrew Horder in Audio and Video, Uncategorized With | No Comments

My friend and guide/mentor Tom Evans kindly invited me to share what I know and what I’ve worked out on his regular Monday evening show on The Barefoot Broadcast, “Moments of Light” – here’s the recording of it. We range far and wide through the topic, and the core message is that we really all deserve to, in fact have a duty to, focus on the work we love, finding that balance between the inspiration to take it up at all, the intuition that it’s the right thing for us, and the intellectual knowledge that we can create a business out of it.

Enjoy listening, and if – as I do – you find Tom’s style delightful, do listen in to his show whenever you can, or check the Barefoot Broadcast archives.

The Busy Fool on Barefoot Broadcast with Tom Evans
The Busy Fool’s Newsletter – April 2011
Posted April 19, 2011 By Andrew Horder in Newsletters With | No Comments
Welcome to The Busy Fool’s April newsletter!

Several interesting developments in the world of TheBusyFool.com this month. Firstly, after a fascinating chat over a beer, Tom Evans, author of Blocks, Flavours of Thought and The Art and Science of Lightbulb Moments (release date June 2011), agreed to share some of his thoughts with us under the category “Tomfoolery and Tomcoolery” (see the sidebar on the category page for the thinking behind that). Tom’s going to be appearing on stage later this year with Brian Tracy and Mark Victor Hansen (of “Chicken Soup…” fame) at the Ultimate Business Summit 2011 – with that line-up of speakers, it has to be worth a look. And then Tom invited me onto his Moments of Light radio show on The Barefoot broadcast, to talk about doing what you love for a living – Tom’s show starts about an hour into this recording of the Monday evening broadcast.

Meanwhile, there are a few other events coming up that your network might like to know about. I’m involved in all of them in some way, either as presenter or as part of the team running them. They’re all in London, I know that may not be the closest city to you – I bet you have some good contacts close by though!

Focus On Your Success May 13^th, London

This is my first solo workshop, aimed at getting people focused on the things that will really get them where they want to go. Starting with why you’re here on the planet at all, through what do you love doing, to what you are so good at, people will happily pay you to do what you love enough to do it for free.

That’s right: fulfilling your life’s purpose AND getting paid to have fun! And when you’re having fun, you’re more effective and you achieve more – how’s that for an outcome?

If that sounds good to you, but you can’t get to London, click here to be the first in the queue when I’ve turned it into a home study pack that you can follow in the comfort of your own home or office. Or if you – and those people in your network – can get to London on May 13, just click below for more details.

Focus On Your Success May 13^th, London

Transform Your Redundancy May 7^th – 8^th, London

With all the turmoil going on in the worlds of finance and work right now, we all know people who are worried for their jobs. Well, I’ve been through four redundancies, and I’ve realised that every time I’ve come out better off! So have most of my friends.

So Peter Wilford & I have created this two-day intensive workshop to show people how to create opportunity out of adversity. It’s not just for people who have had the layoff notice, it’s also for anyone who could get the chance to take a payoff, and wants to know – in advance – what to do about it.

In other words, take a short-cut, avoid the mistakes we’ve seen people make, and turn your redundancy into the best opportunity since you left school.

Once again, if you can’t get to London for 7/8 May, fill in your details here and we’ll make sure you’re the first to know when the home study version comes out. Or if you want to come to the live workshop (recommended, of course!), just click below.

Transform Your Redundancy May 7^th – 8^th, London

The Ultimate Profit Factor, May 5^th London

This multi-speaker event is going to be different – Tamar Peters, the incredible lady behind it, has promised me it’s not going to be the normal ‘pitch-fest’. Yes, the speakers will be offering the chance to delve deeper into their subjects with them – and they’re committed first of all to delivering great content about all aspects of business and making more profit.

Tamar’s ‘The Profit Factor’ event page at the Top Speaker Events website tells you much more than I could ever fit here, just click on the link to find out all you need to know.

