How many times in your life have you decided not to do something because of someone else’s opinion? It could be a derogatory comment about something you have worked on, maybe just a look that sapped all your confidence or maybe you are the one who convinced yourself that this path was not for you.
Whatever the reason, this is something that you have to fight. You have to fight this with every once of your soul and do it on a daily basis. You see I work with creative people every day, have done for nearly twenty years, and what I see on a daily basis is people who are in love with an idea one minute and with one comment the idea is in a screwed up ball of paper heading towards the waste paper basket. All because of someone else’s opinion.
What you have to do is take all the criticism, comments and suggestions into your mind but don’t let become the driving force. One trick you have to do is look at what is being said to you from a different angle. This is not easy, as with anything we do in life we get attached to something by pouring our heart into it hoping we are on the right track. Try to filter through the constructive aspects of what is being said, no matter how negative they may first appear, and be impartial with your final view. But this should never stop you doing something you enjoy.
If you are doing something that is bringing you happiness, fulfillment and a creative release that you enjoy nothing should stop you doing that thing. Obviously as long as that is not doing something that hurts or offends anyone. If you look at anyone’s life, anyone that you know has accomplished one thing in their life, you will see a person that has faced defeat, criticism, negativity and more towards something they wanted to do. They used it to fuel their ambition rather than dampen their dreams. So why should you be any different?
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Tags: ambitions-need-to-be-fueled, convince-yourself-to-achieve-dreams, Convincing-yourself-you-can-achieve, creative release, creativity, criticism-not-holding-you-back, fight-negative-thoughts-every-day, Filter-out-all-the-negative, live-the-dreams-you-dream, make-comments-work-for-you, opinion, use-criticism-to-your-advantage
It is very easy to get carried away when things are going well. You really should celebrate the highs you have in your life or career. Be proud of what you have achieved no matter how big or small that achievement may be. But be careful not to fall into the simple trap of believing you have ‘arrived.’ It’s very easy to do and we have all been in the situation where we found ourselves falling flat on our faces at some point, by believing what’s being said around us. But there is a way to live through this.
A person I really respect once pulled me to his office and sat me down. He said, “You are doing really well.” My smile had already begun to grow across my face, even before he said, “If you continue on the path you are you will do very well in your career.” By this time my head was probably so big I was in danger of not being able to exit the office. But the man gave me a word of advice that has kept me with my feet on the ground all my life, well most of it, I am human!
He told me that I should always celebrate my accomplishments but keep this piece of information in my mind at all times, or face the depths of despair when things go wrong. Because, he said, they will go wrong. I was quite young and have to say at this point I was a little baffled. He sat down next to me and said, “Always remember, the highs are never that high in your life and the lows are never that low.”
I was sat intently listening to this man who was a true role model and someone I have always had so much respect for. His name is Richard Newman and he was my first real boss. He continued, “If you can work hard, enjoy the highs, learn from the lows but always look to the best in whatever you do in your life to see what you still need to do to improve, you will be alright.” Wonderful advice from a great man. Has anyone ever given you advice that has stuck with you throughout the years?
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In the right amount and under the right circumstances pressure can create all the right elements for you to create a lifestyle that you always dreamed of. If you think of what a diamond goes through before it becomes a diamond you will understand what I mean, although you will not need to wait thousands of years for it to happen in your life.
I recently came home from work and was very tired after getting the children off to sleep. Sat on the sofa I began to watch Top Gear, a British TV show about cars, well I say cars it’s really like watching three of your best mates make an ass out of themselves but you understand what I mean. The Top Gear team always has a guest on the show that takes a reasonably priced car around their track in the hope of becoming the fastest star on the show. It really is a funny show and I often watch it with my kids who love it.
The guest who was on this day was Will-I-Am of Black eyed peas fame. All I knew of Will-I-Am was really what I had seen him do with the Black eyed peas. I did know he produced music as well but during the interview I was completely stunned by the amount of things the man does. In fact Jeremy Clarkson, the Top Gear main host, introduced Will-I-Am as the hardest workingman in showbiz. Now Jeremy Clarkson is rarely in awe of many guests as he is a major celebrity himself who has cut his trade by being brutally honest about everyone and everything. But you could clearly see the respect Jeremy had for this man.
