In the Loop with Andy Andrews

On this week’s episode, I answer a listener question:

"What should a new writer focus on the most?"

The one most important thing to focus on is writing.

• You would not believe how many people I talk to who are “waiting to be inspired.”
• Their short answer is, “No, I am not writing.”
• Only the process of doing it gets it done.

I hear terribly incomplete advice given to writers.

• Write what you’re interested in, but keep seeking more information.
• It will get you excited when you find what you don’t know.
• You have to think it terms of, “What do other people want to learn?”
• How will this help others?

Two things I ask myself before any project

• Is anybody else doing this?
• Will this help people who are hurting?

There are several things in common with the books I really enjoy.

• Stories—They all started "in the action" and I didn’t really know what was happening.
• Reveals—That’s who that is! Or thats what’s happening!

So what are the three most important focuses for a young writer? I’ll give you five.

1. Read
2. Write Regularly
3. Write Regardless
4. Reach Others
5. Be Relentless

Don’t Give Up—the best book is stuck in somebody’s drawer.

Now, with Amazon and everything, self-published books are much more viable. You don’t have to sell out of the back of your trunk anymore.

Questions for Listeners Do you have a question? Call in and your question might be featured on the show! • Phone: 1-800-726-ANDY • E-Mail: [email protected] • Facebook.com/AndyAndrews • Twitter.com/AndyAndrews

The Toughest Mental Obstacle I’ve Faced

On this week’s episode, I answer a listener question about the toughest mental obstacle I had to cross after overcoming homelessness.

Has there been any point when I felt like hiding under the pier again?

• I occasionally feel like crawling back under the pier.
• I say that jokingly, but I really am very aware of where I am when I walk on that pier.
• Living under the pier was undoubtedly the worst time in my life, but without that perspective I don’t think I would have become what I am today.

Part of life is the struggle to think a certain way.

• It’s not just to improve and increase your level of thinking.
• We are all in the process of becoming.
• The people who are humbly listening and learning from other people are the people with money and influence.

The toughest thing I had to do was distance myself from that pier.

• I needed to get away from it with my thinking, choices, and actions.
• Your thinking is the foundation of your success as a parent and member of your community.

If you want to read more about how to become a better parent, businessperson, and member of your community, pick up a copy of The Noticer Returns.

Questions for Listeners

Do you have a question? Call in and your question might be featured on the show!

• Phone: 1-800-726-ANDY
• E-Mail: [email protected]
• Facebook.com/AndyAndrews
• Twitter.com/AndyAndrews

On this week’s episode, I talk about my passion for cooking outdoors, reveal my secret recipe for the best grilled vegetables ever, and discuss why I like to put things that I actually use into the stories in my books.

I am kind of a foodie.

• I enjoy making and eating great food.
• I don’t know if it’s just a southern thing, but we seem to devise events around food.
• I really like cooking outside.

I’m a grill guy, and I love the charcoal taste.

• I come from a long line of “grill people.”
• My dad thought he was good, but he burned everything.
• All you people who have gas grills. Wrong! You’re cooking with heat and there is nothing to give your food taste.

For years I have put things in my books that I like or use.

• In The Noticer Returns, Jones is teaching how to start a business, and one of the guys (Baker Larson) starts cooking with a Kamado Joe.
• We cook on them at least three times a week.
• We do pizza, fish, steak, and wild game.
• One of our absolute favorites is cooking vegetables.

Secret Recipe:

We will cut up whatever vegetables we have and cover them with an Italian dressing to soak for a little while. We’ll then put the vegetables in a basket that goes in our Kamado Joe, and smoke them at about 350 degrees.

Kamado Joe Giveaway:

Be sure to watch your email for our announcement! If you’re not on our email list, be sure to join at AndyAndrews.com.

Questions for Listeners

Do you have a question? Call in and your question might be featured on the show!

• Phone: 1-800-726-ANDY
• E-Mail: [email protected]
• Facebook.com/AndyAndrews
• Twitter.com/AndyAndrews

On this week’s episode, I talk about how you can win tickets to see me (along with many other awesome speakers) speak at Dave Ramsey’s SMART Conference!

This is going to be an amazing event at the Verizon Theatre in Dallas, TX—with speakers:

Dave Ramsey Rachel Cruze

Dr. Henry Cloud Dr. Emerson Eggerichs

Joy Eggerichs Dr. Meg Meeker

Andy Andrews

People forget that Dave had to learn his financial stance as an adult after battling bankruptcy.

• His daughter, Rachel, grew up watching the changes happening in her family as a child, teen, and young adult.
• She has been raised to understand these principles, and I am excited to hear her perspective.