The Ultimate Profit Factor, May 5^th London

That’s it for the events, and there’s a couple of new download products I wanted to tell you about, one I’ve created and one I use and recommend.

The Busy Fool’s A to Z of Loving Work

We all deserve to spend our working life doing what you love, in fact I’d say, you have a duty to enjoy what you do for a living. This simple guide will help you figure out how to enjoy making a living doing what you love.

Want to do what you love what you do for a living?

Tired of slogging away at work that just doesn’t light you up?

Certain that there has to be more to work (and life) than all this hassle?

Then The A to Z of Loving Work is exactly what you need right now!

No doubt you’re like all of us – you want to do something you love for a living. Life’s for too short to spend half your waking hours doing something that doesn’t bring you joy. Yet somehow, it’s all too easy to slip off the path isn’t it, to end up doing all sorts of work that you don’t really choose, to become a Busy Fool?

I started writing this ebook to provide other individuals finding it hard to focus on the work they love, other people in business finding themselves torn between making the money and enjoying life, in short, other Busy Fools like me, with a guide to understanding all the many aspects of doing what you love for a living. And in the process, I found a number of ways I could improve my own working life, and get even more joy from making a living doing work I love.

By the end of this ebook you will:
- Know what work you want to do, and what you don’t
- Understand what your core values and drivers are
- Learn how to deal with demanding bosses and clients – and NOT piss them off!
- Stop feeling guilty about saying ‘no’ to work that’s not right for you
- Realise that your best work is always the work that you totally love to do
- Wake up on Monday mornings thinking “Great! I get to do some work today!”
The Busy Fool’s A to Z of Loving Work

The Wellspring of Success

A while back I got a call from hypnotherapist Trevor Emdon, telling me about this great new product he’d created. I downloaded it, did the exercises, watched the video, listened to the audio, and then put on the hypnosis mp3. And what Trevor says is true … well, I’ll let him put it in his own words:

“Have you ever wished you could…

*    Start your own business, (but wouldn’t take the risk)?
*    Fall in love with – and/or be loved by – someone you thought was out of your league?
*    Perform some skill to a high standard, such as playing a musical instrument, act in a film or play, learn a language or whatever, but wouldn’t dare to even start because you just didn’t think you’d be any good at it?
*    Own or possess a luxury item such as a beautiful home or car or work of art for example? (But thought you could never afford such things?)

Did you know your life doesn’t have to be limited like that?

So why do so few people’s dreams become their reality?

It’s because we are conditioned to view problems and not solutions, in essence. We listen to messages in childhood telling us that some things are ‘impossible.’

Often, as teenagers, we reach for our dreams, suffer a fall and never take a chance again. Disappointment and perhaps ridicule hurt too much.

These are just a couple of factors that stop people from even attempting to break out of their ’comfort zones’. (Have you ever noticed how uncomfortable living in your comfort zone is?)”

Trevor is a mental health professional who’s studied the human mind and our desires for almost 40 years, and he’s come up with a way of breaking you free of such limitations.

He calls it “The Wellspring of Success” and here’s what you will discover:

*How to clarify your desires and passionately bring them to life.
*How to enter what athletes and other top performers call “The Zone” – at will.
*How to bypass fears – including fear of failure – by making one fundamental shift in your focus!
*How to take control of every aspect of your life – including your moods – rather than feeling at the mercy of them!

- and much, much more.

“The Wellspring of Success” is a toolkit for sculpting your life and shaping your destiny. Once you’ve got it in your possession you’ll never want to live without it again.

In fact, I’d say you will live *from* it – and you’ll almost certainly want to pass on its wisdom to others. (Your kids, if you have them, will love you for it!)

What’s more, you can download the manual that explains the whole process for F-R-E-E. I can’t think of a single reason why you wouldn’t grab yourself a copy right now – just click here www.thebusyfool.com/wellspring.

And finally …

I hope you find all this useful and interesting, it’s always a tricky call just how much stuff to put in these messages. Too much, and people can get overwhelmed, miss something out and people ask why they didn’t hear about it.

