Saturday, January 23, 2010

Five Building Blocks to Construct a Path to Independence

The word independence anchors the mind of all mankind. We revere and believe that we can be independent if we follow the principles of:

· Self-Sufficiency

· Self-Reliance

· Self-Determination

· Freedom

· Individualism

We spend our life in a journey to construct a path to independence in spite of the fact that our very life is based in dependency. We are drawn into dependency from our very first breath. Our mothers' milk feeds us. The support of our family puts a roof over our head and the community trains us to be worthwhile members of society and the world of humanity. Then we are dependent on bosses, customers and social interaction to survive. Still we desire independence.

The idea of independence is a dream. A state impossible to attain yet always calling us to be, and we spend our life in a journey to construct a path to independence which will never happen. Yet we can construct a version of independence by:

1. Conquering fear

2. Building Confidence

3. Self Understanding

4. Consciousness

5. Response

Fear is a driving force in dependency and most fear is illusion. Fear creates competition and rivalry, then confrontation and conflict leading to dependence on others. Accepting "what is" is an affirmative step in conquering fear

Self-confidence takes us past fear to belief, faith, and trust in the certainty that nature has our back. Confidence gives us the self-assurance that we can depend on ourselves as individuals.

Self-understanding identifies how to see ourselves and absorb life as it is. It is an appreciation of who we are, where we come from, and the skill to sort out our mission here.

Consciousness is our perception of the "what is". Using sensitive insight, experience and observation to make assessments and form opinions to make positive independent actions.

Response is the final activity in constructing a path to independence. Often the human being reacts based on illusion instead of fact. Any perceived threat to survival has an invisible power that is reactive in nature, especially in life and death circumstance. The ability to respond instead of react is a powerful part of the independence equation.

· My biggest FEAR in life is becoming dependent.

· The idea of depending on my boss, a medical doctor, expensive insurance or the government for my health care does not feel right.

Are there Solutions?

The answer is YES

Bill Tallmon's http://www.beyourowndoc.com

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Construction Partnerships That Don't Work

I was taking my daughter to a Girl Scouts event and needed to pick up two other fathers and their daughters. By the time I was done with the baseball game that we went to, I never wanted to see either one of these fathers again. Each one of them wanted to be my partner, but didn't have anything to offer.

They were telling me about all of the benefits that construction partnerships had, like I did know anything about construction or business partnerships. I knew that partnerships didn't work well if one of the partners wasn't carrying their fair share of the load.

One of the fathers was unemployed and the other father was a salesman, who sold products to our local supermarkets. This guy was truly unbelievable and unscrupulous. He was telling me about all the money we could make working together, using my money and my business.

I didn't want to have a bad time, so I let them talk and pretended like I was interested for quite some time. That's all we talked about on our way to the baseball game, at dinner, at the baseball game itself and on the way home. I couldn't believe what I was listening to, but neither one of them had anything of value to offer me, except for advice that I have already heard before.

Before I dropped the first father off, I told him that I wouldn't be interested in his proposal. He was extremely upset, but got a little bit of joy from the fact that I told the second father that I wasn't interested in his proposal either. The second father didn't take it as well as the first one. He started telling me about how much money I was going to lose and how stupid he thought I was. I suggested that he got his own contractor's license and prove me wrong.

Don't get caught up in the manipulation from other people who are offering you something that they really don't have. Neither one of these men were interested in doing any work, but were extremely interested in taking advantage of me, with out doing much work themselves. Sometimes these situations work, but most the time they don't. Live your own dreams and don't let overly aggressive personalities put you off course.

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Starting a Construction Business Doesn't Require a Lot of Capital

If you're planning on building hotels, strip malls and hundreds of homes, right off the bat, you might need a lot more capital to start a construction business. If you're planning on starting a construction business and working your way up, by working on smaller jobs and then advancing to the larger ones, you might not need a lot of money to get your construction company off the ground.

I started my construction company with less than $500 worth of tools. All the tools that I owned had already been purchased and I was using them daily. I had a saw, drill, hammer, tape measure, wheelbarrow, ladder, trowels, shovels and a stapler. I had a few more tools, but these tools were enough to build my first 16' x 16' room addition with a wood shake roof.

The money that I made from my first job, allowed me to buy more tools and do more advertising. After my first job, I did other jobs like it, home repairs, bathroom remodeling, installed doors and windows, roofing, siding, decks, patios, concrete, and skylight installations.

The construction business doesn't require a lot of capital and most of us have already bought the tools that we need. If you think about it, all you need is a contractor's license, a place of business, a vehicle and your tools. You've already got the education and know how to do the work, so what are you waiting for.

