Mindset, Learning, Collaboration

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Yoga Journey

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Yoga Journey

Yoga Journey

Yoga Journey Over the past 4 years, I have been slowly developing my Yoga practice. Being 56 I am not over the hill and yoga has given me a new lease on life. My objective has been to assist with reducing daily/life stress levels and increase my wellbeing.  The mindset and the collaboration with my yoga teachers and fellow students have helped me in developing my mind body and soul balance as a person.  I have attended sessions with different teachers and styles and appreciated the techniques learned. In my practice I have come to acknowledge that my connection with the perfect yoga session is as follows:

Phase 1 the Yoga Nidra

At workshops, I have to acknowledge Nikki Fitzgerald and Ruth Cole (Scientist Nelson) for explaining the nature of Yoga Nidra and leading me thru a 1.5 hour guided practice. It allowed me to fully appreciate the meditative state that this phase can bring. The reality is a 1-hour session is that this phase can only exist for a 5 minute period. I have to acknowledge Layla Dowthwaite (HR consultant Greymouth) as being highly skilled at getting the meditative state of the Nidra in a short time. Explanation of the breathing technique is great. This phase is also assisted by the chant of Om the tying in of oneness with the group and Dr. Jamie Mosher (Surgeon Greymouth) is particularly skilled at leading this. Setting the intention during this phase is a powerful aspect! This part of my Yoga Journey is important!

Phase 2 The Vinyasa Flow

The King if the flow has to be acknowledged as Chai Deva at Evolve Studio in Nelson as well as managing the Evolve festival he does a wicked Vinyasa flow. I have to also acknowledge his staff Kelly Gill-Brydon as equally skilled. The flow has to flow! On a local front, Hot Flow Yoga in Wellington and Christchurch are good with this too! A special mention of the use of modern and classical asanas in the flow has to go to Hannah Green of Wild Peace Wellness Centre in Westport. Locally Naomi Robbins, Layla Dowthwaite, Jamie Mosher all have great technique with a variance of asanas dependent on who is in the class!

Phase 3 The Pinnacle

Yeah, I know no one calls it that… that’s the part with the balance pose or the core strength pose…. One of my teachers does this all thru out his class! I like the idea of the achievable not so much human origami but something simple graceful and restorative as well as being challenging!3

Phase 4 the Warm Down

Slowly going down all the muscle groups with the final stretches is a must with this old fella. All have their own technique and this does not need to be overlooked or rushed.

Phase 5 Shavasana

Although it looks easy, Savasana (Corpse Pose) has been called the most difficult of the asanas. Indeed, many yoga students who can happily balance, bend, and twist through the rest of class struggle with just lying on the floor. The reason is that the art of relaxation is harder than it looks. It doesn’t happen on demand: You can’t just say, “OK, I’m going to relax, right now! That’s why Savasana is such a gift. The pose sets up the conditions that allow you to gradually enter a truly relaxed state, one that is deeply refreshing in itself and that also can serve as a starting point for meditation. The other night Hannah Green slowly pushed down on my shoulders and quietly massaged my forehead. Kelly Gill-Brydon placed a scented bean bag over my eyes. Naomi Robbins massaged my shoulders. Maya, Jamie Moshers’ daughter massaged the shoulders and talked of clouds. I am not too macho to say that these acts of kindness bring tears to my eyes and I am grateful and certainly are some of the most restorative acts in Yoga.

Phase 6 The Final Meditation

This brings it all together on my Yoga Journey and for my reviews what I have achieved in my restorative practice. It also makes me feel at one with the group on certain occasions. Particular techniques are the sealing of the intent in phase 1 and chants such as the 3 oms and mantra chants bringing me back to the peace of the world such as Shanti Shanti Shanti.

 

I have had some extra fun sessions with Yoga. Two which stand out are:

Rhapsody Yoga Wellington

Gemma leads the class in a graceful vinyasa flow while her partner Paul plays his guitar singing. The flow perfectly matches the melodies and sound. Just the love that they have for each other that flows from the class is worth the experience!

 

Jo Willcox Motueka

Human Mandala Yoga Jo leads the class in a circle all supported with each other this leads to reinforcement of trust and ability. You have to experience it!

 

 

It is not surprising given Yogas benefits that the teachers above are very intelligent and talented. My fellow students have come from all walks of life and reflect the practice of yoga bestowed by these leaders.

 

Andrew

One Half of the Anywhere Business Network

 

48 Hours

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48 Hours

The last 48 hours have been a whirlwind. The day before yesterday I set out to complete at least two sets of financial statements and there associated tax returns and deliver them to the clients as well as make sure I was available to an old soldier to drive him to various ANZAC day activities around Greymouth and district. Earlier this month I lost a filling in a tooth and made an appointment to see a dentist. The booking clerk said that I  the first emergency appointment was the 3rd of may and being the 10th of April and knowing that they are busy souls I accepted this. So my tasks set started the financial statements. And the pain from the tooth was getting worse.

