Project 366 / 305 - Me, myself and I

I'm my own worst enemy. I'm also my greatest ally. I have flaws aplenty and wants, needs and desires that I have to keep in check otherwise they'd take over my life.

I think I'm in control when really I don't even know what control is. I'm kept on the straight and narrow by being accountable to people. Left to my own devices I'd be lost.

I have great willpower one minute and none the next. My angels and demons weigh my shoulders down like boulders of iron crushing my body. Yet I excel under pressure, revelling and exceeding expectations when suffocated by responsibility.

I don't celebrate myself, don't reward myself and don't congratulate myself. I never think I've made it, I've never acted like I had it and I always think I'm going to lose it. I'm striving to survive and striving to provide.

I hope for everything but want for nothing.

I hate letting people down but am constantly let down. I'm dedicated, I'm honest and I never switch off. I'm constantly creating, thinking and planning. I'm tired but energised - I'm a contradiction to myself.

I'm an entrepreneur.

Project 366 / 304 - The dogs, the boys and punters

I went out with the boys today. It's maybe a bi-annual event which, to be honest it a struggle to arrange. It shouldn't be - it's not like we're away for a whole weekend, just a day out at the dogs and then in Brighton, yet getting 6,7 or 8 guys free for one day seems to be the hardest thing to do.

Anyway today was the day. Despite agreeing to the date we still had a couple of last minute drop outs with excuses ranging from a "craft fair" (??) to "getting the kids ready to go back to school after the half term". I don't know, the things some people do to get out of having a few innocent beers with their mates...

First stop today was the dogs in Brighton, and that is the topic for today's blog: gambling.

Now we're a decent bunch of guys. We're all doing ok for ourselves, we're all well presented and well turned out. The dog's in Brighton isn't the most glamorous of locations but we all make an effort. However there is a big difference between the dogs and the horses. And I'm not talking about animals here, I'm talking about the clientele.

A few months ago my wife and I went to Goodwood and it was exactly what it says on the tin: glorious. Most people made an effort and because of this it made the day even more of an occasion. We can all wear scruffy clothes any day so having an occasion to dress up for males it even more special. Why everyone else can't make the same effort is beyond me.

But going to the dogs is a whole other story. Standard dress code is slouchies. That's tracksuit bottoms, overly saggy jeans and smelly t-shirts. If you want any proof that gambling is a mugs game then look no further than the clientele at the dogs and you'll quickly realise that the only person who really ever wins in the long term is the bookies themselves.

Now if you like a bet the general advice that you'll always receive is only bet what you can afford to loose. Really? Well what I can afford to loose is completely different to actually losing. There's a euphoria that comes with winning and a complete demoralisation that comes with losing. I hate losing anything, especially money. It gives you a sinking, gutting feeling of injustice, failure and frustration. Why did I lose? Why can't I win? Why am I so unlucky?

Speak to any regular gambler and you are guaranteed to only hear of their winnings. They won't tell you the stories of their continued losses, their chasing of the debt or the lies they've had to tell themselves and everyone else. Oh no, they'll only tell you of a loss if it pre-cursored a big win, like "I was down to my last £10 and I thought sod it and put it all on the last horse to win and came away with £500".

No it wasn't a pretty picture at the dogs today but as they say, every picture tells a story.

Project 366 / 303 - Halloween; then and now

As sure as eggs are eggs, everything gets commercialised and ruined. I remember not so long ago when Halloween was more underground than anything, when no one was really in to it and was only really celebrated by a select few.

Many of our friends hated it. They hated the kids trick or treating (actually they were the same one's who didn't answer the door to carol singers either) and would either go out or switch off all the lights to pretend they weren't home or simply didn't answer the door.

We've always enjoyed it, after all it's just kids having a bit of fun. There's no malice, there's nothing sinister and there's nothing scary (of course that's not what we told the young trick or treaters who were of course, scary as hell).

But just over the last few years it's become hugely commercialised with everywhere jumping on the bandwagon. And it's all for one thing - getting you to part with your hard earned money. The retailers must love it, after all they are lurching from one annual event to another. You can almost see places link Clinton Cards rubbing their hands with glee - new year, valentines, easter, mothers day, fathers day, birthdays, births, deaths, marriages, anniversaries, halloween, bonfire night and Christmas.

But back to Halloween - a time to celebrate the undead, the zombies, werewolves, witches, ghosts and ghoulies. What a strange thing to do. I mean at any other time of the year you'd be sectioned, outcast or at least avoided but for a few days at the end of October when everyone goes just a little bit crazy.

From what I can understand the origins of Halloween can be traced back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain. The festival, held at the end of October, marked the end of summer and the harvest season and the beginning of the dark cold winter, when the nights drew long and the days became short. The festival symbolised the boundary between the world of the living and the world of the dead. It was believed by the Celts that on the night of the 31st October, ghosts of their dead would revisit the mortal world so large bonfires were lit in each village in order to ward off any evil spirits that may be at large.

I'm guess then at some point some opportunist conman thought it'd be a good idea to dress up as the evil spirits to scare their neighbours into handing over their loot to pay for their sins. And so trick or treating was born.

Or I could be making that bit up (but it sounds quite logical).

Project 366 / 302 - Honesty, trust and relationships

I think the drive to strive is beginning to cloud our vision. People are so blinkered in their approach that they're not seeing the bigger picture, the greater good, the possibilities for positivity and the impact they could be having as opposed to the impact they are having.

And in some respect who can blame them? We tend to live in a materialistic and disposable world where greed is good and wealth is revered. Where if you're successful at one thing then you're put in a position of authority for another. And where celebrity is classed as a skill, not a consequence of excellence.

I did a video for work recently about the importance of honesty and transparency (you can watch it here). We uploaded a native video to Facebook which got reasonable attention but one of the questions I was asked by someone was "are you honest?". Now of course my knee jerk reaction was a resounding "yes!" but it certainly got me thinking about people and their honesty.

Ask yourself - am I honest? Are you? Or is your answer a lie in itself?

I think most people have good intentions but could be more honest. I think that because we're all striving, because we feel that we're all in competition with each other and because we feel that, for whatever reason, we aren't doing as well as we hoped we'd be doing then those little white lies creep in.

And that's how it starts. Little lies turn into embellishments which create facades. But in the end you're only lying to yourself. No one is really that impressed, no one is really taking that much notice, and most people know the truth anyway and that causes distrust.