Hopefully, I’ve got it about right.

Kind regards

Andrew
The Scientist & The Philosopher
Posted March 6, 2011 By Andrew Horder in Clarity & Focus With | No Comments

A bit of humour here, courtesy of Sunil Bali (www.sunilbali.com)

A scientist and a philosopher were being chased by a hungry lion. The scientist made some quick calculations, he said “it’s no good trying to outrun it, its catching up”.

The philosopher kept a little ahead and replied “I’m not trying to outrun the lion, I’m trying to outrun you!”

TheBusyFool says: It always helps to know what outcome you’re focusing on
Walking the walk
Posted March 2, 2011 By Andrew Horder in Business Strategy Coaching, Sales and adding value With | No Comments

Business strategy coaching: do what it says on your tin

In business, particularly if you’re the principal of the business, it’s essential that your clients and prospects see that you do what you preach. It’s all too tempting to fall back on the old “cobblers shoes” argument – you know, the one that says the cobbler’s children always have shoes that are falling apart.

The trouble is, until people have experienced what you offer, they can only judge you based on what they see. So, in the case of our cobbler, a look at his kids’ crumpled footwear will
Take control of your time and your life
Posted February 20, 2011 By Andrew Horder in Loving your Work, Time Management With | No Comments

Loving Work: Fulfilment from taking control

This came through on an e-mail from my friend Laith Hofayz, successful corporate trainer and MD of ImpactSkills Training:

A very quick tip for you… I think this beautifully articulates what we know we should be doing, but don’t necessarily do. By one of my favourite speakers / authors Dr. John Demartini.

Any area of your life that is not empowered will be overpowered. If you don’t fill each day with high priority actions, your day will fill up with low priorities. If you don’t clearly define, plan and pursue your highest aspirations in your career you will keep being positioned in low priority positions that are unfulfilling.
Focus Video
Posted February 17, 2011 By Andrew Horder in Audio and Video, Business Strategy Coaching, Clarity & Focus With | No Comments

Business Strategy Coaching for New Entrepreneurs:

Here’s a 10 minute video of my “4Sight” talk on Focus at Liverpool Street 4N Breakfast Networking (www.4networking.biz)

To download the handout I mention, go here: bit.ly/omdemo
Loving work: Are you a joy-stealer?
Posted February 9, 2011 By Andrew Horder in Clarity & Focus, Loving your Work With | No Comments

Loving work: there’s someone for every task

Some of us love spreadsheets and analysis. Some folks love going out networking and talking to loads of people. Some like working one-to-one with people in coaching, counselling or consulting. Some love messing about with computers, keeping them running and defending them against hacking and virus attacks. And some are happy working outdoors in all weathers. I firmly believe that for every task that needs doing, there’s a person who will find joy in doing it. And it’s different for everyone.

So why do people insist on dragging down what someone else does? You’ve heard them in the pub, at parties, in the supermarket: “You do that?
What’s wrong with being a Jack-of-All-Trades?
Posted February 5, 2011 By Andrew Horder in Business Strategy Coaching, Clarity & Focus, Loving your Work With | 1 Comment

Focus Coaching: How tight should your niche be?

The phrase “Jack of All Trades and Master of None” is frequently used in a pejorative sense, implying that being a “Jack” at something isn’t enough. In the old craft guilds, a ‘Jack’ was the term used to describe a journeyman, someone who had completed their apprenticeship, someone competent but still honing their craft. And a great many journeymen made a decent living performing the craft they loved without ever becoming a master.
Loving Work: Working for pay, or getting paid to work?
Posted January 31, 2011 By Andrew Horder in Clarity & Focus, Loving your Work, Motivation & Management With | 1 Comment

Loving Work

If you’re going to make a living doing what you love, you’re going to need to be paid. Otherwise it’s just a hobby – maybe one you absolutely love, but a hobby nonetheless. My friend and guide Nick Williams says there’s a difference between working for pay, and getting paid to work. Working for pay is, literally, just that – the pay is the only reason for the work; if you weren’t getting paid for it, you simply wouldn’t do it. All you’re doing when you work for pay is swapping time for money.