I finished the statements and then took the dog with me for a ride to Westport to drop off the accounts and get some signatures of the tax returns. The first client I dropped the accounts off at is suffering from cancer and while working still does so around chemotherapy. I got the signatures and spend a little time afterwards saying to myself how thankful I was to be as I was and reflected on his steadfast resolve. I picked up a hitchhiker she told me the bus had left her with a 3 kilometre walk to the hostel and her pack was twice her size I dropped her at the hostel door. She patted my dog… my dog was pleased. I reflected that a dogs are happy souls who don’t need much. While travelling up the Coast Rd I decided to call in on a hermit client who Inland Revenue is getting upset with for not filing returns. The hermit has a simple life. He is a vegetarian who exists on mung beans who recycles his tea leaves by drying them out to reuse again. He lives in an old caravan with a canvas cover over it to stop the leaks. He always greets me with a smile and is one of the kindest souls I know. He wasn’t there and as I left his property I marvelled to myself about how you can live simply in live and reflected on his humility. I stopped often on the trip to let my little dog out of the car to have a run around. The dog showed the loyalty of always obeying me when asked to get back to the car rather than disappear into the bush. I reflected on the Dogs loyalty and its trust that it placed in me.

Westport

I then proceed to the next client to drop off the accounts in Westport. I talked with a client about life and business and plans for the future direction and we both noticed the tooth, the client seeing swelling and me with the pain. I reflected on this clients calmness and friendliness. While in Westport I took the opportunity to take in a yoga class. I arrived early at the class and asked if I could meditate early there. The instructor said yes. The bright and clean premises are a credit to Westport and represent the attitude of the proprietors to business. I reflected on their tenacity.

I then drove back to Greymouth stopping to let my loyal Dog out for a runaround. On one of the stops in a deserted car park, I woman was trying to get into her sleeper van as she had locked the keys in. I quietly opened her van door with skills learned from another life. She was thankful. I reflected on her courage as she still had a smile on her face despite her anguish.

I arrived home with tooth paid steadily getting worse. I got out my suit medals and shoes for ANZAC day and my partner gave me one of her codeine and I went to sleep. At just after midnight I got up with a massive sweat, I proceeded to the porch to cool down and collapsed in massive paid and about 5 minutes later I was able to get up…. My brunch coat was saturated, I include to go to the Doctor the next day once my obligations were completed.

Dawn

I got up at 4.00am early the swelling was greater. I went and fuelled up at 5.00am and then went to pick up my passenger for the day. The veteran I picked up was 80 and served two tours in Vietnam. Affected by injuries and lung infections with agent orange he is grateful that I make sure he can attend the ANZAC day events each year.

48 HoursVenotaph

 

 

Respect

I attended dawn parade and while others commenced a day of talk rum and beer chasers I drunk my coffee. My passenger gave up alcohol 20 years ago… he consumed a couple of lifetimes of alcohol drinking a 40 oz of rum after each military operations he was on so did not need anymore! After dawn parade at the cenotaph, we had breakfast at the RSA and then when to the servicemen plot at the cemetery.

Everyone is Important

I took the opportunity to visit my fathers grave he died 16th October 1986 at the age of 52. I miss his countenance. My passenger visited his father’s grave as well. We then went to Greymouth Hospitals service. This was lead by an ex ARMY nurse and the guest speaker was a Quaker nurse who served in Vietnam by looking after refugees. The service is held in front of a memorial to one of the 3 Greymouth nurses who died in World War one when their ship was torpedoed in the Aegean sea off Gallipoli.

 

We then went to Blackball I tried to get my passenger as close as possible to the service but he still marched. We then went back to the workingman’s club where I met a number of clients and saw a friend with her new partner. She explained me to her partner as her guardian angel and I told her new partner that if he ever touched her with violence that I would seek him out. I thought to myself that the least this woman can have and deserve is no more violence in her relationships. I then took the passenger home and proceeded to the Hospital to get some medical attention. After an hour waiting they gave me some antibiotics as well painkillers and suggested to me that I call on the Dentist and ask if my emergency appointment can be brought forward as the Doctor in the hospital thought it would be a good idea.

 

Finally, I came home had a nap and then had a snack. The meds were doing their work and after watching the News on TV went to Yoga again in Greymouth and this put me in a much better position to sleep.  I forgot to mention while I was out and about I picked up two new clients.