I remember seeing a friend down the gym and he was boasting about his training. He was known for taking steroids so I asked him outright "are you on the gear?" to which he replied "what? No mate". I said "oh ok, but you know, if you are then you're only really lying to yourself". And I truly believed that - I didn't care that much about his gains or was that impressed, I was focussed on what I was doing. Besides I'd be more impressed with honesty rather than deceit.

People don't like dishonest people. How can you argue with a liar? How can you trust a liar? As I said in our video, trust builds relationships and at the end of the day all you really have is your integrity.

Project 366 / 301 - Protecting, exposing and pressure

As parents we do the very best we can to bring our children up to be honest, with the right morals, the right attitude and the right approach in life. Well at least I hope we do. There are certainly some questionable parents out there, people who don't deserve to have had children and who frankly don't appear to even want their kids.

But that's a whole other story. I'm talking about us good ones.

Fortunately the trend in the 90's and 00's of excessive over protection has given way to just plain old over protection. Over the last 20 years we've seen teachers prosecuted for exercising discipline, parents sued by their own children and all manner of wrongful imbalances of justice.

Yes the modern family has a habit of over protection. We don't want our kids to get hurt, either physically or mentally. We don't want them to have to go through some of the pain that we suffered and if we can avoid it we will, even though we know it's not doing them any good.

We all need the rough and the smooth. We all need to experience bad so we know what good feels like. We all need to be hurt so we know when it's real love.

But how much of how we're bringing up our kids will affect them through their teenage years and into adulthood? Will the morals, attitude and approach that we've taught them from day 1 really stand the test of time? Or will they be discarded under crushing peer pressure?

I know people who have been perfect children but change beyond recognition at 15. Children who have amazing parents and who have been brought up so well only to get in with the wrong crowd and change. As parents it's scary.

I'm thinking that as long as our kids aren't the wrong crowd then we've done a good job. I'm hoping that the confidence that we're trying to install will give them the ability to not bow to that inevitable peer pressure that'll come their way.

I can only look back on my life and hope that my children don't repeat my mistakes. But saying that, as a parent I won't put my children in the circumstances that I was placed in.

When I was 13 I moved school to a big college. I was a full-time boarder and on the weekend before term started my parents dropped me off at this impossibly big, incredibly imposing and very scary looking place. I knew no-one and I was sleeping in a dormitory of 30 children aged 13 to 15, most of whom were either fighting, arguing, shouting or crying. And this was my first day.

I had 2 choices - either keep my head down and get on with my school work and survive or make friends and thrive. I chose the latter, but the latter came with bad choices and consequences. That's what I want to avoid for my children and it's one of the main things that I have a control over.

Saying all that, I never lost my morals, I never lost or blurred the lines between knowing what was right and wrong and I think that, above everything else has stood me in good stead my whole life. And I guess that's all we can ask of for our children.

Project 366 / 300 - Reinforcing your message, jabs and right hooks

In business, marketing is a bit like raising children. You can't tell your kids something once and expect them to follow your instruction. No, you have to tell them again and again and again and eventually they'll begin to listen. Then they'll begin to act. Then, after some time, they'll begin to do what you ask without having to be asked. Yet every now and again you'll have to remind them what's expected.

This reinforcing of your message is what eventually drives results.

Think of television advertising for example. The adverts aren't run so everyone will see them, they are run so you will see them again and again. How many times do you see the same advert over and over? The advertiser is simply just reinforcing their message. You'll go from no reaction, to noticing, to pondering, to action.

I read an article the other day that was talking about cold calling, it went something like this;

48% of sales people never follow up with a prospect
25% of sales people make a second contact and stop
12% of sales people make a third contact and stop
Only 10% of sales people make more than three contacts
2% of sales are made on the first contact
3% of sales are made on the second contact
5% of sales are made on the third contact
10% of sales are made on the fourth contact
80% of sales are made on the fifth to twelfth contact

It's called persistence and patience. Re-inforcing your message over a period of time will eventually reap results. Telling something to someone once is highly unlikely to drive the results that you are after and every type of sales and marketing will be the same.

Social media, digital marketing, e-mail newsletters, radio adverts, newspapers ads, flyers, billboards - all these and anything like them need to be seen as long term. It's a marathon, not a sprint. You need to post regularly, create digital content that encourages engagement, write often, be see, be heard and raise awareness. And even in the face of a deaf audience you need to keep it going.

Just recently I had a dormant customer call me up. He said something like "I've just seen one of your stupid videos" or "I just read one of your stupid newsletters" (he was that venomous about it) "but it reminded me that I needed to talk to you about..." and there it was: "it reminded me that I needed to talk to you". Marketing at it's best.

It's taken time. We've been spending the best part of a year, but we've spent that time reinforcing our message and our brand. No hard sell, just brand awareness or as Gary Vaynerchuk would say Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook.

Project 366 / 299 - Hawking, AI and consequences

Professor Stephen Hawking has reportedly said "The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race" and I'd tend to agree.

Developing artificial intelligence is like rolling a snowball down a hill. To begin with you can control it, even stop it and destroy it if you like. But there comes a time when the momentum is too strong that all you can do it watch it gather speed and size as it destroys everything in its path.

At the present time the primitive forms of AI have proved very helpful but one can already see the dangers lurking around the corner. It could take off on its own and re-design itself at an ever increasing rate. Us humans, who are limited by slow biological evolution, couldn't compete and would be superseded.

Or as Arnold would say, terminated.

AI, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Tron, I, Robot, The Matrix, The Terminator, The Machine...

See, we've even predicted our future. Hell in the future the machines will be sitting around in cosmo-cinemas, laughing into their popcorn at our self-predicted demise.

But whilst the advancement of technology is accelerating we're still what feels like a long way off from the danger zone. We have a habit of projecting a path to our future and then following it to make it real. It's almost like reverse engineering our lives to to map out how to get there and then being amazed how accurate our predictions were.

The stupid thing about AI is that we know the dangers. We know that if we take it too far then our worst fears will be realised. It's like taking drugs - we like the danger but don't like the consequences. The problem is that if the technology begins to advance towards judgement day then there will always be some idiot who'll take it too far.

In some ways the future is already set. We've started down the path towards an inevitable end, it's just how long it takes to get there that's the variable.

Project 366 / 298 - Migrants, refugees and asylum

I don't get much chance to watch the news. Our TV is hijacked by the kids whenever they are awake and the rest of the time I tend to be working. That said I know a few people who actively make a choice not to read the newspaper or watch the news, fearing that it is propaganda aimed at keeping the world in fear or at worst causing civil unrest.

