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INTERNET RESOURCE GUIDE
THIS ISSUE
“Spec”-tacular Year of Construction in Hamilton
“…a very positive signal of confidence in the Hamilton industrial real estate market.”
PROVIDED BY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT & REAL ESTATE DIVISION,
CITY OF HAMILTON
It was an outstanding year for speculative construction in the City of Hamilton. In 2007, there was over 500,000 sq. ft. of “spec” buildings under construction, a very positive signal of confidence in the Hamilton industrial real estate market. Here are just a few examples;
Valeri Business Park
Local builder/developer Ted Valeri, of Valery Homes is currently in the process of building a 50,000+ square foot multi-tenant facility in the Ancaster Industrial Area. “Valeri Business Park” consists of over 50 acres of prominent industrial land located on Tradewind Drive that is projected to be developed by Valeri in the near future.
Barton & Lewis, Stoney Creek
IG Real Estate Advisors has recently completed construction of a 143,000 sq ft industrial development at 1175 Barton Street, at Lewis Road. IG plans to develop additional buildings on the 20 acre site in recognition of strong demand from area businesses that are choosing Stoney Creek for its strategic and cost advantages.
Hamilton Business Park
Phase II of this new multi use development is located at 1100 South Service Road, Stoney Creek, along the QEW / Niagara corridor is nearing completion. A number of business enterprises are up and operating in Phase I including : Serenity Granite, EFES Tile Importers, Lakeshore Living, Universal Electric and coming soon, Kultur Estate Flooring. Once completed, Hamilton Business Park will construct over 230,000 sq. ft. of industrial/commercial/office space on 9.25 acres.
560 Arvin Avenue
Charane Limited and Strategic Property Management completed construction of the first of two 48,000 square foot multi-tenant spec buildings in mid 2007. The property is situated on 7 acres of land located on Arvin Avenue minutes from the QEW and Fruitland Road in Stoney Creek. Within 2 months of completion, leases with Fox 40 International, Beverage World Inc and Humpty Dumpty were finalized. Due to strong interest from prospective tenants, the developers commenced construction of the second building, five years earlier than planned.
Wingbury Properties Inc.
Wingbury Properties latest development projects consist of a 19,000 sq. ft. multi-tenant industrial facility, a 25,000 sq. ft. distribution warehouse for expansion of Van Dam Furniture and a state of the art 3 storey Class “A” office building all located in the Ancaster Business Park. They have new buildings in the planning stages for construction over the next few years and have constructed over 190,000 sq.ft. to date in Ancaster.
Are You Sure About That Goal?
Make sure the goal you are working for is something you really want, not just something that sounds good
BY DAVID BURTON
Goal setting is a powerful process for thinking about your ideal future, and for motivating yourself to turn this vision of the future into reality. To succeed in business, we must have a clear vision of our goal, and backed up with a plan of action. Have you ever heard the saying? Those who fail to plan, plan to fail. It couldn’t be said any simpler. It’s very difficult to get anywhere or even know if you’ve arrived, when you have no idea where you’re going. Yet so many of us have no plan whatsoever.
Remember that a plan is much like the road map we used on our vacation. It tells us where we are and keeps us on course and pointed in the right direction. It helps us set long and short-term goals and strategically plan how we are going to get from point A to point B it’s so very important to stay focussed. Many things will come up that will tend to obstruct our view. But if we can stay focussed on our ultimate goal, no matter how far away it may seem, the obstacles that are in our way will eventually disappear.
I remember years ago when I took a photography class, the instructor demonstrated the importance of a camera’s focus. He showed the class a picture of a baseball player he took and pointed out the distraction of the chain link fence in the foreground that he shot through. The fence ruined the picture, and it made it difficult to see baseball player clearly. He then showed us another picture he took of the same player from the same spot, again shooting through the chain link fence. This time he focused his camera solely on the baseball player in the background. When he did that, the image of the ball player became very sharp and clear, and the chain link fence virtually disappeared. The fence was totally eliminated from the picture and was not a distraction anymore. It’s very much the same as being an entrepreneur. We need to focus on what we want, (like the baseball player) and not focus on what we don’t want, (the chain link fence).
When we set out on a venture with hopes of becoming successful, we first need to start thinking and believing that we are already successful, we then need to change the way we think about things, and think only about achieving our goals and objectives. We should never let the fear of losing money keep us from moving forward. People who are successful are not afraid or intimidated by the possibility of losing money. If they should lose some money along the way, they know it’s only a matter of time, when they will make it back again. The driving force behind them is the challenge of achieving their goal by beating the odds.
Here are four important points to goal setting:
Placing our goal firmly in our mind; Setting a time period for reaching our goal; Constantly reminding our selves of what our goal is; Everyday take a positive step towards reaching our goal, no matter how big or small the step may be.