 

Andrew

Half Anywhere Business Network

The Moment

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Moment

Everyone has there the moment. That moment when everything clicks. You feel the warmth of emotion rise thru the body and have a handle on that warmth. You feel good and the energy is powerful. Congratulations you are in touch with your higher power. You are present. You could cherish the moment. Remember what set it off. This is your happy place where it all makes sense. A smile has come across your face. You are at peace. All your kindness compassion and generosity are there! How did you get there again? You were in touch with your higher power. Your love and that is your soul! Your mind body and soul are working in unison for once. No one did this too you, you did it all by yourself!

Moment

Fostering energy from emotions is nothing new, it gives you the energy to carry on thru the day. Setting aside that time for that happy place is important. That here and now moment when the mind is not racing and your body is still. When you feel the stress build and the world is getting out of control, just remember you can get in touch with your soul at any time!

Take a look at your mindset? Are you ready for your moment?

Andrew

Half of Anywhere Business Network Ltd

Seasons

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The Seasons of life

We are all on a journey. The secret of life is a gratitude attitude where the warmth of feelings induces joy and happiness. Generosity, compassion, and kindness firstly to yourself and then others is the forefront of our life’s quest! To uplift rather than tear down, to build rather than demolish, to inspire rather than demotivate, are all desires, desires that are our life’s mission. We will have dark periods however we must nurture the light periods with the chapters as our lives unfold. We collaborate with people to make our journey better than we could on our own. Our mindset is positive, the attitude we have to it is how can we do this, the enquiring mind of we can do this! Smile and the whole world smiles with you! Life’s journey is so much better with love radiating from us for all to see! All of us can make that instant switch as its all a matter of perspective it’s not a matter of what you have, but your attitude that prevails! Be at peace with where you are. You are here now in the present. What has happened in the past is the past. What will happen in the future will be determined by you here now, living life to the fullest from a position of love!

Seasons

In the end, there is only one season. The season you make! The season that has love at its foundation!

 

Make the most of it!

Follow our blogs for inspiration of Collaboration Mindset and Learning

Andrew

One half of the Anywhere Business Network

Peace

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Peace

I am in business, I race myself with my mind, working, dreaming and scheming to get my next dollar. Reflection in my daily life needs a point consolidation. My daily routine allows time for firstly being in gratitude for what I have, thankfulness to the support and compassion for the things around me. When it boils down to it these are all qualities of love. That self-love. That Emotion. That feeling that has to be cultivated on the journey to bring it alive. It, not just passion that carries you thru but that encompassing feeling that I am in touch with that love. I use meditative techniques with breathing to get to that point. Other techniques work such as contemplation of the beauty of nature by walking. Whatever technique you use getting back in touch with your love is important to reinforce your higher power on the journey.

Peace

I have noticed my productivity has gone up by incorporation of those activities into my life as a result of that sense of wellbeing being created! We cover other parts of the daily routine on our blogs, You can follow all our blogs here.

 

What are you doing to nurture that self-love?

 

Andrew

Half of the Anywhere Business Network

Charisma

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Charisma

You whether have that X-factor or you need to develop it.

I watched a person with that x-factor today and I felt warm inside, the hairs grabbed the back of the net and a smile was brought to my face! What was that x-factor that I saw? As a word picture, I saw love and experienced it. How did this person do it? I think I know their secret! Want to know it? They are in perfect balance of mind body and soul. I would hasten to think that if I studied their aura it would be pure white! They emanate from perfection! They ensure that they have the right mix and are in touch with themselves! The person is always working on their mind body and soul! This was not always the case. They got there by hard work and self-sacrifice and are still doing this. They give themselves to there practice and forgo a lot to give back! These are important lessons in life!

 

The key to there sense of presence was the knowledge that there totally coherent with what they were talking about! They had researched there topic and knew what they were talking about. Given there a sense of being they came across as friendly and forthcoming acknowledging all those present while staying on track with the message.

The Other Office Get inspired

So, in summary, the key was knowing the subject knowledge and belief/faith in what they were talking about!

We all have this ability for our business, leaving us all with something to think about!

Watch this person for example!

Andrew

One Half of the Anywhere Business Network

 

 

AMLCT War on Terror

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AML/CT Compliance
War on Terror!

AMLCT War on Terror
The US-led war on terror is now in the next stage of impacting on my business!!! First, it was FACTA.
The next sledgehammer to crack a walnut. Reporting suspicious transactions to the NZ Police.
In the ordinary course of affairs, I frequently commence companies for clients to trade their business.
I do not have a trust account so that at least makes my compliance better. I understand I will be the compliance officer and responsible for compliance as well as my systems being subject to audit.
I firstly need to be CDD and EDD aware! Customer Due Diligence and Enhanced customer due diligence
Who is targeted by EDD?
• A trust or another vehicle for holding personal assets
• A non-resident customer from a country that has insufficient AML/CFT systems or measures in place
• A company with nominee shareholders or shares in bearer form,
• A politically exposed person (PEP)
• Customers seeking to conduct a complex, unusually large transaction or unusual pattern of transactions that have no apparent or visible economic or lawful purpose
• Any other customer that you assess (based on your risk assessment and standard CDD) to be of high ML/TF risk,
• Customers seeking to use new and developing technologies or products that might favor anonymity