Sometimes in life, we have to swap our time for the money we need to pay our bills. The trick is not to get sucked into the idea that getting money is enough, that so long as we work hard and get enough pay, everything will be alright. I can tell you from bitter experience, that’s a good way to damage both your physical and mental health, if you can’t find a way to enjoy the work you’re doing for pay.

Getting paid to work is a whole different proposition – the reason for doing the work is because it’s your passion, your purpose, your mission. Not the money. The money is what’s going to allow you to carry on with the work – what Nick calls ‘the work we were born to do’. It’s what will allow you to continue to bring your special skills and talents to the world. It’s what will allow you to lead a fulfilled and happy life.

A rather bizarre quirk of human nature (in most people, anyway) is that we seem to feel a need to have made some kind of sacrifice in exchange for payment. We seem to have an issue with getting paid for something that came easy and that we enjoyed. If wealth or reward doesn’t come from suffering, it feels somehow immoral or unethical. But how daft is that? The time when we’re contributing the most – to our employers, to our clients, to the world – is exactly when we’re doing what comes naturally to us, that’s effortless, that’s a joyful experience. So it makes sense that it should also be what we get paid the most for – highest value, highest pay!
What’s your higher purpose?
Posted January 21, 2011 By Andrew Horder in A Better World, Clarity & Focus, Loving your Work, Motivation & Management With | 1 Comment

Loving Your Work: Motivation

Many people think that they will be happy in their job if they can just get paid a bit more. In my experience, and from what clients and colleagues tell me, that’s rarely the case. The whole point of my mission to help you to do what you love for a living is that it’s something that you’d do even if you weren’t getting paid at all!

Where people have most success in turning what they love into a living, is where they’re doing it for some higher purpose, something bigger than themselves. That can range from all-encompassing goals like ending hunger or creating world peace to projects that just affect your local community or your spiritual group, your church synagogue, temple or mosque. Or it may be as simple and powerful as wanting your family to have everything they need. Quite why this greater purpose makes people better at sticking at it until they can make a living doing what they love is open to debate, but I have my own theories.

Most of us have been brought up to think of work as something to be endured, something you do under duress, something done out of some kind of duty. So to spend your working life doing something you actually love seems kind of cheeky, something to be a bit guilty about. After all, who do we think we are, having fun in our work for goodness sake! And that slight feeling of guilt makes us just a little bit less certain of our decision to create a work we can love. In turn, that uncertainty makes us less prepared to fight for our inalienable right to pursue happiness in our work.

But when you have a higher purpose, it’s no longer just about having fun, it’s all about your family, your spiritual group, it’s all about saving the world! And now you’re proud to stand up and stand out and say, “I love my work”. Just don’t forget, you have to love the work itself. A chore being done for a grand purpose is still a chore, and will not be done with joy if the task itself isn’t something you can love. So by all means have a higher purpose that makes your work even more fulfilling – and serve that purpose doing work you love.

As an aside, as I was re-reading this post, I thought of this …

To Build Your Inspired Business – Start With 'Why?'

You might want to listen to this recording of one of Nick William’s talks recently – To Build Your Inspired Business – Start With ‘Why?’ (click on the image to buy it). Nick runs the Inspired Entrepreneurs community based in London and with members across the world. The recording costs £14.99 to get, but here’s a tip – it’s available free to members, and Nick offers a 30-day trial membership for just £1! That not only includes access to all the talk recordings (there’s dozens of them!), it also gives entry to the London meetings each month – they cost £20, and there’s usually a book that Nick’s bought as a gift for us (I used to think Nick blagged them from the speakers, until an author friend of mine told me Nick had actually shelled out for 80-odd copies of her book when she spoke!) That’s the sort of chap he is.
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