Until next month…Have a Creative Day! David L. Burton
CENTRE FOR CREATIVE THINKING WHERE LEFT BRAIN MEETS RIGHT
How To Get Your Business Tasks Completed With Less Effort And Excellent Results
“It’s hard to stay on track, especially on demanding days.”
BY ACEY GASPARD
Getting your most important tasks completed is not always the easiest thing to do. You may even be putting off important tasks for the unexpected issues that pop up in front of you during the day.
It’s hard to stay on track, especially on demanding days. You may have more tasks for the next day and feel guilty because you didn’t complete all your work today. Then you start the next day with a sense of being overwhelmed rather than starting the day fresh and energetic.
Janice likes to have her day planned out ahead of time. She would start off feeling comfortable, knowing what to do. Her problem was that she would begin her day by doing tasks such as checking her e-mail, checking her sales, and looking at her finances. Even though she had a to-do list, she didn’t get to it right away. She got sidetracked many times during the day with unexpected issues that popped up. She ended up with a lot of work that needed to be done but was not as important as her daily tasks.
Self-employed people often find themselves behaving this way. With no one watching over you, you get sidetracked. This article will help you move in the right direction.
If you want be on a daily routine, then plan it in advance. If you don’t plan, you’ll end up getting sidetracked with anything and everything that comes up. I’m not saying that you should ignore those issues, but you have to determine the difference between issues that should be taken care of immediately and issues that can be postponed until later. A simple plan works best, here is a sample plan you can use.
Step One: Start by creating a list of tasks you must do every day.
Step Two: Set the priority for each of the tasks on your list.
Step Three: Rewrite your list in priority order, and leave a space for a checkmark by every item you complete. In the upper right-hand corner, leave space for a date.
Step Four: Make copies of your new daily to-do list.
Step Five: Each new workday, take a copy of your schedule and write the date in the upper right-hand corner.
Step Six: Start on the task with the highest priority. Complete that task in its entirety, or at least all that you can do for this task on this day. Don’t start a new task until you have completed all you can of the task you’re working on.
When you’ve completed the current task, put a checkmark next to it and go to Step Six. It’s a simple procedure, but don’t let its simplicity fool you. It’s powerful. It keeps you on track. It gives you a new approach to getting your work completed and it works. You don’t need to complicate things, and you don’t need to overwhelm yourself. All you need to do is stick to the list. After a few weeks of using this idea, you’ll find yourself becoming more productive and free from wasted time as well as feelings of anxiety and guilt.
What do you do when something comes up and you’re between tasks? This will happen and, depending on your job, it might happen every day. Aside from a crisis that pops up, here’s what you can do to tackle those issues. You can approach this in two different ways: 1. You can pause between tasks and complete the issues that pop up. I recommend this for issues that only take a few minutes to complete OR 2. Between tasks, you can have one of your designated tasks as taking care of issues that pop up during the day. For example, you would complete Task 1. Task 2 would be taking care of issues that pop up. Task 3 is then completed. Task 4 would be to attend to issues that pop up, and so on. It’s a matter of preference for how you work best and what works best for you. Working with a schedule will help you keep on track and help you complete your important tasks while cutting out wasted time. Try this for a few weeks, and I’m sure that it will help you move through each day quickly and effectively.
Action Steps To Help You Get things Done
1. Create a to-do list.
2. Photocopy it.
3. Keep a fresh copy on your desk for each new day.
4. Complete the tasks as outlined in Step Six.
Important Points to Keep in Mind About Getting Things Done
With no one watching over you, you can get sidetracked; If you want be on a daily routine, then plan it in advance; Each new workday, use your schedule; You don’t need to complicate things, and you don’t need to overwhelm yourself; After a few weeks of using this idea, you’ll find yourself becoming more productive and free from wasted time as well as feelings of anxiety and guilt; Working on a schedule will help you stay on track and help you complete your important tasks while cutting out wasted time.
Try this for a few weeks, and I’m sure that it will help you move through each day quickly and effectively.
Acey Gaspard brings his 20+ years of business experience to A Touch of Business with over 1,100 ORIGINAL pages of tips, reviews, and tools to help you market and run your small business.
Starting Your Day The RIGHT Way–Part II
“…you need to load yourself with as much positive mental programming as possible.”
BY LEE RIDENOUR
The morning is the most important time of the day. Why? Because it can easily set the mood for the rest of your day! Last month I touched on 5 tips to starting your day the right way; 1. Initial wake-up, 2. light, 3. Wake up to a clean room, 4. Fresh air and 5. music. Below are tips 6–10 on starting your day the right way.