I am lucky as I do not start trusts and am not a trustee, however as with the past, I need to be acutely aware of the source of funds (as in the past) and customer identity!
I need a list of shady countries as things may not be as they seem.
I always have real shareholders so that’s not too bad.
I will avoid all politicians like the plaque! Anyway who trusts politicians!
I will avoid anyone who is being complexed… been there done that, got rid of 4 clients like that!
Anyone who wants to be anonymous will have to have a bloody good reason! In addition, if I notice things suddenly change in vanilla clients I must be EDD at all time!

I have to do a manual too… hopefully, my peer group will develop one! In addition, I will need an auditor of the manual and me! I guess the costs of starting a new company will have to bear that cost! Pity the next person who wants to own a dairy who would benefit from being a company, instead of $345.00 to start the company being charged $3450.00 to cover the cost of the audit!

What it boils down to is knowing my customers. I don’t think that the authorities are trying to impede business!
So when I on board a client I will need: You may have to provide documents confirming your name, birthdate and address:
• passport; or
• drivers’ license and bank card;

and
• bank statement or power bill
If you represent a company or trust, you may have to provide extra information like:
• evidence of who you’re acting for (that is, the beneficial owners who effectively control or benefit from the trust or company).
Simple as?

Andrew
One Half of the Anywhere Business Network

Faith

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Faith

I am in business. There are highs and lows, things I can control and things you can’t, as well as lots of what if moments! Planning my daily routine helps, however, there are still those moments when my confidence fails, and self-doubt arises. I consider myself to be brave being in business, I am the architect of your own destiny, and of course, I benefit immensely from the decisions I make. My secret to that courage is to let go to my higher power, my soul, my self-confidence and those feelings deep inside. Some may describe this as letting go to love, not the physical act, but that persona that dwells in us all the time that is waiting to be acknowledged.  Confidence building means leaving myself open to success and opening myself up by taking a chance, a calculated chance, however, there are still elements of risk.

Letting go in an immersion of love generates those feelings of passion for the task at hand.

Trusting in your abilities combined with collaboration with mentors and learning the elements of what makes a success is all part of the process. The biggest part is still that leap of faith and ensuring feelings of joy and happiness are the mainstay of the journey.

Faith Serenity

The key to serenity

In one statement, I have learned from experience is, trust your feelings, if it does not feel right it is not yet the time to do it. Further collaboration and learning may be required.

I did not get to this point in my life without the acknowledgment of soul. I did this through meditation, the power of balancing mind body and soul and getting in touch with that balance of the divine feminine and the wise masculine. It takes ongoing real work on my part as well as guidance and faith. I have found this to be my motivator in the darkest hours.

 

This is what my faith is!

Andrew

One Half of the Anywhere Business Network

Yin

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Recognising Yin

My journey was always missing something. While the tinker, tailor, soldier, and spy in me was satisfied, I felt that something else was needed inside. I examined what made me up and found in eastern terms I was satisfying my yang and I need yin to balance it! Don’t get me wrong I have a partner and am a father and grandfather. I began to understand that I would be a lazy so and so if I relied on my partner to provide that yin! I needed to do that job myself! One of the first activities I set my myself was to look at my energy, the spontaneity and the essence of me and see what I could do about it! I saw myself becoming an angry old man, devoid of charisma, that essence of attraction! It was worse than I thought, to change, I needed to learn. I sort help and was referred to an energy worker, clearances followed of my energy centres and found that I was lacking in many minerals. My taste, smell, feelings slowly started to have awareness. I took up meditation and added yoga asanas for emotional relief. I added more walking and vinyasa asanas. My energy that I was emitting improved, the anger subsided and was replaced the feelings of that love that I was nurturing inside. I studied and adopted Buddhist practice to ensure that I concentrated on the things that mattered as well as developing the asanas that I was undertaking. I started opening my horizons more and found I was able to see who really mattered as gurus, and those whom I should just acknowledge their presence and be grateful for all the diversity in the world. All these things led to a different horizon in my search for balance. I feel that I have improved my life with more acceptance, patience, thankfulness and gratitude. I understand that state of grace that I live with has to be nurtured and maintained. The next part of my journey will have joy and happiness at its core, the main qualities of love.

Making Videos Requires Paitence

So off to mow the lawns and do the yard chores grounding myself in the garden, followed by Yoga and then after lunch a political meeting…. Yup Yin and Yang both have to be maintained!

 

Andrew

One Half of Anywhere Business Network

You too can begin a journey with a catalyst!