Jeremy Clarkson started reading out some of the things that Will-I-Am does on top of being part of the record breaking pop group the Black Eyed Peas. It began; Record producer, songwriter, fashion designer, car designer, charity organizer and so on. Will-I-Am sat, almost embarrassed by the list of things that were being read out. When taking about the charity aspect Jeremy asked Will-I-Am why he was doing all of these things. On the charity aspect Will-I-Am talked about his roots, where he came from and the initiative he created to create jobs in that area. He said, “It’s one thing to get out of the ghetto, but it’s another thing to go back and help.” and he continued talking about all the people he felt deserved his help as they were part of his success.
When asked how he manages to do all the things he does Will-I-Am just looked at Jeremy and said, “To put yourself under pressure and do more things is the best way of getting the best out of yourself.” he continued, “Whether that is one thing or a multitude of things depends on the individual but I want to do everything I can with every minute I am alive.” With my newfound respect for Will-I-Am it made me look at myself. It certainly is a great way to look at life and something that got me off the couch and joined Bit Rebels as a guest writer.
I have been a fan of Bit Rebels for a long time and often wished I had the time to write for them. But by throwing myself into this, like Will-I-Am, I am actually really enjoying the extra creative outlet. I know you will probably say that you just don’t have time, I know, I said it myself, but the truth is by doing this it helps add another level of focus to your mind and the pressure actually sharpens your mind. Most advertising agencies I have worked in have created the best work when they were completely swamped with work. When they had free time the work was just average. You are a diamond waiting to shine and all you need is the right kind of pressure to become every part of your potential.
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In life there is no single human being that doesn’t face some kind of negative feelings or incidents that set them back. This is only natural and we know that life cannot always be on one single level, be it good or bad. Otherwise how would we appreciate the good things?
What we need to do in our lives though is not punishing ourselves because something didn’t go the way we wanted. We have to search for the good side of every situation, no matter how difficult that may be. We cannot live our live by the negative ABC’s, which are Anger, Betrayal and Criticism. If we do we only continue adding to the negativity that a certain incident has brought us.
We know that when we look back on things in our lives we often remember the hard times as the most defining moments we have faced. But we also see where the opportunities arose after the incident that created happiness, joy or love. It is in these moments of personal crises that we actually become the person we are destined to be and act in a way that really benefits us as individuals. Other times we are often so concerned with what another individual or group of people think that our desires and ambitions are left on the back burner. Why?
If there are people around you that are not helping you to reach a happier more fulfilling life then you have to do something to change that situation, no matter how difficult that may be. We cannot live a life full of guilt simply because we want to do the things that make us happy. You need to go to bed feeling grateful for what you have and wake up in the morning inspired and excited about what you are going to be doing.
The worst situation to be living in is when you are not doing what you want because of things that have happened to you in the past. These moments were in your life to teach you a lesson or create a new path of opportunity, not for you to be carrying them around with you for the rest of your life. Look back, learn from what happened and then move forward towards a destiny of wealth, happiness and love that you know you want and what is more important is yours for the taking. Don’t be a victim of your history, be a master of your destiny.
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Tags: anger, appreciation, betrayal, criticism, defining moments, desire, destiny, fulfilling, fulfilling life, Happiness, happy, history, inspiration, motivation, negative feelings, negativity, personal crises, quotes, wealth
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 with one of them in some shape or form. But I didn’t.
There isn’t a single month that goes by where at least one idea doesn’t come to my mind, most are just none starters but occasionally one shines amongst the rest and things just flow from that idea about how, why, where and which audience the idea would appeal to. But every time days stretch into weeks and months stretch into months before the idea is destined to sit on the book shelve forever. I would over think my ideas so much that I would either convince myself that it was never going to work or that I wasn’t ready or that I just couldn’t afford to do this at that moment.
Don’t get me wrong I have tried my own businesses before, more than once, and failed. The second time cost me practically everything I had ever worked for. It happened when the financial crash happened around the world. Yes it was probably one of the hardest things I ever went through. But I don’t believe in giving up. When I look back now at all of the things that didn’t work there are certain things each one helped in teaching me about myself as well as how not to make a business. I know now where my shortcomings are and I also know where my strengths are.
I have since started another business and I am looking at doing other things because if I have learned anything from my experiences there is no perfect time to start, there is no perfect way to begin a company. I started a social media community for collectors last year called Sqrall.com (pronounced Squirrel after the most natural collector) I knew when I launched that it wasn’t perfect and things were not working the way I wanted but the best thing to do is to start. You don’t have to be great to start, but you do have to start to be great.