6. Food
Start your morning off with a full glass of water before you eat anything else—this is essential. Toxins have been ejected from tissue and line your throat and mouth (thus, morning-breath) and the last thing you want to do is to allow them to adhere to your breakfast. Drink a full glass of water—and give it ten minutes. If you have an empty stomach, the toxins will be flushed down, and pass out with your urine, with no food to absorb them. Ten minutes later, you may eat your breakfast. The subject of a healthy breakfast is obviously a lengthy subject, but I’ll be brief—DO NOT SKIP BREAKFAST. They’re not lying when they say it’s the most important meal of the day. Your body has been starved for eight hours or more, and breakfast is crucial. Breakfast jumpstarts your metabolism, ends your body’s “hoarding mode” from the night, and will actually help you lose weight and stay lean if you chose the proper foods. Make sure you eat some fruit, some protein, and some carbs. My typical weekend breakfast consists of an orange and three scrambled eggs… very basic, but quite healthy. If you’re eating loads of sugary cereal, or worse, doughnuts for breakfast, you need to go do some basic research online on how to eat healthy. You could be lean and good looking, but lack energy, and your arteries may be 90% blocked—as a result of your diet.
7. Cold Shower
Take a cold shower. Yes, freezing cold is unbearable. You don’t have to do it that way. Start it off hot… like me. Then, after you’re medium-toasty (not well-toasty... it will make you more tired), put it on cold for as long as you can take it. Then, put it on hot for a minute… then cold for a minute. Repeat the hot-cold cycle a few times—this will not only wake you up fast, but it will expand and contract your pores to force out toxins and oils from the night. End the shower with a cold rinse—you want to be cold when you step out… it’s critical, as it will raise your metabolism, and keep it there. Try the cold shower thing for a week—you’ll notice a difference. A long, hot shower depresses your physiological systems and makes you want to go back to bed. A cold, invigorating shower will wake you up—fast. Try it.
8. Make Your Bed
This doesn’t serve as much of a purpose for in the morning, as it does for in the evening. I’ll explain how it works from my situation. I wake up. I do my morning routine. I (in this example) do not make my bed. I leave. I work all day, and at the end of the day, I think of all the projects that I am going to work on when I get home. However, when I get home into my room, I suddenly feel tired… there’s something drawing me to my bed. The covers are thrown back—like a great, yawning mouth of gaping comfort… calling for me to dive in after a long day at work. So I do—I jump in, cover up, get all toasty, and sleep away half of my evening—only to go to bed again a few hours later.
Leaving your bed unmade kills your motivation. Not only does it appear messy, which drains your energy in its own right, but it also invites you back in repeatedly, when you usually cannot afford to. So, make your bed. You’ll notice you get more things done in the evening.
9. Time Savers
There are several small, simple things you can do to save time in the morning. For one, if you check your computer in the morning (MySpace, Facebook, email, stocks, weather, ect), then try this. Rather than shutting down your computer at night, put it in standby. You will save a few minutes over turning it on, and it won’t use any more electricity. If it takes your computer four minutes to boot up, multiplied over a year, that is over 24 hours! An entire day you would save if you followed the routine everyday. Another rather obvious tip is to put all your “to-go” items in one spot. Put your phone, wallet (or purse), watch, rings, notepad, ID badge, car keys, ect; all on the same part of the counter, or in a bowl perhaps. It will save you time searching for everything. Additionally, whatever time you are waking up now, wake up ten minutes earlier. It makes a world of difference in the morning. If you can get over the “I could sleep for ten more minutes” thinking, you will reap amazing benefits. Ten minutes can take a lot of the edge off of your morning, allowing you to take your time as you go about your routine. It can save you money as well. I can tell you in my case that if I leave a few minutes early, rather than driving 80 MPH to make it to work on time, I can drive 65-70 MPH, which, due to exponential drag and air resistance, is optimum gas mileage speed for my car, and saves me a few bucks each week in gas.
10. Self-Talk
Self-Talk should be the most important part of any morning routine. In the morning, you need to load yourself with as much positive mental programming as possible. Your mind is most receptive to it in the morning (and at night), and it will shape the rest of your day. Your programming comes in many different forms, and it is our job to help you use it to your advantage. Mental programming is too much for this article… keep your eyes on us as we come out with new products to help you shape your mind exactly the way you want it—and help you live the life you deserve.
Lee Ridenour is the President of Ridenour-Blade Self-Evolution. Self-Evolution focuses on the “hard” sciences of psychology and neurology. Self-Evolution also provides fitness information and daily/life strategies. Self-Evolution is the use of your past, present, and most importantly, your own MIND to achieve self-actualization: to live a fulfilling life. For more information visit http://www.selfevolution.net