But I do check my news app's, if anything just to catch the headlines. After all I believe that it's not only healthy to have some kind of handle what is going on around the world but also have some kind of knowledge to back up any opinion that I may have when asked.

The migrant crisis in Calais is a current hot topic, if for no other reason than because the French authorities are going in to tear apart the "Jungle" that the migrants and refugees call home. This all began because a reception facility called Sangatte was set up there back in 1999. This quickly became overcrowded and the Jungle was opened in 2002.

Today there are anything between 6,000-10,000 people there with more people arriving every day, some migrants and some refugees. The difference, should you not know, is that a migrant is someone who has made a conscious decision to leave their own country to seek a better life elsewhere. They've had time to pack up their belongings, plan their travel, researched the country of destination and had chance to say goodbye to the important people in their lives. Refugees, on the other hand, are fleeing war and persecution. Some are forced to flee without warning, leaving behind their homes, most if not all of their belongings, family members and friends. Their journey to safety is fraught with hazard and many risk their lives in search of protection.

But when you realise that most of the people living in the Jungle have travelled from Somalia, Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Sudan you begin to realise just how far these people have travelled just to get there.

But why there?

Well the end destination for those in Calais is the UK but that's only a fraction of the problem. Germany tops the asylum claims charts. Other counties massively affected are Hungary, Sweden, Austria, Norway and Finland, but everyone is affected. We only know about it because it only appears to affect us.

But after the Jungle is disassembled and the migrants and refugees relocated and given asylum what next? Well the draw to a better life in the UK won't end. Nor will the war and crisis that many of the refugees are fleeing from end either. The problem needs to be solved at the source otherwise the flow will continue.

Sadly we all think we're entitled. We think we're entitled to what we have and if we don't have it we think we're entitled to take it from someone else. This is a humanitarian issue that needs to be treated as such. It's crazy to think that governments claim poverty to help others yet find billions to fund war.

The sooner the powers that be act rather than react then the better off everyone will be.

Project 366 / 297 - Fans, accepting yourself and consumption

We all admire other people, perhaps look up to them or be inspired by them. The actual literal translation of the word "fan" is fanatic. The meaning of the word "fanatic" is a person filled with excessive enthusiasm and single minded zeal.

Sounds creepy right? Perhaps a bit stalkerish?

But the truth is that most people are trying to be just a little bit more like someone else.

It's great to be inspired. It can light a fire in your belly, something which can be an amazing catalyst for change, for improvement and for good. I've spent a lot of time watching and reading the works of inspiring people and it has incentivised action, it's opened up new directions, new ideas and new opportunities. But I'm not trying to be like anyone else. Instead I'm continually trying to accept who I am and to leverage the learnings of others to improve myself.

In your 20's and 30's you think you've got it sust. I'm not saying that you think you know it all, no that's reserved for the younger generation, but you think that you've learnt everything that you need to learn. It's only when you get a bit older and really open your eyes and ears to different perspectives that you realise that you really only know 1%. There's so much to learn, there's so much to take in.

But herein lies another danger; consuming too much. There comes a time when you need to take action and put into practice what you've been learning. Only after that can you return to consuming to further fine tune what you're doing. Plus by consuming too much you'll potentially lose your own style as you begin to emulate others.

One of the facets about our digital and social media marketing at work that I'm enjoying so much is the fact that we're not trying to copy anyone. In fact I believe that we're leading the way - literally no-one else is doing what we're doing and people are remarking on it. It's nice to be the leader and it's nice that we're not ripping anyone else off. We’re adopting what we’ve learnt from lots of different sources and mixing them together with a large helping of perspective to create original content.

But every day we’re learning.

Project 366 / 296 - Cinema, trailers and promo

I don't watch much television. I can't stand soap operas, reality tv or any of the trash tv that seems to completely saturate the channels. I do catch the occasional box set (The Sopranos, Ray Donovan, Gomorrah, The Newsroom, Billions) but if you catch me watching anything then it's more likely to be a film.

I love the way a film or a good series can make you feel. How a cleverly written story can pull you in, keep you gripped and leave you wanting more when it finishes. Story telling is certainly a fine art and can be greatly exaggerated when combined with compelling and convincing acting.

A friend and I used to go to the cinema every couple of weeks so were abreast of the latest releases. We were so up to date at one point that we begun watching films we wouldn't normally choose. That certainly made for some interesting evenings. But one of the things we've been noticing more of late is the different types of trailers.

Now at one end of the scale there are the trailers that hardly give anything away. They don't tell you anything about the story whatsoever - it's just a teaser.

And then at the other end of the scale are the trailers that seemingly condense the entire film down into a 3-4 minute trailer. The beginning, the middle and the end. You're left knowing the story and wondering why anyone would spend their hard earned money watching the longer version.

And then there's social media. Many of the stars actively promote their films and this is great. It's actually something that the film studios love and when choosing between one actor and another they'll nowadays choose the one with the more active social media presence. Promo is everything.

Now the stars have access to cuts of the film and, in an effort to build up momentum for their opening weekend will post countless 20 second clips. The problem lies in the fact that like those 3-4 minute full story trailers, they are showing the best bits of the film. So when you sit down in the cinema to watch the film it doesn't have the same impact.

I had this with the recent comedy Central Intelligence. I'm a big fan of The Rock, but during his promo for the film he'd posted the best 5-10 clips from the film. So when I watched the film in the cinema I wasn't as entertained as I would have been had I not seen the clips.

There is a fine balance between under and over exposure.

Project 366 / 295 - Buy local

There's a lot of hypocritical people around. People who are saying one thing and then doing another. People who's actions aren't matching their words and it's really beginning to show.

One of the focuses for us at work for 2017 will be "Buy Local". We're going to start championing our home town, what it has to offer and part of that will be to (hopefully) educate and inform our followers the reasons and benefits for buying local.

Our home town is Worthing in West Sussex. Historically we've been perceived as a retirement town, a sleepy town where old people go to spend their last days. It's had a detrimental effect on the reputation of the town and one which the town has been struggling to shake off.

Until now that is.

The town is fast becoming a half trendy place to go. Yes it's got a long way to go but it's on the right path. It just needs the residents support, and that is what I find fascinating.

The ones who are complaining are the exact ones who have the power to do something about it. It's like working for a company and saying it's a boring place to work. You make it what it is. And it's the exact same thing in our town.