Limitless Horizon

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Limitless Horizon

You are what you are! If you really want something you put steps in place to achieve it.

If you want to go from point A to B you must get yourself into a position where you can achieve it.

There are a number of components of that journey that you must nurture.

  1. Time and Resources.

We are all limited by time and resources, however, utilizing time management skills and financial skills we can break the day into segments, maximize limited budgets and devote our time to that journey

  1. Mindset

A Limitless horizon is what we put in place on ourselves. Say “I can do it” create the environment where firstly you question why, clear those blockages and change the “why” to “how” i.e. How am I going to achieve it! See your journey with a positive approach and make sure you have the feelings of joy and happiness!

 

  1. Learning

Any journey requires skills. Skills can be learned. Say “ I will and can do it”. All skills can be learned and mastered.

 

  1. Collaboration

You are not alone. There are people out there who have been on a similar journey and have been for a long time. There are people out there with knowledge. There are many skilled people that are willing to assist you. Developing communication skills in this 21st century is a must and this allows you to reach out beyond borders to collaborate with others and even develop mentors.

 

Remember you are only limited by the horizon you place on yourself!

Clearing the barriers of the mind in a positive setting, determining what you want and collaboration with others to master the skills is the key to attracting what you want to become!

Contact us for further information!

 

Just one more time

Limitless Horizon

 

Andrew Elphick

One Half of Anywhere Business Network

Mindset Reset

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Mindset Reset

We all know how business can be stressful.

Stress can manifest itself in a short temper, fear, lack of creativity and can lead to health problems. One of the tools against stress it meditation. A simple technique that I have learned is to find a quiet place without distraction and count 21 breaths, don’t focus on how you are breathing just the breaths. If things come in your thoughts just acknowledge them and let them go. You are aiming at nothing except the breath count. What you are doing is slowing the racing brain, the monkey brain which is full of chatter. If you haven’t got there by 21 breaths, try it in further groups of 7 breaths. Once there just breath. Once you are relaxed, start to think of the things that really matter in your life and business. Focus your meditation on those real problems and develop a way forward. In this way, you are being positive while counting stress. There have been thousands of studies about the benefits of meditation perhaps these techniques will help you!

Andrew
Half of the Anywhere Business Network

Dimensional Leadership

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Dimensional Leadership… whats that?

Did you know when you are in a business that you are a leader!

You can be autocratic but if you want to encourage people to come back you are offering service to your clients. An appropriate model to use may be a servant leadership model, otherwise, known as servant leadership! In addition, you may have weaknesses when it comes to leadership… I do and I try and minimize those by working with people who have those skills.

What exactly are those dimensions of servant leadership?. Broadly speaking there are 6 dimensions:
1.Vision and Values
2. Direction
3. Persuasion
4. Support
5. Development
6. Appreciation

In order to find out where you are you can map those values on a scale of 1 to 5 when you apply them to yourself.

Find a quiet place and think of a project you would like to develop. Then apply the values based on how you would carry out the task. What are you strong with? What are your weaknesses?

I know that I have weaknesses and I try to facilitate overcoming them by obtaining mentors, role models to follow and learn! In that way, I can better serve my clients!

Andrew
One Half of the Anywhere Business Network Team

Change and Setting Goals

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Well, change and goals, the challenge of human existence! When it comes to change you are better armed when you practice the daily skills of learning a new skill and setting goals for yourself! My Business partner is busy undertaking a daily routine towards personal objectives!

There are a number of steps to complete to successfully complete a goal whether it is personal or in business.

  1. Set a SMART goal
  2. Research the steps needed to complete it
  3. Incorporate it into your daily routine
  4. Review progress by setting milestones
  5. Thank yourself for doing the daily routine
  6. Have positive feelings inside as a result of doing the tasks towards the objective!

Without good feelings and the warmth associated with them, your buy-in towards the goal is less!

In respect of business goals we have a wealth of information available to you on our website, Have a look and I am sure any learning you do will assist you with change!

 

Andrew

Half Anywhere Business Network

Is there a future in retail?

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There is a revolution going on with retail at the moment! Big box retailers dominate the scene in small towns right across New Zealand (and around the world) creating a wasteland in the main streets of our towns full of empty shops. The retailers have created a generic selling experience where people can buy inexpensive goods 8.00am to 9.00pm seven days a week. Pinterest is 24/7 and one of the biggest online shopping malls in the world. These retailers are providing instant gratification at a place near you!

Have you ever thought about how you could complete with these online mega retailers? Let me look at the components of what and how they are selling:

1.       Choice- Instant gratification by providing choice

2.       Ease- Easy of payment and delivery

3.       Experience- Getting you into the zone with a shopping experience choice

Completing against this is not such a daunting a task! There are steps that you can take to get one up on the competition:

1.       Niche-Determine a niche market that you could service with goods

2.       Market research- Find out what needs you could satisfy within that niche.

3.      Engage-In order to build trust with your niche and provide a selling experience, you have to engage with your niche market.

