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Ann Hawkins The Business Owner's Mentor

Grow your business, make more profit and have more time to enjoy it

Role models – and why they don’t work

May 5, 2014 by Ann Hawkins 10 Comments

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Holding up a mirror to ourselves I have a theory about role models.

For the last ten years I’ve had the privilege of bringing interesting, inspiring people to the attention of a bunch of folk via talks, interviews, podcasts and blogs. None of them are superstars, none of them are celebs. All of them, in some way, have achieved awesome things.

People who want to bring about some change in their lives are often seen quoting snappy sound bites from long dead heroes or high flyers but rarely make any changes based on these quotes. It seems to be just a knee jerk thing: “Quoting what I want may make it happen without me having to do the work.”

(See previous post “What is it you’re NOT doing?”)

Mystifyingly, the more accessible heroes don’t get quoted but don’t get copied either.

Making changes is uncomfortable and takes a lot of hard work. It often involves people around us having to make changes too.

With so many great role models to inspire us, why is it that none of them seem to work?

Here’s my theory:
Using a dead hero or a seemingly inaccessible celebrity as a role model immediately lets us off the hook. We can’t really aspire to do the same things because those people are too different to us so it’s easy to admire them and quote them (often tiresomely, sickeningly and indiscriminately) without making any attempt to copy them.
On the other hand, people who are similar to us, people we know and have met, who live in in the same world as us and who have achieved things we’d like to achieve, are accessible. There is no real excuse for not copying them, not taking them as role models and yet these people often get ignored – not even quoted!

Why?

Because they make us uncomfortable.

We admire them but somehow their success is more like a reproach. They are so much more like us that it should be easy to copy them, easy to make those changes we say we want but it’s hard, so we don’t – but because they are so much like us, there is no excuse – and so we choose to ignore them.

Quoting a celebrity, someone who is different to us,  allows us the illusion that change is possible.
Looking at someone who is the same as us is like holding up a mirror to our ourselves and knowing that we are actively making the decision NOT to change.

That’s why its easier to ignore them.

So, if we profess to be inspired and still take no action, what is the point of looking for more inspiration?

Does it mean that instead of inspiration, instead of looking outside of ourselves, all we really need is to make a decision and take action and that we don’t need role models at all?

If you’d like to join the growing group of people who are really enjoying growing their businesses, just send me an email and we’ll look at how I can help.

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Filed Under: Inspiration

Living in the moment – is this success?

May 5, 2014 by Ann Hawkins Leave a Comment

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Martyn Sibley

When do you say “I’m successful”?

When do you say “I’ve done what I set out to do”

When do you relax and say “That’s enough”?

Martyn Sibley gave a talk at The Inspired Group in 2012 in our Steps to Success series. He took the topic on self -belief being an intrinsic part of success and talked about why it is important and why he has it in bucket loads.

Martyn was already hugely successful but has gone on to spend the last couple of years having more adventures, achieving more of his goals and realising his most important dreams.

I’m lucky enough to meet lots of inspiring people in my business: its one of the reasons I do what I do, but Martyn consistently stops me in my tracks, makes me want to cheer and shout and  gives me such belief in what we human beings can achieve that I’m always enriched by his activities, whether its scuba diving, developing his business, drinking too much vodka or falling in love.

My post this week is a link to Martyn’s latest message because I can’t say anything better and I want everyone I know to read it. Think about what it means to you, whatever your circumstances and then dare yourself to do half of the things he has done and plans to do.

Read what Martyn has to say about Shedding Money Worries and Unleashing Your Creative Beast  and then tell me what your plans are for doing the same!

For help with achieving your goals talk to me  about peer group or 1:1 mentoring 

(To get new posts as they’re published, do subscribe to my mailing list!)

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Filed Under: Inspiration

Are you solving problems or creating delight?

January 19, 2014 by Ann Hawkins 2 Comments

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Child dancing with a sculpture

Most businesses are started to solve a problem.

A few create delight.

If you can do both you should not only be very successful but you’ll probably be very satisfied and fulfilled as well.

Do your customers have a pain that your service or product can alleviate?

If not, they may have an irrational passion for something that you can supply?

It’s not always as obvious  as it might seem. It all comes down to what you’re really selling.

These three famous brands seem to have it nailed. What do you think they’re selling?