Why do you think Brighton is perceived to be this hip and happening town where lots is going on? It's because people flock there for the quirky, alternative independent shops. They are choosing small businesses over their larger multinational competitors and as a result the small businesses are flourishing which attracts more people, which attracts better restaurants, pubs, clubs, sights and facilities which, in turn, attracts more people. And so the circle of life goes round.

Unfortunately for us in Worthing we're finding that the town is dying because people aren't supporting the small, cool independent shops and small businesses and so the multinationals are taking over the joint.

We noticed this first hand when filming in town a few weeks ago. Costa Coffee was at full capacity with a queue out of the door, whilst literally next door the small independent coffee shop was seemingly empty. Again people are saying they're supporting local business but their actions aren't matching their words.

We're just a small voice in a small pond. But I think if enough people understand the potential in themselves then, as a cooperative, we stand a chance of making a difference.

Project 366 / 294 - Creating, covers and Rewind

As creatives we're all searching for new ideas, fresh content and originality. Ultimately we think that this is what will attract attention and get some traction when instead perhaps we could be looking at what has already passed and possibly been missed.

It's said that we produce and create as much information every 2 days now as we did since the dawn of man through to 2003. That means being heard has become a whole lot harder. Social media channels are as noisy as hell with people flicking through content faster and faster, looking for a piece of content to jump out. That means that your masterpiece is likely to be overlooked.

But that's not to say it has to be lost.

What is well known today will be forgotten in a few generations. So maybe to find fresh content you only have to look at the past. After all a lot of Hollywood films are simply either remakes, old books turned into film or stories of old that have been revisited and reimagined.

I've often thought that someone should do a show called "Rewind". It'd be modern cover versions of old comedy sketches. There could be seasons of decades - the 60's, the 70's the 80's etc... So much of this comedy is timeless and could quite easily be regurgitated for the younger generation to be enjoyed once again.

Things don't need to be lost forever. If musicians trawl through old music to create successful cover versions why can't you replicated this for what you do?

Modern day social media is the new television and television is fast becoming the new radio. Things are moving a lot faster. Pictures, video, written blogs and posts can be re-used annually, such is the short attention span and comprehensive choice. Plus what may not work today may strike a chord at another time.

So much is lost that can be either re-used, re-done, re-written or recycled. Go back to the start and find those hidden gems, you may be surprised.

Project 366 / 293 - Queuing, the doctors and motivation

Why is it that some places you accept that you have to wait, that a queue is perfectly normal and the place you’re at actually provides a waiting room because it’s normal to have to wait? Whereas other places you don’t expect to have to wait and if you do have to you become visibly irritated?

I waited in the doctors this morning for what seemed an unacceptable amount of time, in a room full of people who are unwell, who obviously have various symptoms and are probably suffering. It got me wondering - how long have they lived like that? How long have they suffered and put off going to the doctors to have it looked in to?

Growing up I came from a family who didn't go to the doctors. Going to the doctors for us was literally a sign of weakness. Not that I was every really unwell. Back when they had manual records I noticed that mine were pretty much non-existent so I asked my doctor if it was a second folder, like the first had been bursting at their seams. He said that mine was one of one and that there were no other records.

I asked my mother about this, stating that my adult records were pretty thin on the ground and that I must have been pretty unwell as a child and as a result had built up a substantial immune system. She told me that I was hardly ever ill as a child and so no, there wouldn't be many records.

Nowadays I’m no better at going to the doctors. I’ll suffer in silence for ages before taking the time out of my day to go. And as we get older more things ache, hurt or stop working so well. Is this normal? Should it be something that we just simply accept? Or should we be beating the NHS into financial ruin just to appease our weak and feeble bodies?

I think most people need to man up. There's a lot of problems which a healthy diet and exercise will solve. But I understand how hard it can be to motivate yourself. Just at the moment I've got a sore lower back, a niggly knee problem and an inflamed rotator-cuff. Pain for me manifests itself as tiredness so whilst I'm in some discomfort I'm also very tired. The thought of some light exercise, which would begin to make me feel better, is pretty much the last thing from my mind.

Yes getting motivated to exert yourself physically isn't an easy thing. But as we all know, the first step  is inevitably always the hardest.

Project 366 / 292 - Improving, victory and finishing strong

There's just over 10 weeks left of the year and zoom, another year will have flown by. When you reach the end of the year will you be happy with the one that's just passed? Will you be satisfied with what you achieved over the last 12 months? Could you have been more focused, more determined, more productive and perhaps less lazy?

We're not looking for perfection here, just progression. As long as you're moving forwards, as long as you're improving and not stagnating or moving backwards then you will be closer to your goals, or more importantly your vision, than you were.

But it's never too late. You've still got 74 days left to make an impact. Perhaps you've lost your focus, perhaps you've lost your direction and perhaps you've lost the spark - it happens to all of us from time to time. Sometimes it just takes something small to fire you up again and maybe the deadline of Christmas is all it takes.

The new year always brings a swathe of best intentions. The gyms take on a glutton of new members, diets change, habits are broken and promises to ourselves of a better us are made. But sticking to the path can sometimes be harder than finding the path in the first place.

But just realise that the time will pass anyway. Before you know it the clocks will have gone back, Halloween and Bonfire Night will have passed and the real countdown to Christmas will have begun. It's never too late to act, and now it the perfect time to do just that. You can make a real impact in anything that you want to do in these final weeks before 2017.

I always tell my children that the taste of victory is much sweeter if you have worked for it. That if you work really hard at school during the term time then the school holidays will feel so much better. As adults if you work hard during the week then Friday night and the weekend feels amazing. There's a real sense of deserving. If you don't feel like that then you're not working hard enough.

And I'm not advocating working for the weekend. If you dread Sunday nights, have the Monday morning blues and only work for the weekend then something is terribly wrong. That's not a way to live your life. Every day should be a great day. There's always someone somewhere who would happily swap lives with you.

But dig deep now, put in the hustle, the graft and the work and then at Christmas you'll be able to sit back and bathe in the glory of what you've achieved.

Project 366 / 291 - Sleep; missing it and getting some

We all know that we feel better after a good nights sleep, or a few good nights sleep so why is it one of the first things that we sacrifice when life gets busy?

Good regular amounts of quality sleep are linked to improved creativity, less stress, improved metabolism, better decision making, improved concentration, increased brain power, happiness, better learning, lower blood pressure, better moods, healthier hearts, improved reactions healthier skin, and oh, you'll make fewer mistakes.

And that's just a few of the benefits.

Yet we'll happily sacrifice our shut-eye in the attempt to be more productive.