I have seen in the six months a community form and begin to grow. I have already had investors offering to partner with Sqrall which is amazing. The funny thing is when I look at the website all I see are the things I want to change or improve and realize if I had followed that train of thought I would still be working on the initial design. Whether Sqrall becomes a success or not is no longer important for me as I have learned so much in the process of starting this that it has been invaluable. Don’t get me wrong though I will do everything I can to make it work as I am very passionate about this community and giving collectors a place to meet, share, blog, and more things over the coming year.
So please don’t wait for the chance to start something, Take a chance on starting something whilst making changes on the journey ahead. Remember, the road to success is always under construction.
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Tags: ambition, business, collectors, community, design, entrepreneur, failure, ideas, investor, memorabilia, new businesses, social media, sqrall, sqrall.com, squirrel, success
They sometimes do not come for days or weeks. They sometimes come in waves. Sometimes, just sometimes, they come so clear and vibrant it feels like they touch your very soul. But there is a reason dreams come to you in your sleep. Dreams need your undivided attention. Dreams need the canvas of your mind to express the subconscious and plant important information that one day will trigger a response. What that response will be is not always be clear. But it does have your undivided attention.
What is clear is how a dream can repeat many times before we feel that it moves on. But why? Has its purpose been achieved? Was I supposed to do something? Is there a level in our brains that we have yet to unlock that would explain such strange and obscure visions? Maybe you are not meant to understand everything. Maybe you are only supposed to have a glimpse into a world we cannot comprehend just yet. And maybe, just maybe they come to us in our sleep so we cannot avoid them.
Our lives are filled with millions upon millions of information that we have to digest in a fraction of a second. Messages, discussions, images, smells, sounds and so much more that even thinking about the volume of information can make you feel quite dizzy. Whatever dreams are and mean one thing is clear when we dream with our eyes open we can achieve such incredible heights, but it takes discipline and focus to stay true to these dreams without wondering off on to different paths.
I myself constantly find myself thinking of a new business idea, a blog I would like to write about Social Media, Emerging technology, Football and more. But, I keep Snapping myself back on track to keep writing this blog so that maybe it inspires at least one other person to do something with their lives, to keep focused on my business and my work, to keep focused on being a good father, husband and friend.
Whatever dreams come to you tonight may they bring you comfort, joy or inspire you to do something great the next day. Whatever your dreams are tonight, know they are yours to do with when you awake the next morning. They are yours to fuel your ambitions and to quell your fears about all the things you cannot do. For a dream comes to you at night, when you are asleep, because you cannot turn off the channel, get up and move on or any other thing we do in life to avoid what we need to see. Dreams come to you in your sleep so you listen to them and act on them when you awake. Dream big and live happy.
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Tags: asleep, challenge, courage, dream, dream with your eyes open, dreaming, dreams, family, health, hope, journey, life, mental-health, questions
How many times when you are online these days do you see negative comments or people? Attacks or just what seem to be either depressed lonely people or someone just looking for attention. Unfortunately they rarely get the kind of attention they crave and often seem to attract the worse kind of people. We live in a world where people seem to feel they can attack, abuse and violate people and the online space with crude, obscene and downright offensive comments. These people often sit behind a computer or mobile screen thinking they are free to do as they please. They act as though normal laws and common decency do not apply, but they are wrong.
Recently a professional footballer collapsed and almost died on the pitch. His name was Fabrice Muamba, a 23-year-old man. Most of the world was shocked and flooded the social networks with messages of hope, prayer and goodwill. Like most people my thoughts were immediately to his family and friends. Even the rival fans in the stadium stood and cheered his name as doctors and medical staff fought for his life on the pitch. It was later noted that his heart stopped for a considerable time but due to his fitness and the fact he has been playing football for over 40 minutes meant blood was still flowing to his vital organs. Fortunately Fabrice Muamba did survive and has started the long road to recovery which is wonderful news for him, his family, his friends and everyone who sent positive feelings his way. But some of the things that came out online were simply unforgivable.