Revlon ad Harley Davidson Nike tick

 

On the face of it (sorry) Revlon could be seen to be solving the problem of imperfect skin or ageing. Harley Davidson might have started by solving a transport problem and Nike is solving the need that sports people have for high performance equipment and garments.

According to their own marketing departments,

Revlon sells hope;

Harley Davidson sells freedom;

Nike sells winning.

This takes the idea of solving problems and creating delight a step further by identifying the emotion your customer feels when they buy from you.

There is another theory, that all purchases are emotional ones.

If you’d like to talk about what emotion your business is creating for your customers, send me an email and I’ll help you to nail it!

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Filed Under: Inspiration

The Radical Re-Design of Business

September 3, 2013 by Ann Hawkins 2 Comments

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There are many examples of how established businesses are being challenged by new ways of doing business.

Don’t think it’s only big businesses that are affected!

Did HMV see what was happening in the music world or did iTunes, Spotify and other download platforms take it by surprise? Where does your business sit in this world?

Here are three short interviews I did with people who are radically disrupting the status quo in their business sector:

Faisel Rahman of Fair Finance Faisel Rahmen of Fair Finance  has taken on the banks, the pay day loan companies and the door step loan sharks and is getting spectacular results. Starting with the 7 million people who don’t use banks as their major source of financial help, those who have bad credit or no credit rating, Faisel has proved that his model works and is set to expand beyond London and into other major cities as well as creating new products for both personal and business finance, making a huge difference to the lives of many people.
@FaiselR @FairFinance

http://annhawkins.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Faisel-Rahman.mp3

 

Luke lang of Crowdcube Luke Lang of Crowdcube has taken the world of business funding and shaken it up – a lot! Instead of going cap in hand with complicated business plans to banks or groups of angel investors or venture capitalists you can now put your idea onto the Crowdcube site and see if you tell a good enough story for investors to – literally – buy into what you want to do.
The Crowdcube platform has raised over £12,000,000 from small investors into UK business to date with 15% of bids reaching, and in many cases exceeding, their target.
@LukeLang @Crowdcube

http://annhawkins.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Luke-Lang.mp3

 

Clive Rich of LawbiteClive Rich of Lawbite has devised a radical way give small businesses access to the law with affordable and transparent fees. The basic pack of plain language contracts costs just £99 and provides a way for both parties to the agreement having access to the drafting process. There is a also a virtual law firm available at the touch of button to give advice. Lawbite has already had a huge vote of confidence by raising £460,000 on Crowdcube – £100,000 more than they asked for.
@TheCliveRich @LawbitDocs

http://annhawkins.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Clive-Rich.mp3

 

Could you look at your business and give it a radical redesign that means you become the disrupter and not the displaced?

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Filed Under: Inspiration Tagged With: Angel Investors, Audio Mp3, Banks, Business Funding, Business Plans, Business Sector, Cap In Hand, Cred, Disrupter, Document Service, Doing Business, Financial Help, Lawyer, Legal Advice, Loan Companies, Loan Sharks, Luke Lang, Mp3 Audio, Music World, New Ways, Pay Day, Pay Day Loan, Plain Language, Platforms, Radical Redesign, Realised, Small Businesses, Spectacular Results, Step Loan, Surprise, Target, Uk Business, Venture Capitalists, Virtual Law Firm, Vote Of Confidence

How to be happy

August 15, 2011 by Ann Hawkins Leave a Comment

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“My schedule for today lists a six-hour (1)Why do we need to know how to be happy?

Why is happiness so important? Are we born happy and then lose it? What has happiness to do with business success?

I recently became aware of a number of business owners who work such long hours that they neglect all the things that make them happy, except their work.

Because I believe that most of our best ideas come to us in the downtime when we are playing or relaxing, and because I believe that we are all so much more than our businesses, this bothered me a bit so I decided to conduct an experiment.

I asked people to list ten things that they DO that make them happy and then to schedule into their diaries every day something they looked forward to doing and then actually DO them.

Over 130 people shared their lists with each other on-line and about 30 turned up for a meeting to discuss their ideas on happiness, led by philosopher John Turner (www.metathink.co.uk)
These are some of the ideas the people in the group expressed:

To be happy we need to focus our minds, not drift along without being aware.