I have already pre-ordered my copy of their book, Smart Money Smart Kids: Raising the Next Generation to Win with Money.

Follow the link above to pre-order yours now!

Why is it important for people to attend events like this?

• I work with coaches, teams, organizations, businesses—I can’t afford for people to have average results.
• Without results, I’m just a guy who can talk fast and is a little funny.
• The key is to help people truly understand how much they need to learn and how much they don’t know.

Have you ever been absolutely sure you know something in your life…and then a couple months later you found out that it wasn’t exactly correct?

• Could there be something in your life right now that you are wrong about?
• If that’s true then we don’t know what that might be—there is a lot beyond what we know.

It’s amazing to me that I wrote The Traveler’s Gift 15 years ago and people still find it valuable.

• I do Seven Decisions seminars and I’ll talk for six hours on these decisions.
• 90% of the stuff I talk about is things I learned after I wrote the book.
• My approach was to actively pursue more wisdom on these decisions.

Make sure you are on our email list.

• In the next week you will get all the details to win tickets to this amazing event on March 29th.

Check out these books from the other speakers!

Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters: 10 Secrets Every Father Should Know—by Dr. Meg Meeker

Boundaries: When to Say Yes, How to Say No to Take Control of Your Life—by Dr. Henry Cloud

Love & Respect: The Love She Most Desires; The Respect He Desperately Needs—by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs

Questions for Listeners

Do you have a question? Call in and your question might be featured on the show!

• Phone: 1-800-726-ANDY
• E-Mail: [email protected]
• Facebook.com/AndyAndrews
• Twitter.com/AndyAndrews

On this week’s episode, I talk about the new “anger management”—conflict resolution.

When I hear the term still used, I always think, “Anger management? Why would you want to manage something like that and not get rid of it?”

• You can defuse a conflict, but that doesn’t mean it’s over.
• If the underlying causes of a conflict are not dealt with, there really is no resolution.

Society believes two things about change.

• You must have a deep desire to change.
• You have to be at rock bottom.

However, I believe the two things people need are…

• An understanding of what’s in it for them.
• Proof beyond a reasonable doubt that the change will be good.

When something is demonstrably good for you, that change will occur whether you are looking for it or not.

Imagine conflict resolution as two people across from each other on opposite sides, playing double solitaire.

• You’re both trying to get rid of all your cards in the same line.
• You both win, or you both lose.
• The only way to win is to not hold any cards back.

A resolution to conflict is going to require change, and the change must have both parties winning.

Are you feeling “stuck” in some part of your life?

• I put together a free 3-part video series on the exact process I went through to move forward in multiple areas of my life.
• You’ll get a couple of cool free gifts when you participate in the series.
• Check it out here: GuidedTraveler.com

Questions for Listeners

Do you have a question? Call in and your question might be featured on the show!

• Phone: 1-800-726-ANDY
• E-Mail: [email protected]
• Facebook.com/AndyAndrews
• Twitter.com/AndyAndrews

A Behind-the-Scenes Tour of the Writing Process

On this week’s episode, I discuss my creative process for writing even in the midst of rejection.

The greatest book ever written is in somebody’s drawer somewhere.

• They put it out there, it got turned down a few times, and they decided to put it away.
• Gone With the Wind was rejected 34 times.

Part of my creative process is to do battle with myself quickly.

• I try not to let wondering if something is working drag me downhill.
• Publishers told me The Traveler’s Gift did not have a desirable plot and that writing good books takes effort and talent.
• After 51 rejections from professionals, the book has been successful for over 10 years.

You can either take their word and live according to their opinion, or you can reject it and look for people who are wiser in the area where you are heading.

• For most successful writers, it takes a great deal of work and almost a formula to help with the writing process.
• I’m not fired up the whole time that I’m working on a book.
• It is a very slow process for me.

Questions for Listeners

Do you have a question? Call in and your question might be featured on the show!

• Phone: 1-800-726-ANDY
• E-Mail: [email protected]
• Facebook.com/AndyAndrews
• Twitter.com/AndyAndrews

On this week’s episode, I answer listener questions about time-travel and my switch from comedy to whatever it is that I do now.

Would you rather go into the future to meet your great grandchildren, or travel backward and meet your great grandparents?

• If I went into the future to meet my great grandchildren, I wouldn’t learn anything from them that will change my life and in turn allow me to change their lives.
• The best I could do is try to convince them to do something or not do something.
• If I went back into time, I think it would give me a lot of insight as to why my family dynamic came along the pathway that it did.

Wisdom is a little beyond knowledge.