I was told recently that you can't catch up on sleep. That you can't work all hours from Monday to Friday and then have a monster sleep session to catch up. It just doesn't work like that. Plus on the weekends you're more likely to have a drink or two which inhibits the kind of sleep that your body is craving.

Resisting coffee, dark chocolate, overly spicy foods and unhealthy fatty foods will help. Stopping eating 3 hours before you go to bed will greatly help. Plus avoiding your blue screens - that's smart phones, tablets and computers for an hour before bed will greatly help. Then there's the temperature of your room - keeping it around 65-70 degrees F is ideal. Anything above or below this will aid restless sleep.

Bedtime routines would help. Think of your children - you give them wind down time, a bath, a story and then tell them to go to sleep. How does this compare to your routine? My betting is that you fly in at 100 mph and crash into bed expecting your body to just shut down almost instantaneously. I know I do.

Instead try a bedtime routine for a week. Switch off your phone, have an early dinner, have a warm bath, read a few chapters of your book and relax.

That is until the kids wake up just as you're dropping off, the home phone rings, the dog starts barking and the wife comes home from an alcohol fuelled evening and wants to tell you all about it.

Project 366 / 290 - Amsterdam

When you think of Amsterdam what springs to mind? Canals? Dam Square? Legal drugs? The red light district? Well what about the Amsterdam marathon?

Yes not quite what you were thinking of but still that's what we've been here for over the weekend. The plan was to run it, you know, take part and all that but due to injury, my wife having an operation suddenly come up 8 days before and a whole host of other less convincing excuses we didn't.

But the flights and hotel were bought and paid for and my lovely sister recruited to look after the kids so we thought we'd still make the trip.

We've been to Amsterdam before, some 6 years ago. Back then we were taken aback by its quaint beauty, stunning architecture and crazy cyclists. This time was no different, except that the cyclists appear to have taken things to another level by being on their phones whilst negotiating cars, vans, pedestrians, trams, scooters and literally hundreds of their kinsfolk.

We saw 2 near misses, one of which was when a scooter tried to overtake a bicycle in a narrow alleyway packed with pedestrians. No wonder they've legalised some drugs there, if they weren't all so high there'd be road rage on literally every corner.

Despite the chaos it's good to see the benefits of cycling. There's no obese or even overweight people around. That's not to say that everyone is healthy though; everyone seems to smoke. When you've got used to people not smoking it's a bit of a culture shock.

My wife "dragged" me down to the red light district which was entertaining. Many of the girls in the windows are very pretty but it's just the sheer volume of people who pack the area out every night which is the surprise. Men and women of all ages head down to take in the sights. If you're in any doubt that sex sells then you'll come away realising your mistake.

As for the marathon... well it looked like a lot of hard work. I've done 1 and I think 1 is enough. Saying that, when we headed through security at Schiphol airport the man asked the reason for my visit,

"errr, the marathon" I replied feeling guilty for literally no reason whatsoever.

"How did you get on?" He asked,

"oh erm four and a half hours, I'm very tired" I lied.

"Well done, goodbye".

Project 366 / 289 - Your vision, emotions and progression

Who are you? What do want in life? No I mean what do you really want?

Most people have goals in life but goals can be wishy-washy. They can suit you one minute but when the going gets tough they can be abandoned. But far more important than goals is a vision. A vision for the future, for your future. It's something worth taking the time to envisage and to project onto your path. Only by reinforcing your vision will you be able to stay on your course.

The problem is that people hold themselves back from success. They have a limiting belief in who they can be and what they can achieve. They'll look at all the negativity (the economy is bad, there is too much competition, my company is not big enough), they'll place blame everywhere (it's Brexit, it's the weak found, it's mad cow disease) and they'll live on fear. Fear of failure, fear of hurting, fear of pain. Wealthy people act in the face of fear whereas poor people run away from fear.

It's important to control your emotions. We've all had days when you're annoyed, irritated and negative. Those days the words don't flow, you don't conduct yourself in the way you know you can, you feel out of control and you don't appear to do anything well. The next day you're calm, positive and energised and everything flows. Control that state, manage the way you feel in the moment and you can overcome anything.

Don't believe that you have to be perfect either. No one is perfect. It's all about progression, about moving forward. The world that you see isn't reality. The world is subjective, it's your view and yours alone that counts. We all see everything differently.

Money won't make you happy but the absence of money will buy you a whole lot of misery. There's no amount of poverty that you can have that will make a single person wealthy. There's no amount of misery that you can have that will make another person happy. There's no amount of sickness that you can have in your life that will make a single person healthy. It's best to accumulate as much of these things as you can and then share them around.

Be certain about you're doing.
Be clear, not overwhelmed.
Be courageous.

Be the best version of yourself that you can be.

Project 366 / 288 - Story telling, contradictions and awareness

Story telling is as old as man himself. From cave dwellers spinning tales around the camp fire to authors, film makers and today's social media engagers. Everyone is telling a story. Some tell a story to depict their life whilst others tell a story to tell a product or service.

The cost for entry is free with rules for engagement non-existent.

But it's not as easy as it looks. Sure some make it look easy, knocking out a constant stream of interesting and engaging content but that's their skill. On the other end of the scale there is an army of people making a completely embarrassing hash of it. But there are no rules, only results.

I always liken our story telling at work to be like peeling a satsuma. I'd ask someone to peel a satsuma, then peel another one but differently. I'd get them to repeat the exercise 100 times. The product remains the same, you just need to have the ability to look at it 100 different ways.

Social media is certainly becoming the modern day television, it's certainly where the tide of attention is shifting. The strange fact is that so many are marketing one way yet acting in a different one. For example so many are still spending their budgets on banner adverts, pre-rolls and magazine slots yet in their downtime are ignoring banner adverts, clicking the "x" on pre-rolls and flicking straight past magazine slots. Weird huh?

We're creating more digital content than ever but it's a slow burn. In comparison 95% of our client base are doing nothing, nothing at all. Are we land-grabbing? Are we garnering attention? Are we ahead of the curve?

Well I certainly don't think that we're making a mistake. We're getting attention, we're keeping our name out there and slowly but surely some of our clients are asking if we can do the same thing for them. For a small business like ours it only takes 1 or 2 contracts to pay for the whole social media experiment.

So we'll continue to tell stories to sell our service. We'll continue to tell stories to bring brand awareness. We'll continue to tell stories to remind everyone of our existence.