I don't know how many people I've met, who told me that I was lucky. I always seem to get luckier, the harder I work. It never made much sense to me, why someone wouldn't want to start their own business and make more money, especially if they already have the knowledge, experience and know-how. Remember that starting your own construction company, doesn't require a lot of capital, most of the time. Start small and work your way up and soon you'll have the money to do bigger and better jobs.

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UK Construction - What Does the Future Hold?

Finally, there is some cheer for the beleaguered construction sector. Although the recession has left no industry untouched, the building industry was particularly hard hit. In the last quarter of 2008, output nosedived by 4.9% despite a prediction that it would drop only 1.1%, shedding thousands of construction jobs along the way.

The good news is that the economic outlook for the sector is at last showing signs of recovery, with an overall rise in the third quarter of this year.

Although the main driver of growth appears to be repair and maintenance activity, statistics show that government programmes initiated from April onwards are at last beginning to translate into results.

Still vulnerable

Economists caution, however, that the initiation of new projects remain subdued in the private sector. Despite the recent upturn, construction activity remains 9% down on figures from the same period in 2008. There is also the concern that the recent spike in repair and maintenance work may be temporary at best and could slow down due to increased budgetary pressure over the next 12 months. This will have a negative knock-on affect on the economy as a whole, so it is vital that the construction sector is supported until such a time is reached that the building industry - and the wider economy - recovers.

Government funds are drying up

Gordon Brown announced this week that the government is embarking on a massive cost-cutting exercise in a bid to halve the budget deficit. The project will attempt to save £12 billion over four years and this means that many low-priority programmes will be mothballed. Some experts argue that certain construction developments, such as housing, are too important to be shelved. With private sector funding still scarce, it is clear that creative financing strategies need to be found if more jobs in the UK are to be created.

Where there's a will, there's a way
One new major initiative, a £600m biomedical research centre, has received the green light after months of doubt. The sources of funding for this building are a mixture of government and charity backing; construction is now due to start in early 2011. The centre will be built in central London, despite some stakeholders arguing that it should be built outside of the capital to save on costs.

"London has been a global centre for leading medical research for four centuries," said Sir Paul Nurse, the centre's chairman of scientific planning.

He describes the UK Centre for Medical Research and Innovation as "the most exciting project for UK biomedical research in the next 50 years".

Funding was drawn from four clients, the Cancer Research UK, the Medical Research Council, University College London and the Wellcome Trust. This is expected to create hundreds of new construction and engineering jobs.

New routes to finance required

Despite the success of this scheme, many other construction projects are likely to be held back, unless an alternative source of funding can be found. Private sector funding has regressed significantly while the government is just not able to provide. Many are wondering if there is an alternative.

Tom Foulkes, director general at the Institution of Civil Engineers, suggests that the chancellor should consider sustainable funding alternatives, such as a National Infrastructure Investment Bank.

"A National Infrastructure Investment Bank can offer a way of ensuring that adequate long-term funding is available - on a continuous basis and at an acceptable cost."

Authorities need to support construction's return to health

Foulkes argues that this is not about the government spending more money. It is about how the government can act as a facilitator and a supporter of the construction sector in such a way that it supports growth in a sustainable matter.

The powers that be need to begin a dialogue around such alternative options, if not for the good of the building industry, then for the good of the economy as a whole.

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Construction - General Contractors and Their Duties

Work of a construction general contractor is not confined to usual stuff like building houses, roads, dwellings, workstations and bridges only. There is a fairly larger list of works than these. From the initial processes like preparing the proposed site fit for construction and coping up with the frequent changes in design, there is a lot to do. Things like safety measures, modifications etc. are also to be thought about and implemented properly under the supervision of the contractor.

Similar to that of any other industry, construction industry has its own branches and hierarchies. As mentioned earlier, construction general contractor's work on roads, buildings, bridges and so on. But a contractor will mostly be working on any one of these and do not go for the others. That is, a contractor who is a master in building roads doesn't always go and engineer an office complex.

The full responsibility of the job is taken up by the construction general contractor when he/she agrees to do large projects like that of a national project. In order to complete it he/she assigns several sub-contractors to see into the other segments of the project. This division is done according to each contractor's area of expertise.

By and large, the construction general contractor would only concentrate in the segment in which he/she is more experienced and can prove most if his/her talent and skill. This kind of treatment to a particular segment of a whole project will help in the finesse of the completed project.

It can give satisfaction to both the contractor and the client. As per the previous work merits of the sub-contractors, alteration works and repairing works are assigned to them by the construction general contractor.

With lots of talks on global-warming and climatic changes, there has been a demand of eco-friendly and energy efficient construction. People opt for efficient construction in a low cost.

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