4.       Trust- become trusted within you niche by becoming an authority

5.       Establish effective systems- Put into effect sales systems which will allow you do deliver on your sales and service

Ultimately you will need 3 things-

  1. Your mindset communications have to reach out to that niche so you are meeting their mind, showing empathy and understanding in respect of their needs by explaining the qualities of the goods or services you are selling!
  2. You have to give an experience that will reach further than the big box and do it online!
  3. You can start learning the skills needed for this today! To find out more contact us!

If you need more skills and want to continue to earn while you learn-

We are always interested in your feedback.

Andrew Elphick and Kerri Bainbridge, Anywhere Business Network

4 easy steps to success for 2018

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2018 is going to be an awesome year for you! Why not make it even better!!!!!! Ask yourself these questions:

1.       Where is your Time Going?

Have a look at what you are doing in business and starting asking the question is productivity resulting? If nothing will result from the activity stop it! You are wasting valuable time!

2.       How is your cash flow?

Can you identify at a glance how much you owe, won and have available for your needs at any given time? Chances are you may need to upgrade your accounting systems!

3.       What does your marketing Achieve?

What is your return on investment from marketing? What is working what isn’t? Are systems in place to track your marketing effort?

4.       Breathe and take more time for yourself!

Chances are that this may have not been a priority in the past! This is a golden opportunity to make a change!

Establishing a set of values to carry you into the next year and to be created are a foundation for knowledge so you can develop feeling and emotions that match where you want to be! A paradigm shift in mindset is what you want to achieve in your motivation!

Planning your business and personal goals for the year may assist you with your own buy-in!

Spend the time planning!

Feedback is appreciated!

You can follow us on facebook or our website!

Andrew

Five-Minute Decluttering Tips to Start Conquering Your Mess

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“Three Rules of Work: Out of clutter find simplicity; From discord find harmony; In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.” – Albert Einstein

When your home is filled with clutter, trying to tackle a mountain of stuff can be quite overwhelming.

So here’s my advice: start with just five minutes. Baby steps are important. Sure, five minutes won’t barely make a dent in your mountain, but it’s a start. Celebrate when you’ve made that start!

Then take another five minutes tomorrow. And another the next day. Before you know it, you’ll have cleared a whole closet or a room and then half your house and then … who knows? Maybe before long your house will be even more uncluttered than mine. We’ll have a challenge!

For those who are overwhelmed by their clutter, here are some great ways to get started, five minutes at a time.