One person was arrested and has been charged for racial abuse about the incident. Apparently the man was sending spurious messages on Twitter but people did not accept this. Not just football fans but everyone. There is a stop racism campaign in football across the world but unless society changes there is little help this problem will be left out of sporting venues. But for me the reason this was stopped, even if it is only one single person spouting vile negative comments, was that the flood of positivity overwhelmed the negative.
I deal with global brands online and digital strategies have to include attacks from unhappy customers, people who do not like what the brand stands for (Be it real or imaginary) and simple attacks for attacks sake. We always help the client face these issues head on and answer them all. For the most part an unhappy customer will offer some valuable learning’s about the customer interaction, which they have seen. Something you rarely used to see on a marketing report before. For the people who are attacking the brand you have a chance to educate them on the real story behind the brand. Some will work and some will not but for the most part people appreciate the time taken to address their point of view. As for the ‘haters’ well there is only so much you can do and if they do not get or allow you to put your point of view across then they probably never will, so you just have to move on.
When it comes to your own life understand that when you are positive you will attract a positive world. You do not have to believe in the law of attraction to know the days you woke up in a bad mood and stormed out the house unhappy rarely improved greatly for you. No matter what is happening in your life I always believe there is a positive slant to what is happening, even if you can’t see it straight away. I know personally that some of the most trying and difficult times of my life turned out to be the most important and inspirational moments that I could have ever dreamed of. I have faced death more than once, one case I was alone in a foreign country and knew no one, as I had just moved to Kuwait on business.
The positive energy that I felt from certain people, complete strangers at the time, was something that changed my complete outlook on the world. Guardian angels who spared time to just give a positive word or smile. I still see their faces now and trust me, I have a awful memory. When I came through that incident I embraced life with a different outlook, tried to be positive at every moment and ensure that by the time I do die the life that flashes before my eyes will be a film worth watching.
Try to be positive in your day ahead; you never know whose world you are going to change or save. The world needs you to be positive but more importantly YOU need you to be positive because when you live with a positive outlook on life and look for the positive in what is in front of you, no matter how difficult that may seem, your life will be very different and together we can make this word a better place.
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Tags: attack, brands, death, Fabrice Muamba, feelings, football, haters, hospital, Kuwait, law of attraction, life, negative, positive attitude, quotes, racism, soccer, society, Sports, support, user experience
How much time over the years have you lost being angry? I know I have probably wasted more time than most on things that have not helped me, caused me more stress and made life quite unbearable to those around me. I have always been the kind of person that over analyzes every conversation over and over again. I even do this when I have a good conversation but I still start nit picking on certain words and think ‘what did that really mean?’ What a complete waste of time. There is nothing I can do about the time I have lost, but there is something I can do in the future.
When something doesn’t go the way I want or expected now I feel this surge of emotion that I know is taking over me. The questions spinning around my head and it is a complete battle to keep this under control. I remember times being angry and having a feeling that I was watching some idiot completely implode in front of me. I seemed to have forgotten that I was actually driving that car into the wall. I know I will always face this as this is part of my personality, but that was just an excuse I used to use that made it easier to act this way. But over time I have learned to channel that energy into the right areas.
Imagine you are a rocket that is getting ready to launch and someone upsets you. You can spend the next hour, day or week burning off all your fuel so that by the time you do get around to launching yourself in one direction that you barely clear the launch tower. Or you can fire yourself into the stratosphere and see what the stars are really like when you are among them. Because, if you put only half of that energy into anything you want the things you could accomplish are unbelievable. So imagine what all of that energy will achieve when you focus it on a dream or goal you want to achieve. It will put everything into perspective, it will make everything worthwhile and it will do you more good than moping around sulking, like I used to do. Don’t get angry, get to work instead.
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Tags: angry, argument, channel, complete waste of time, dreams, focus your energy, good conversation, launch, life, losing time, positive attitude, stratosphere, time wasting, waste of time
We have all faced down the demons of a certain situation in our lives. Whether those moments were personal, financial, professional, abuse or any other terrible incident that scars our soul. When we think back to that moment it all feels so real, shocking and sickening that we sense a closeness through the fabric of time and space that links you to that event, or like most people events. But to grow you must visit these places every now and again.
It is within these moments of your life, as harsh as they may be, we find out the real person we are. An inner strength that, for the most part of the day, seems as distant as you have now made some of these events in your mind. It is not the pain that I am saying you should focus on, that would just be counter productive. The moment I mean you to focus on is that moment just afterwards, when the tears stopped, the pain eased and we looked at the road ahead with a fire burning inside desperate to rise again from whatever heel you were in. It is that moment that is the real you, the one that can and did pull you through anything.