Project 366 / 287 - Routine, ruts and writing

When are you at your most creative? Is it when you first wake up and before the stresses of the day influence your mind? Maybe it's in the middle of the day, just after lunch when your brain power is at it's peak? Or are you a night owl, churning out creativity whilst the world sleeps?

Can you summon words, images, paintings, music at will? Or do you just act upon flashes of inspiration? For some, for sure, it's the act of repetition that breeds great work.

I remember watching an interview with Gary Barlow who said that he treated music as his work. He'd therefore set aside 6 hours or so a day to go to work. He'd set up a recorder and then sit at the piano and just jam, ramble and play about. After 60-90 minutes he'd stop and listen back whist making a snack or a cup of tea, listening out for any flashes of inspiration. Some days there'd be some, other days none. He'd then spend the rest of the day working on developing any of the ideas he'd extracted from his morning session.

But what works for one doesn't work for all. That process of discipline can destroy the creativity in some. The sheer act of trying to replicate someone else's routine can reek havoc with your creativity.

There's tons of articles and videos of top creatives being asked about their morning routine. People watch them in the bleak hope that by adopting their routine some of their creative genius will rub off on them. I think this is a mistake. Yes there are some common practices in all of them which will help - exercise for one. But apart from that you've got to find your own rhythm, your own style and your own routine.

But maybe a routine is where the problem lies. Maybe by being restricted as to when you think you are at your most creative you may be missing the out-of-comfort-zone possibility of improved creativity. Maybe by bucking the trend it'll force your mind to think differently, act differently and create differently.

There are no rules. Try a routine. Try moving out of your rut. You may be surprised.

Project 366 / 286 - Being different

It's just as well that we're all different. That some like the mornings, whereas others prefer the night. Some like sweet whilst others prefer sour. We're tall, we're short, we're fat, we're thin. Some of us live to work whilst others work to live. Some are happy never leaving their home town yet others travel the world.

Yes we're all different. We have different preferences, different tastes, different outlooks and different opinions. It's what makes the human race so interesting. We have mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, aunties and uncles all of which share a common gene and a common heritage, most of whom we don't get on with how we should. And then we have friends that we feel that we can't live without.

We interact, communicate, teach and learn from each other every single day, talking in 6,500 different languages across the world. We're strangers with our neighbour yet can easily find something in common with someone else across the other side of the world. Strangers become friends and friends become strangers. We fall in love in the blink of an eye, giving our heart, soul and life to a perfect stranger.

Some of us are open, some of us are closed. We've all got issues, we're all misunderstood. We all feel that somehow we're owed something from life, most of us failing in gratitude throughout a life taken for granted. We waste time and then chase time in a topsy-turvy life of mistaken priorities.

Most believe that their beliefs are the right ones, that their God is the God, that they are on the side of good and righteous and the enemy is evil. Most believe the media even though they know it's not the truth. Most believe everything they read in the papers even after being told not to.

If everything in life is a conspiracy then you'd best make up your own story. After all it's an unwritten script with no happy ending. Make a stand, make a stance and show yourself how different you are.

Because you are... different.

Project 366 / 285 - Hiring, firing and making mistakes

"What mistakes have you made when recruiting?"

This was a question that I came across earlier today and it kind of resonated with me. I used to think that I was a pretty good judge of character. I felt that I instinctively knew within seconds of meeting someone what they were about. I felt that I could trust my gut.

How wrong was I.

Yes my gut didn't let me down when making friends and acquaintances but when it came to hiring it was a whole other ball game. I learnt quickly that you can't trust just about anyone.

My problem of course was that I did, and still do. I trust that if someone says they are going to do something that they will. I mean after all why would you say one thing and then do another? But people do, all the time.

The problem is that not many people actually want to work. I'd get countless people coming in for interviews but you could tell immediately that they just had to be applying and interviewing for jobs just to keep their social security cheque coming.

One time I was advertising for a warehouseman/driver and this lump limped in. I asked where he had come from and if he was ok to which he answered;

"My mum brought me in... I've got a bad back"
"Bad back huh... the job involves a lot of lifting. And why did your mum bring you in - you do have a car don't you?"
"No I haven't passed my driving test yet. And no, I won't be able to lift much due to my back"
"Thanks for popping in, don't sit down, goodbye"
"Uh? Ok..."

I had a series of "interviews" like that (if that's what you can call them). I had to double check the advert just in case I'd made some horrible descriptive error.

Another time I made the biggest mistake - I''d begun to get desperate for help so hired and subsequently fired 8 people in 8 weeks. It wasn't a good time.

I've tried agency, job centre, advertising, word of mouth, recommendation and friends of friends. None of them have been consistently good. And the lack of basic computer knowledge is frightening. I thought that everybody knew how to type nowadays. After all at the minimum we're all on some form of electronic device with a qwerty keyboard. I've employed people between 21-55 ALL of which have been completely computer-illiterate.

And then, by the grace of God, I hit a stride and employed 7 people, one after the other, who wanted to work, who wanted to get on and had an acceptable level of common sense. And to be honest that's all I'm really after. We're not splitting atoms or saving lives here, as long as you know how to use a computer, get on well with others, have good common sense, want to work and are reliable then you can do our job.

I used to dread firing people. Now I feel I've a reputation for it.

Project 366 / 284 - Two wrongs don't make a right

So the Hillary Clinton vs Donald Trump show continues to rumble on. It's a worrying statistic that it's come down to just two of the worst candidates in history.

I would never claim to be any sort of expert on the matter but from where I sit this side of the pond you've got Mrs Clinton who is just one big contradiction, happily switching opinions and policy positions to suit the audience and then Mr Trump, a loathing, sexist, anti-semitic, racist bigot.

But is the US President really the worlds most powerful person? Well yes; as chief executive of the worlds only superpower, he is boss of 2.7 million employees and commander in chief of the mightiest army on earth. At all times he is accompanied by a briefcase containing Americas nuclear launch codes and he can negotiate treaties and pardon criminals. He is head of state, head of government, head of 16 spy agencies and he has the ability to veto any bill that Congress sends to him.

Some say that he has limited power to create anything but has an extreme amount of power to destroy anything. He can kill 10 million people and start a global nuclear war in the time it takes you to check your e-mail, but getting something like a healthcare bill through the system will involve compromise beyond recognition and the complete bankruptcy of his political capital.

Is America ready to hand out this kind of power to either of the two candidates? Or has the role of President changed to be just a puppet, a spokesperson for Congress?

The presidential race is a long drawn out process that ultimately impacts us all and this time America and ultimately the rest of the world will lose whoever wins.