• I hear people say, “My grandparent was such a wise person,” and then turn around and ask where all the wise people are today.
• Technology makes things so fast and allows for an amazing flow of knowledge and information.
• However, I really believe wisdom requires quiet and time.

How did you know when it was time to change speaking platforms from comedy to what you do now?

• I had always been interested in communicating something, but there was no way that I could be just a speaker in my twenties.
• I’m not saying that people in their twenties can’t provide wisdom.
• Comedy was just my way of being on stage.

I can remember when I was on tour with Kenny Rogers, and we started talking about Jones and the Seven Decisions.

• He said that I should put some of the Seven Decisions talk in my show between jokes.
• Slowly I kept adding in a little more, and eventually more people were talking about the “serious” bits that I did. It kind of shifted on its own.
• It’s a strange platform but it’s fun and flexible.
• If you want to see a blend of my comedic side with my serious side, you should check out my DVD Not Normal: The Power to Be Different. It’s a live presentation of some of my funniest and most inspirational material.

Questions for Listeners

Do you have a question? Call in and your question might be featured on the show!

• Phone: 1-800-726-ANDY
• E-Mail: [email protected]
• Facebook.com/AndyAndrews
• Twitter.com/AndyAndrews

On this week’s episode, I give my two cents on some of my favorite responses to our previous listener question: “If you could have a five-minute phone call with your 18-year-old self, what would you tell yourself to be aware of?”

From our listener…

"Just pick up the phone and make the needed phone call. Just do it. Returning needed phone calls, or calling to confirm, cancel or postpone appointments is part of the process of becoming a responsible, dependable person. Don't shut the door on yourself through negligence caused by shyness and procrastination. Keeping doors open or ensuring good closure is crucial for maintaining good relationships. Faithfulness in little things will lead to bigger things."

Have a decided heart.

• You will get stuck in an ongoing state of analysis.

• I see so many people who spend so much time analyzing decisions they have already made, that they don’t have any emotional or physical energy to do what they have decided.

The Traveler’s Gift was written four years before it was published.

• If I kept analyzing whether or not the book was worth publishing during the years it was turned down, the book wouldn’t be out yet.

• I’m still learning things about the decisions.

In regard to the shyness…

• Most people think that confidence is something that always came easy for me.

• There were times when I was starting out that I would be sick to my stomach, even when a show was more than a week away. I was scared.

• But I knew I wanted people to hear what I had to say.

On this week’s episode, we have comedian and good friend Jeff Allen on the show to have some laughs and answer a few questions.

Jeff is one of my great buddies and, to me, is one of the funniest working stand-up comedians today.

One of my favorite bits of his is the Three-Word Vocabulary

• It’s the signature piece of trying to argue with a 16-year-old.
• Pfffff, Khhhhk, and Whatever.
• “Whatever” comes in different frequencies, but one of them affects my nerves.

My son Austin is getting close to getting his drivers license. Jeff shared his experience with having a child at that age:

• When Jeff’s son started driving, he was so bad that Jeff would let him drive the family to church. That way he got his prayer time in before he got there.
• Some Sundays had so many miracles on the way to church that they would skip the service and just go straight to Cracker Barrel.

What is Jeff’s favorite product he has produced and why?

• The first Bananas DVD he did.
• The first one is the tightest in terms of content because it’s full of stuff he had been working on for years.
• The DVD also has his testimony.

You can find more about Jeff on his website JeffAllenComedy.com

Questions for Listeners

Do you have a question? Call in and your question might be featured on the show!

• Phone: 1-800-726-ANDY
• E-Mail: [email protected]
• Facebook.com/AndyAndrews
• Twitter.com/AndyAndrews

On this week’s episode, we answer a fun question from a listener: Would you rather win the lottery or live twice as long?

As history has shown us, winning the lottery can be life changing…but not always in a great way.

• This is something I think we all have fantasized about.

• I think we all have a purpose and I’ve asked myself the question…

• Would I continue to write if I didn’t have the pressure?

How many times in my life am I not aware of what is going to happen next week?

• You can sometimes get a little fearful looking ahead, but…

• Don’t expect to know what is coming.

• Allow God to direct our path.

Look back and think about times in your life in which you know your path was being directed.

Question: If you could have a five-minute phone call with your 18-year-old self, what would you tell yourself to be aware of?

· We would love to hear your answers! Send your answers to [email protected], and your email response may be featured on a future episode of In The Loop.

Questions for Listeners

Do you have a question? Call in and your question might be featured on the show!

• Phone: 1-800-726-ANDY

• E-Mail: [email protected]

• Facebook.com/AndyAndrews

• Twitter.com/AndyAndrews