#Painting

How Brands Like

Manchester United

Are Getting It Wrong

1 min

In life, No dream can be realized whilst you remain asleep

We all do it. We all sit and wonder if we can achieve the dreams we have harbored for years. The passion within burns so brightly, the desire pulses through every vein in our body, the appetite to achieve is insatiable…yet we remain asleep. No one has been guilty of this more than me. What fears hold us back? Whether it’s a fear of failure, ridicule, exclusion or whatever, are all feelings that do not exist unless you allow them to manifest in your life. Every negative force

2 min

Everyone needs a hero

No matter who you are, where you live or what you do, there is always someone who can influence you. A heroic figure that, for any reason, makes you smile, makes you feel good about yourself or at the very least makes you want to be a better person. It gives us something to aim at, something to strive for on a daily basis and breaks that monotony of being in a rut which can so easily happen when we are just going through the motions of life. My father has always been a hero o

2 min

The beauty of social media

Social media has the power to do many things. It helps to inform people about natural disasters, helps companies communicate directly with consumers, Helps people discuss, learn, educate and hear the latest news about topics they are passionate about. Social Media also helps people of all ages come together in ways we, probably, have never seen in the history of our race. It’s an exciting step, but with it comes a word caution. With everything in our world that is good there

2 min

Change, there’s no time like the present

I recently spoke to a friend who was asking me what it was like traveling the world and did I regret leaving the UK when I did. I asked him why he was asking the question, as we talk all the time and I sensed there was something behind the need to ask me. He told me that he was thinking of traveling for work and just wanted to know my thoughts about the subject. The truth is I left England when I was 23, worked in Paris and Amsterdam before moving to the Middle East. I have w

1 min

The hardest thing to face is yourself

Life is full of obstacles and difficulties. This is a fact of life that we all accept as part of growing up. But there is nothing in life we will face that can have as a destructive, demoralizing and negative influence on our lives than ourselves. We are the toughest critic, the sternest of judges and the one person who can decide in life whether we accept or ignore the negative forces around us. The easiest trick in the book is to blame someone else for the tough times we fa

2 min

You are supposed to be part of your conversation

When you hear the statement, “Voices in my head,” it usually brings up thoughts of crazy people right? Well I believe that we all have at least one voice in our heads. I spend a lot of time watching people. I have always preferred to be on the periphery and let others be centre stage, just so that I could see how people act. I guess that is why I decided to work in advertising because watching how people react, buy, shop or do not is part of knowing how to communicate a produ

2 min

Risk? What if you fail? Ah! But what if you don’t?

Every single day we are faced with choices in our lives. Decisions that fork in the road. One is safe, although nothing is certain in life, you can pretty much guarantee where you are going to end up whilst the other is clouded in mystery and possibility. The second route scares us, makes us doubt every aspect of the person we are and often ensures we take the safer route. But why? Fear is the main reason. Losing what you have, things not working out and the thought that all

2 min

Leave behind the baggage of your past

We often walk through life dragging every problem around like luggage. I know I have been guilty of this on more than one occasion. Everyone has problems and everyone will come against people that see the world in a different way. Although sometimes these incidents can be hostile, they are usually over very quickly. But within our minds, and especially mine, the conversations continue over and over again, constantly re-energizing the feelings of anxiety and anger that are so

2 min

You can’t win every battle, Sometimes you learn when you don’t

We all like to succeed, we all like to win at anything we do and no one likes defeat. The irony of this though is that we often learn more when we lose or fail, than when we win. I personally have failed in having my business, more than once! But each time I learned more about myself than all the successes I have had in my life. I feel fortunate that each failure didn’t cost me everything, although the last one came very close. But that experience was possibly the tipping poi

1 min

Don’t let life pass you by

We can often find ourselves as mere spectators to our own lives. Our commitments, responsibilities and the speed of life literally seem to switch us over to auto-pilot, and we just coast through life in a haze. There is nothing you should ever feel guilty about for doing this as, in my opinion, this often happens due to the fact you are putting other peoples interests before your own. Be it your daughter, son, wife, husband, ill relative or whatever, these are the best reason

2 min

Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.