Project 366 / 283 - The good, the bad and the ugly

All creativity isn't created equal. Just because you're an amazing painter doesn't mean you'll be a good photographer. Just because you are a great musician doesn't mean that you'll be a great designer. In fact most of the time you'll excel in one or two areas but suck at the rest.

And I'm no exception.

I desperately want to excel in everything that I do but the truth is that I don't. And that frustrates me. In fact I actually think that I don't excel in anything, rather instead am above average in a few.

I was a well below average student. I scraped through my common entrance and then blew my O levels. The old adage of "could try harder" was littered throughout my school reports. I used to dread the end of term and the tough talk with my father when he opened my report. Exam results were another dread, the results were never a nice surprise.

My post-school skills and success lie in the fact that I work longer and harder than anyone else and I have good common sense. Things that are logical to me seem alien to others. And the fact that I'm willing to outwork everyone else makes up for my other shortcomings.

On a creative front I'm able to create some good photographs, write some reasonable songs, draw the odd picture, write blogs and come up with a constant stream of business marketing ideas. What I seem to suck at big time is interior design. And I don't know why.

Fortunately interior design is where my wife comes into her own. Despite me shaking my head round the shops with utter despair at some of her choices and fighting her colour schemes she always wins. But the results are always strikingly good and weirdly she always tends to be ahead of the trend, choosing palettes that'll appear fashionable a year down the line.

Most of our friends are like me and desperately need help, so they've now begun recruiting her help. I'd love to be able to take the glory for our beautiful home but I simply can't. I haven't got the eye or the vision which is weird as I have for so many other things.

I think the sooner you understand yourself and begin working on your strengths then the more successful you'll be. If you learn and improve on something you're good at you have a chance to be exceptional. If you waste too much time trying to improve something that you're not so good at then there is a danger that you'll end up just average.

Project 366 / 282 - Life before and after kids

Having a family is without doubt the best thing that I have ever done. Whilst at times it can be very challenging it is also incredibly rewarding. Whilst it is completely relentless it is also possibly the most fun you can have.

Since having children every year has been the best year. Watching them grow, seeing their personalities develop and being this incredibly close nit unit has given my wife and I the best memories that anyone could ever ask for. It's been the best years of my life.

But what the hell did we do before kids? Did we have monster lie-ins? What did we do on the weekend? Just shop?

I'm seriously drawing a blank, I simply cannot remember. I know that during the week we used to work long hours and I know that some weekends we'd go to Bluewater shopping centre and perhaps visit her family. But aside from that I'm suffering from some type of memory loss.

And were not alone, I've spoken to a few friends with young families and they tell a similar story.

It's true that you'll never be financially ready for kids. Just the fact of losing one full time wage is crippling enough but then add in all the stuff that a baby needs, well it's a wonder that we manage. But mange is what you do. You tailor your life to fit your responsibilities. You change and adapt to life's changing needs.

But kids are expensive. They don't stop growing, they either don't eat anything or they'll eat everything. You want to give them the world but not spoil them. Everything is a life and death must-have until they actually have it and then the obsession dwindles. And don't be surprised if the theme building up to Christmas changes at the last minute. Reece obsessed over Toy Story one year so we bought everything only to find that with 2 weeks to go he dropped that for Lego Ninjago or something. That's happened a handful of times.

But I wouldn't change any of it. The kids are genuinely thrilled with anything they get, whether it's a new lego set or an empty cardboard box that I bring home from work. Before kids my wife and I used to sit at the breakfast table saying how we couldn't wait to have a little someone who was half me and half her running around.

And now we've got 2 of them.

Project 366 / 281 - Action, words and diplomacy

Does action speak louder than words? Does intent trump everything? Is there really such a thing as body language?

No matter what you think, how you say something is far more important than what you say. Exercising diplomacy and consideration for your circumstances and environment is key to getting your message across. You don't have to hide or hold back what you want to say but by speaking in a assertive yet prudent way you can convey your message in an authoritative and persuasive way.

They say that swearing is a weakness. I believe that shouting is unnecessary.

I lost out on a job offer once because I didn't have a loud enough voice. My argument? You don't need to shout to get your point across. You don't need to shout to be respected.

Look at Mike Tyson. In his prime he was without doubt the most feared and respected man in the fight game. He was also one of the most softly spoken men around. Did it make one iota of difference? No.

We need to learn how to talk to each other. Talking is the most primitive and basic form of communication. Leaders move people to act by what they say, not by how loud or aggressive they say it. Only by learning how to talk to each other will we create a positive reaction.

As a race we are flawed. We're convinced that everyone is out to get us. That everyone has a vendetta, an agenda or an attitude. We all think that we're the hardest worker in the room, the one who is shouldering the burden for others and who is discriminated, penalised or victimised.

The truth is that we're not. We're paranoid and the sooner we open our eyes and realise the beauty and opportunity that lies in our lap the happier we will all be.

Project 366 / 280 - Boredom, skills and TV

Do you get bored? I ask because I hear it quite a lot from some of the people who work for me. I ask them what they did on the weekend and half the time they "didn't do much, got bored".

I can't remember the last time I was bored. It must have been when I was a teenager and working at a job I didn't like and clock watching. You know the drill; you start at 9am, work what seems like 2 hours, look up at the clock and see that it's 9.10am. Yeah, that kind of clock watching. It's soul destroying.

I think it must have been around that time that I decided that instead of being bored that I would to try and learn something at every job I had. So no matter what role I had I tried to learn a new skill. So when being a data entry clerk I taught myself how to touch-type at speed. At another role I learnt how to use the numerical keypad without looking. At another I learnt to accurately guess how much something weighed just by holding it. At another how to manage an inventory. At another how to gift wrap any shape and size. The list goes on and on and in all of them I left the role with a new skill.

But being bored at home? I don't understand how that is even possible. At work you are restricted what you can do, after all you have a job to do, a role and a responsibility. But outside work you're only limited by your imagination.

How about learning something new? How about a hobby? How about educating yourself? How about challenging yourself?

To me there isn't enough time. As much as I like my sleep I also find it a massive inconvenience. I'm squeezing in as much as I can into the time that I've got, even listening to podcasts to learn stuff whenever I'm travelling on my own. I don't take a lunch break or really any break for that matter and I challenge myself every day.

I constantly wonder why we have 4 TV's in the house and subscribe to nearly every channel as my wife and I rarely watch any TV at all. Conversations about TV shows with friends are always short lived because we've never ever seen them. I may download box sets like Ray Donovan and Billions but in truth as much as I love them they'll take me all year to watch.