  1. Designate a spot for incoming papers. Papers often account for a lot of our clutter. This is because we put them in different spots — on the counter, on the table, on our desk, in a drawer, on top of our dresser, in our car. No wonder you  can’t find anything! Designate an in-box tray or spot in your home (or at your office, for that matter) and don’t put down papers anywhere but that spot. Got mail? Put it in the inbox. Got school papers? Put it in the inbox. Receipts, warranties, manuals, notices, flyers? In the inbox! This one little change can really transform your paperwork.
  2. Clear off a counter. You want to get your house so that all flat spaces are clear of clutter. Maybe they have a toaster on them, maybe a scented candle, but not a lot of clutter. So start with one counter. Clear off everything possible, except maybe one or two essential things. Have a mixer you haven’t used for ages? Put it in the cupboard! Clear off all papers and all the other junk you’ve been tossing on the counter too.
  3. Pick a shelf. Now that you’ve done a counter, try a shelf. It doesn’t matter what shelf. Could be a shelf in a closet, or on a bookshelf. Don’t tackle the whole bookshelf — just one shelf. Clear all non-essential things and leave it looking neat and clutter-free.
  4. Schedule a decluttering weekend. Maybe you don’t feel like doing a huge decluttering session right now. But if you take the time to schedule it for later this month, you can clear your schedule, and if you have a family, get them involved too. The more hands pitching in, the better. Get boxes and trash bags ready, and plan a trip to a charity to drop off donated items. You might not get the entire house decluttered during the weekend, but you’ll probably make great progress.
  5. Pick up 5 things, and find places for them. These should be things that you actually use, but that you just seem to put anywhere, because they don’t have good places. If you don’t know exactly where things belong, you have to designate a good spot. Take a minute to think it through — where would be a good spot? Then always put those things in those spots when you’re done using them. Do this for everything in your home, a few things at a time.
  6. Spend a few minutes visualizing the room. When I’m decluttering, take a moment to take a look at a room, and think about how you want it to look. What are the most essential pieces of furniture? What doesn’t belong in the room but has just gravitated there? What is on the floor (hint: only furniture and rugs belong there) now get rid of the rest.
  7. Create a “maybe” box. Sometimes when you’re going through a pile of stuff, you know exactly what to keep (the stuff you love and use) and what to trash or donate. But then there’s the stuff you don’t use, but think you might want it or need it someday. You can’t bear to get rid of that stuff! So create a “maybe” box, and put this stuff there. Then store the box somewhere hidden, out of the way. Put a note on your calendar six months from now to look in the box. Then pull it out, six months later, and see if it’s anything you really needed. Usually, you can just dump the whole box, because you never needed that stuff.
  8. Put a load in your car for charity. If you’ve decluttered a bunch of stuff, you might have a “to donate” pile that’s just taking up space in a corner of your room. Take a few minutes to box it up and put it in your trunk. Then tomorrow, drop it off.
  9. Create a 30-day list. The problem with decluttering is that we can declutter our butts off (don’t actually try that — it’s painful) but it just comes back because we buy more stuff. So fight that tendency by nipping it in the bud: don’t buy the stuff in the first place. Take a minute to create a 30-day list, and every time you want to buy something that’s not absolutely necessary (and no, that new Macbook Air isn’t absolutely necessary), put it on the list with the date it was added to the list. Make a rule never to buy anything (except necessities) unless they’ve been on the list for 30 days. Often you’ll lose the urge to buy the stuff and you’ll save yourself a lot of money and clutter.
  10. Teach your kids where things belong. This only applies to the parents among us, of course, but if you teach your kids where things go, and start teaching them the habit of putting them there, you’ll go a long way to keeping your house uncluttered. Of course, they won’t learn the habit overnight, so you’ll have to be very very patient with them and just keep teaching them until they’ve got it. And better yet, set the example for them and get into the habit yourself.
  11. Set up some simple folders. Sometimes our papers pile up high because we don’t have good places to put them. Create some simple folders with labels for your major bills and similar paperwork. Put them in one spot. Your system doesn’t have to be complete, but keep some extra folders and labels in case you need to quickly create a new file.
  12. Learn to file quickly. Once you’ve created your simple filing system, you just need to learn to use it regularly. Take a handful of papers from your pile, or your inbox, and go through them one at a time, starting from the top paper and working down. Make quick decisions: trash them, file them immediately, or make a note of the action required and put them in an “action” file. Don’t put anything back on the pile, and don’t put them anywhere but in a folder (and no cheating “to be filed” folders!) or in the trash/recycling bin.
  13. Pull out some clothes you don’t wear. As you’re getting ready for work, and going through your closet for something to wear, spend a few minutes pulling out ones you haven’t worn in a few months. If they’re seasonal clothes, store them in a box. Get rid of the rest. Do this a little at a time until your closet (and then your drawers) only contains stuff you actually wear.
  14. Clear out your medicine cabinet. If you don’t have one spot for medicines, create one now. Go through everything for the outdated medicines, the stuff you’ll never use again, the dirty-looking bandages, the creams that you’ve found you’re allergic to, the ointments that never had an effect on your energy or your eye wrinkles. Simplify to the essential.
  15. Pull everything out of a drawer. Just take the drawer out and empty it on a table. Then sort the drawer into three piles: 1) stuff that really should go in the drawer; 2) stuff that belongs elsewhere; 3) stuff to get rid of. Clean the drawer out nice, then put the stuff in the first pile back neatly and orderly. Deal with the other piles immediately!
  16. Learn to love the uncluttered look. Once you’ve gotten an area decluttered, you should take the time to enjoy that look. Make that your standard! Learn to hate clutter! Then catch clutter and kill it wherever it crops up.

“We don’t need to increase our goods nearly as much as we need to scale down our wants. Not wanting something is as good as possessing it.” – Donald Horban

Hope this helps???

Kerri Bainbridge

One half of the Anywhere Team NZ

How can you benefit from employee engagement?

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Whether you are an employee, self employed or employer, you will be able to identify with the word engagement. The term employee engagement is a term we all need to regognise. Its what motivates us. It is my hope you will reflect on how you can apply this to your work life.

Employee engagement is not an exact science. To determine what strategies to use we tend to use our own experience, positive psychology and a good amount of research into what is working well in other businesses.

At the core of employee engagement, similar to any company’s foundation, are some values. Company values determine the why, how and what of that company. Similarly, personal values are the why, how and what that drives their engagement with the company.

One of the things new research suggests enhances engagement is value congruence. Value congruence is the extent to which the individual can behave at work consistent with his or her own self-image. It is very difficult to experience meaningfulness in your work if you are expected to behave in ways that are inconsistent with your values. When employees find that their role expectations require behaviours that they feel are inappropriate for their preferred self-image, they feel devalued, taken advantage of, and less willing to give themselves to their work roles.