To be happy we need to be in the flow with an absence of distractions

To be happy we need to be creating and doing

To be happy we need to feel valued – by ourselves as well as others

Happiness is our life’s purpose and nurturing friendships is a major part of this

We need a verb: “to happy” (apparently, in ancient Greek, there is/was)

On one thing everyone was agreed: If there was a machine that could make everyone happy all of the time, we wouldn’t want to turn it on. There are times when we need sadness, and happiness is something to be worked towards.

“Happiness depends on ourselves.”

2500 years ago, Aristotle enshrined happiness as a central purpose of human life and a goal in itself.

2500 years later neuroscientists came to pretty much the same conclusion.

The Nature of Happiness 

Despite the fact that many human beings live their lives believing that they will be happy if they get everything they want, both ancient and modern wisdom shows that this is far from true. Tests show that we are notoriously bad at predicting what will make us happy (or unhappy) and we prove ourselves wrong time and again. Rich people are not happier than poor people and yet much of our society is geared to the pursuit of material possessions and fleeting pleasures.

There is a school of thought that says that happiness cannot be pursued or sought and we just need to be open and wait for it to alight in our lives  but this too is disputed by both philosophy and science. This is because happiness is not something that can be gained or lost in a few moments, like pleasurable sensations. It is about the ultimate value of a life, measuring how well we have lived up to our full potential as human beings.

Aristotle tells us that the most important factor in the effort to achieve happiness is to have a good moral character — what he calls “complete virtue.” He argues that virtue is achieved by maintaining the balance between two excesses – reminiscent of Buddha’s Middle Path.

Neoroscience shows that happiness is inextricably linked to the faculty of attention.

Attention systems that lack focus or have become habitually trained on feelings of poor self worth or criticism lead to emotional states that are out of control and lead to anxiety, depression and other distressing states. Studies show that contemplative practices such as meditation are wonderful ways to train the brain into new habits of paying attention to subjects or feelings that enhance self-worth and strengthen new neural pathways.

The language is different but the message is the same.

Happiness takes effort.

Aristotle advocates the education of the whole person, including one’s moral character, rather than merely learning a set of skills. He taught that developing a good character requires a strong effort of will to do the right thing, make difficult decisions, not give in to immediate gratification and that through training and practice we can achieve our full potential and the enrichment of human life.

Neuroscience shows that we can change our brains, not by intervention with medication or stimulants but by practicing new thought patterns. The basic structure of our mental life is habit and, just as we strengthen muscles in our bodies by practice, so we do the same with our brains.

Qualities we admire in others, e.g., kindness, generosity, humour, patience, compassion are not innate qualities but are skills that we can learn with practice until they become new habits. If we admire these qualities in others we can aquire them for ourselves by paying attention, repeating behaviours and becoming the kind of person we most want to be.

So, happiness is about human flourishing and thriving not about feelings of pleasure and it is an activity rather than a state. (Click to Tweet)

What does this have to do with business?

Building a successful business, especially when you are working alone, requires great discipline. Doing the right things at the right time, even when we don’t feel like it, making difficult decisions, turning away from the quick fix in order to stick to a long term plan, staying focused on a task, being mindful, keeping the promises we make to ourselves are all important.

If the pursuit of happiness is about human flourishing and thriving, applying the same principles to business can only be a good thing. Happiness is not something we take time off to do and then feel guilty about, it becomes both the reason and the way in which we do everything.

Rather than say “I’ll be happy when ….” (I’ve got to x turnover / this job is finished / that client is satisfied / I have some reliable staff), and recognising that these things are not what makes us happy and that we don’t have to wait for them to happen, creates the freedom to make the pursuit of happiness an habitual activity that leads to real fulfilment of our potential as human beings.

Take part in the experiment

If you would like to take part in the happiness experiment simply schedule into your daily activities things that you DO that will make you happy and then DO them. Repeat until being happy is something you do every day.

If you’d like to talk about how to grow your business, and be happy while you do it get in touch! 

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Filed Under: Inspiration Tagged With: Absence, Ancient Greek, Aristotle, Business Owners, Business Success, Central Purpose, Conclusion, Distractions, Downtime, Focus, Friendships, Human Beings, John Turner, People, Philosopher John, Sadness And Happiness

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