It is in those moments, however brief, do we have so much clarity in what we want, what we can do and what we will do, it is an enlightened moment that if you were to look from the outside of yourself would see a human being ready to take on anything. Look where you are now. No matter how successful or poorly you believe your current situation is, you know that you have faced worse moments and overcome them. And when you look back at that moment you see a different person, one that was not ready for the challenges you face today. I am a firm believer that everything you have gone through has given you the tools to overcome any obstacle that is in your path today, or in the future. All you have to do is believe in yourself, just as you did before.
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Tags: believe in yourself, challenges, darkest moments, health, journey, life, mental-health, path, politics, quotes, strength, suffering, trauma, trouble
I remember reading a quote on online once that read, “Holding a grudge is letting someone live rent-free in your head.” I love this quote and think it is extremely powerful. It also made me think about how difficult it is in life without the extra burden of carrying such baggage with you.
We have all been upset, betrayed, lied to and more by one person or another throughout our lives. But one thing you must not do is keep that anger inside you or drag it along like an anchor at the bottom of the sea catching on every little rock or boulder, as it will only slow you down. Once the initial pain subsides you must review the other persons side of what happened and then see where you went wrong in the situation or what you could have done differently.
You see, nice that pain subsides, and it will, you will be able to look at every aspect with a clear mind, as though you are watching it happen to someone else. Only then can you really understand or take lessons out of that experience. This is something you must do. You cannot put this away, push it deep within or just forget it. Trust me, I know from personal experience that sooner or later you will have top face this and it’s better to do it earlier. Because once you do go through the painful process of picking through the incident, or incidents, the sooner you can dump that baggage like garbage it is.
There is no doubt in my mind that once you do this, once you go through the process of analyzing both, the other persons acts and your own experiences, will you feel a sense of accomplishment as you overcome that feeling. Not only overcome that helpless and demoralizing feeling but also you will come out stronger as a person than you have ever been.
You will look back on that time and know that was the time that actually propelled you down the road to where you are know rather than slowing you down. Life is a journey and it is fraught with painful lessons and obstacles along the way, it is best you don’t bring your own obstacles or luggage with you, just take the lessons and move on. Let you past make you better, not bitter.
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Tags: challenge, experience, feelings, health, holding a grudge, journey, lessons, life, mental-health, politics, quotes, travel, vacation
Never let criticism hold you back in life
How many times in your life have you decided not to do something because of someone else’s opinion? It could be a derogatory comment about something you have worked on, maybe just a look that sapped all your confidence or maybe you are the one who convinced yourself that this path was not for you.
Whatever the reason, this is something that you have to fight. You have to fight this with every once of your soul and do it on a daily basis. You see I work with creative people every day, have done for nearly twenty years, and what I see on a daily basis is people who are in love with an idea one minute and with one comment the idea is in a screwed up ball of paper heading towards the waste paper basket. All because of someone else’s opinion.
What you have to do is take all the criticism, comments and suggestions into your mind but don’t let become the driving force. One trick you have to do is look at what is being said to you from a different angle. This is not easy, as with anything we do in life we get attached to something by pouring our heart into it hoping we are on the right track. Try to filter through the constructive aspects of what is being said, no matter how negative they may first appear, and be impartial with your final view. But this should never stop you doing something you enjoy.
If you are doing something that is bringing you happiness, fulfillment and a creative release that you enjoy nothing should stop you doing that thing. Obviously as long as that is not doing something that hurts or offends anyone. If you look at anyone’s life, anyone that you know has accomplished one thing in their life, you will see a person that has faced defeat, criticism, negativity and more towards something they wanted to do. They used it to fuel their ambition rather than dampen their dreams. So why should you be any different?
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Posted by afirmin on May 26, 2012 in motivation
Tags: ambitions-need-to-be-fueled, convince-yourself-to-achieve-dreams, Convincing-yourself-you-can-achieve, creative release, creativity, criticism-not-holding-you-back, fight-negative-thoughts-every-day, Filter-out-all-the-negative, live-the-dreams-you-dream, make-comments-work-for-you, opinion, use-criticism-to-your-advantage