So, after doing some research on ideas which may assist managers in need of some inspiration to engage their employees here are 10 ideas I liked:

1.  Reward for alignment of company values

Reward staff where they demonstrate alignment with the company’s values. This could be as simple as a bar of chocolate for every person nominated by a member of staff or it could be every month and based on a process.

2. Team values

When you set your own game rules playing can be a lot more fun. Team synergy is not an easy objective to attain, and takes time. However, it is essential to your team objectives and to the overall output of the team. Having teams create a team culture, based on 2-3 commonly agreed values or ground rules can help nurture and speed up that process.

3. Encourage personal projects

Give employees a 1-2 h/ day window to pursue their own projects. Having people from different departments connecting and bouncing ideas can help get a new perspective. Projects and initiatives can get new directions, encouraging a creativity and energy flow that would only benefit the rest of the working hours.

4. Assign a buddy/mentor for every newcomer

An important part of the onboarding process is having someone answer some really important questions. Questions that someone may hesitate to ask their manager. Building a trustworthy relationship with someone with more experience in that company can help guide the newcomer. This way he or she can better adapt and grow part of the team.

5. Have team photos

Have photos of your team on a wall, or frame them around the office. Group photos, funny photos, events photos or random photos “snapped” when people weren’t watching. It’s a cultural element that can encourage and foster work relationships and employee engagement.

6. Encourage charity

Encourage teams to “team up” and raise money for that cause. The cause must be aligned with the company values. Alternatively, encourage individuals to nominate charities for which the Company will make a donation if they can show that the charities values align with the Company.

Better yet, encourage employees to apply to have a day to work for a charity. The application to have a day off to work for their chosen charity must explain how the charities value and the employees’ values align with the Company values to make it a win-win. The employee will receive their normal days’ pay.

7. Raise salaries or pay a bonus

Bear with me!

How much does it cost your business to recruit and train someone? How much time does it take managers and HR to hire a new employee?

Customers invest in their relationships with your staff too. How much does it cost in lost business when customers lose confidence in the business due to staff turnover and don’t come back. A company can reduce costs, increased revenues and improved the customer experience by developing employees to be more inspired and engaged. Use this cost saving and reward employees with an annual increase or service bonus.

8. Celebrate achievements- the glue

Big or small, they are the solid proof that the work people are putting in has meaning. No one can go through tasks and assignments for months, or even years without burning out. Refill their energy tanks with some recognition and celebrate their hard work. This is also a great way to glue together teams.

9. Celebrate people

A card on their birthdays, a morning tea for a retirement, a ceremony to welcome newcomers….there are plenty of important moments of showing them that they matter..

10.   Get answers from your employees as well

Last but not least…This is related to feedback but it’s more of an indirect feedback. Employee surveys are a great way to monitor and analyse your teams and the overall workspace. You’ll get some essential information into what works and what you can improve.

Start with these 10 employee engagement ideas and build on that. Whether you have employees or you are an employee, the benfits of engagement in what you are doing and aligning it with your values will determine how happy you are in your work.

If you have any other ideas share them with us.

Link- COMPANIES SUCH AS GOOGLE AND VIRGIN ARE PRIME EXAMPLES OF EXTRAORDINARY EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT REAPING REAL BENEFITS. FIND OUT HOW THESE, AND OTHER LEADING COMPANIES, ARE GETTING THE MOST OUT OF THEIR EMPLOYEES. http://www.managers.org.uk/insights/news/2015/december/six-companies-that-get-employee-engagement-and-what-they-do-right

Kerri Bainbridge

One half of the Anywhere Business Team NZ

Management tips-Motivation

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I interviewed Lisa Martin. I asked her about what motivates her. Lisa explained that she has been motivated by the desire to be successful and strive excellence in everything she does!

Lisa’s main message is that self-actualisation can be achieved once basic needs have been taken care of. Self-actualisation is best explained as achieving personal and business success. This is best illustrated by Maslow’s hierarchy of needs as follows:

Ex Wikipedia

These are basic human needs as “the full realization of one’s potential”, and of one’s ‘true self that is in essence self-actualisation.

Lisa founded GoFi8ure in 2002, after recognizing a need for efficient, accurate, mobile and on-site financial administration and accounts management for small businesses operating in the greater Wellington region.
Through Lisa’s vision and hard work, GoFi8ure continues to grow currently with 12 staff in 3 locations geographical spread around New Zealand. Since GoFi8ure ’s inception the number of staff has steadily increased, resulting in a team with a wide variety of skills. These skills, both unique and diverse, work together with Lisa’s training and unwavering commitment to her business and clients to give you more effective financial solutions.

We can help with business planning that you can motivate yourself with this.

We are always looking for comment complete the feedback!

You can follow us on facebook or at our website!

Andrew

Half of the Anywhere Business Network