#design

How Brands Like

Manchester United

Are Getting It Wrong

2 min

Grip that steering wheel of life, put on your seat belt and push down the accelerator pedal, hard!

Have you ever had the feeling that your life could be compared to sitting in a car driving at top speed going round bends, over bumps and squeezing between other cars yet you don’t feel you even have control of the steering wheel? This is a feeling that I think we all go through at times. Sometimes the drive is exhilarating, enjoyable and fun, a roof down, and wind in your hair dream drive. Other times, it can be terrifying, painful and you are just waiting for a mighty thump

3 min

The road to success is always under construction

How many dreams have you let slip through your fingers because you were waiting for the perfect moment? Or are still waiting to be ‘ready’ to start something you want? In my home I have many sketchpads full of ideas, brands, business ideas and things I wanted to do all sketched out. Once in particular I remember once having an entire corporation drawn out from top to bottom with about seven or eight different product lines and revenue streams. All I needed to do was start wit

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

Why social media can be more real than the real world

Social media has been taking a real battering all over the world during the past year. From Iran, Egypt, Bahrain and even places like London questioning whether social media should be allowed to maintains it’s place in our lives has shocked many people to their core. When Iran closed Twitter and facebook there was uproar around the world as it showed a so called oppressive state in action. Equally, when Hosni Mubarak did the same in Egypt, every corner of the globe condemned

2 min

Maybe, the only limits are in your mind

Do you believe that some people are lucky and others are not? Do you think that no matter what you do in your life you will never achieve your dreams? Then you are the one that is holding you back. You are the barrier that is stopping you move ahead in life and you are the pushing away all the wonderful things that your life could be. And I have been the worst culprit at this in times of my life, but it taught me valuable lessons I keep with me today. Life happens! Things go

1 min

Have the confidence to walk through any negativity

No matter what you do in life, personal or professional, there will be people who have negative thoughts or actions towards you. Most of the time it is not even something conscious by them, but rather something that just stems from their personality or situation they are in at the time. The confidence you have in yourself will be half the battle, your actions in putting your plan into action, will do the rest. Self doubt is one of the main reasons for failure in life. There a

2 min

Life is not always about finding the answer

I doubt there are many people in this world who do not have a million questions rolling around their mind on any given day. Why doesn’t she love me? Why is he mean? When will I get a pay rise? Why do the children not listen? And even the big ones like; Why are we here? Many of these questions could be answered very simply, yet I am sure that in most cases, even the other party cold not answer them. But the big questions in life keep us searching and guessing year after year.

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

Time travel to the beat of your own tune

It always amazes me how a single song can literally transport you to another place instantly. I have lot count the amount of times I have suddenly found myself lost in memories, memories eclipse the feelings that seemed to be weighing me down. It is often a song that I have not heard for a while or it could be something new, a song that just has that great summertime beat and rhythm filled with has those thoughts of being on the beach with your friends or family, all flooding

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

Wake up your inner child, it’s time to wake up!

Remember when you were a child and everything seemed so simple? It was a time when anything was possible, a time when you were asked what you wanted to be, what you want to do and what you would like to experience. You were told try this and experience that. You were told that you should never say you don’t like something until you at least try it once. But then suddenly we are told you cannot do this or that, you have to be realistic and accept where you are or what you are

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

1 min

Nothing worth doing is ever easy

We all spend time imagining what it would be like to accomplish our dreams. Some of us spend most of our lives imagining every aspect of the achievement. What we would do, how we would feel, who we would thank and what it would be like to stand atop and look back at the journey we have taken. This of course is the easy part. To achieve anything worth while in life we have to make the first step towards that goal. And after that we take the next and the next. Even we we are pu

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

1 min

Never hold back in life

You get one shot. One chance in life to do the things you really dream you want to do. Never worry what others may think, if they mock or jests about what you do, then they are people that do not matter in your life. If they support and praise you in your actions, then be happy you have the right kind of people in your life. We all do this. We all question time and again what others may think of the things we do. We all know that life is short and at times we look back and wo

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