When something changes in our life our initial reaction is always to be sad that something is over. No matter how inevitable the change is we still often resist it. I guess it is human nature to focus on what is no longer there. But I try, sometimes not successfully, to look at every end as a new beginning, a new chapter in life that has the opportunity to bring a new experience, a new challenge and a new growth in my understanding to the world I am blessed to be part of. The

2 min

Think of every failure as a stepping stone to success

Sometimes when you fail it can take away every ounce of your confidence. Literally drain you of all the positive energy that drives you forward in life. But if we look at people in the world who have achieved any amount of success we often rarely realize the success they obtained came out of many, many failures. I personally have failed many times at so many things in my career and even if life. But out of every single failure I learnt more about myself than any other experie

1 min

It’s not the years in your life, but the life in your years

How many things have you wished you did but never tried? How many moments did you stand on the edge of opportunity, only to step back away from the challenge? I know there are certain times in my life I wish I had been bolder. I wish I had the courage to do the things I wanted, regardless of what other people think. So as I get older I realize what really is important is to do what your heart tells you. Do the things which you feel will make you happy. If they don’t fulfill y

2 min

There is no mountain you cannot climb

Throughout life problems will surely stand in your path. Some will be expected life challenges that we must all face, pivotal coming of age moments that are natural. Then there are the challenges that we face alone, without warning, blocking your life without mercy or compassion. These moments could be health, financial or personal; but each can be as daunting as standing at the base of Mount Everest and the thought of even attempting the climb causes nausea and a sense of de

2 min

Don’t just listen, hear.

In life we often talk about good listeners. People who are always attentive and are the ear for you to bend when things are not going well. But listening is only half of the story as it takes a certain type of person to go from listening, to hearing. We all listen to what is happening around us yet very few people really, truly hear what is being said to us. I know that I have to make a concerted effort to stop myself thinking about what I am going to say or trying to solve t

2 min

Some changes are just harder to accept than others

We all know change will come, we all know change happens with or without our consent, so we just need to accept it. You cannot fight change, a look back through history will tell you that. You do not even need to look that far back with what is happening in the Middle east. The only thing constant in our lives is change but it unsettles and shakes our confidence sometimes. I’m not talking about the small things as they tend to give you a little wave that they are coming. So w

2 min

If only we looked at the world like children do

Last night I was posed a question from my six-year old daughter about God. Before I go on with this story I just want to make something clear between you and me, religion is not a subject I am comfortable talking about on any blog, forum or anywhere in fact because I believe religion to be a very personal thing which causes much strife in our world. But this is something that really put a smile on my face yesterday. Meena, my daughter, asked, “ Where does God live.” So I repl

2 min

Anger will only hold you back

Anger, fear or any other negative emotion will literally blind you from seeing the positives in your world. Today, on the road from Dubai to Abu Dhabi, I had a man driving very dangerously around me eventually pulling along side my car and shouting at me to move. Now there were a long row of cars in front of me and, I believed a space too small, to move in beside me. But this gentleman seemed to force his way in so maybe I was wrong, although the man who was forced to move ou

2 min

Why are you so hard on yourself?

So you’re not perfect! Who is? No one! So why do you analyze every flaw that you have, every mistake that you make and thing that is not the way other people say it should be? Why do you look in the mirror and only see the bad things? Why, when you are getting dressed, do you think about the negative things that you think people will see? Why do you continue to put yourself down when there is so much more to you than any of these things. No one really cares, no one is analyzi

1 min

Light the path for others and one day they will do the same for you

Can you beat the odds when they are stacked against you? Can you defeat the demons that you create? Can you be positive in the face of a negative sea that continues to sweep over you wave after wave? These are the circumstances we face in our daily life, these are the chains that hang around you dragging you deeper into despair. But you hold the keys to release the chains, you hold the answers to the puzzles of your mind, you hold the balance in your mind between moving forwa