In truth I'd like to clone myself and send my clone off to do all the mundane stuff, leaving me to indulge in what I want to be doing. But until then I guess I'll be burning the midnight oil.

Project 366 / 279 - Hobbies, careers and Elvis

If you were given the opportunity of doing whatever you wanted as a career what would you choose? And how long do you think it would take before the novelty wore off, the fun subsided and the harsh reality of monotony and repetition kicked in?

Now I'm not saying that would be the case 100% of the time, but hobbies are fun for a reason - they're something we do when we get some free time. Put that into a full time role and things change fast.

It's like going into business with your best friend. The fun doesn't last forever and things get strained as opinions clash. Take a hobby of writing music, taking photographs or writing. It's fun all the while there is no pressure to perform or to publish but add expectation and responsibility into the mix and we're talking a whole different story.

One of my customers produces an Elvis magazine called Essential Elvis. He publishes the magazine on a quarterly basis and is well over 70 pages long. The magazine is in its 20th year - think about that for a minute. He's been publishing the magazine 4 times a year for 20 years on a subject matter that isn't really producing any new stories. Yes there are always things happening in the Elvis world but the bones of it are that there's not really any new stories.

Now that's dedication and consistency. That's being creative, that's scouring the world for stories of encounters and all the while continuing to be passionate about what you do. I think for Andrew there is a real sense of responsibility for telling the truth and doing it in a classy and respectful way and in my opinion he's succeeding in a big way.

Ideas dry up. Momentum gets lost. It's not easy and the business of business has an awful habit of taking over and squashing what was once fun.

It's all about longevity; being able to continually reinvent not only what you do but how you do it, to be able to look at the same thing in 1001 ways, to be objective, subjective and to be open to influence. It's a endless list of alternatives and so much more. It's why some of the best musical artists have the longest careers and why other artists disappear as fast as they appear.

Part of me would love to give up what I do and just create; be it written, photography, music, video or whatever. But the other part of me knows only too well what happens at the end of a honeymoon period. So for now I'll indulge in the fleeting moments that I have, safe in the knowledge that they will always be enjoyable.

Project 366 / 278 - Commitment and what it means

Commitment... now there's a scary-assed word. Are you committed, in every sense, in everything that you do? Chances are that you're not, but then again you're only human.

Committing yourself in a relationship, to a project, to health and fitness, to work, to yourself. Commitment comes in lots of different shapes and sizes but it always and only comes down to one person: you.

In a relationship... falling in love is easy but staying in love is something very special. Committing yourself to another person, wholly and unconditionally in a reciprocal way is a beautiful thing but it takes a lot of patience, understanding and a whole heap of give, take and trust.

To a project... means consistency, it means dedication and it means holding the line even when the line becomes blurred and the path difficult to follow. In a project like the one I'm doing now there have been many time when I could have missed posting a blog, when I felt like I'd run out of ideas, when I was incredibly short of time and when I had 101 other potentially better or more important things to do. But I'd made a commitment - not to you but to myself.

To health and fitness... it's not a sprint, it's a marathon. It's not a diet it's a lifestyle. If health is wealth then movement is medicine. Incorporating healthy dietary choices are easier now than they have ever been and regular exercise doesn't have to mean 2 hours a day down the gym.

To work... business is all about relationships and relationships are built on trust. Do what you say you're going to do, follow through and you'll build solid relationships and stronger business. Don't cut corners, return that call even if it is a difficult call to make and be honest. People respect honesty. Commit to the job.

To yourself... don't lie to yourself as you're only fooling yourself. Audit yourself, your time, your habits. Are you wasting time watching mindless TV programs, playing x-box or trawling through Facebook? Yes allocate downtime but also commit to your uptime - you'll get more done, feel more accomplished and enjoy that downtime a whole heap more.

Project 366 / 277 - Quest, effort and hay

Is money really the route of all evil? Is the quest, the strive and the hunger to better yourself really so bad? And why are most of us wholly consumed and stressed with being rich whilst there is minority of people who are more than happy being poor?

My hunger stems from responsibility. I'm like a mother bird, completely responsible for providing food for hungry mouths. I'm striving because I've been burnt in the past and I never want to go back there. I'm hustling because in the past both my wife and I have had to work 4-5 jobs per day just to keep the wolves from the door and I never want her to have to do that again.

But knowing you have that kind of support, that if push came to shove then it'd be all hands on deck is such a reassuring and comforting thing.

Greed isn't good but succeeding so you can employ and empower people is very rewarding. Just thinking that I've created a company and provided jobs and a happy environment for 12 people is success in itself. But it comes at a price - maintenance.

I have to maintain this success to keep these people in employment. A short dip we're ok, a medium dip we're wobbling and a long dip it's game over. But that's the game we're all playing.

But I get constantly asked "why do you work the hours you do?". Like the business runs itself. Like the new enquiries, new sales and new customers just appear out of thin air. Like the 1001 questions that I get asked every day don't impact my working day. It all takes time and effort. No success ever happens overnight.

People look at business owners and think they have it all worked out. It's tough, it's hard and it's relentless. Yes when it's good it's good but nothing ever lasts forever. It's like not saving money - all the time you're employed you're happy to live hand to mouth. But be put out of your job and then what? How long could you survive?

Debt is a 4 letter word and it's not a happy place. Make hay; use some, spend some and store some, you'll be glad you did.

Project 366 / 276 - Weekends, then and now

Once upon a time the weekend was a weekend. Shops shut at the end of the days trading on the Saturday not to re-open until Monday, the pubs called last orders on a Friday/Saturday at around 10.30/11.00pm and were only open until about 2pm on Sunday. There was no internet, no mobile phone, no games consoles, no 24 hour TV and, for the majority of us, no being on call 24/7.

That time was only about 20 years ago. How things have changed.

Just from a teenagers perspective, we use to go out for dinner at 6.30pm, in the pub for 8.00pm and home for 11.30pm at the latest. Nowadays no-one goes out until 9.30/10.00pm even to eat, pushing back home time to 3am.

Now you can party, drink, shop, gamble, watch TV, work and play 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Bank holidays have become a retailers paradise with only Christmas Day being the only day when the majority of the country stops. And what a panic that is.

The panic buying, shelf stocking, larder filling, freezer packing, crazy feverish rush of Christmas. And for what? One day. One single day when the supermarket is shut. We bulk buy like there literally is no tomorrow, worrying that we're going to run out of something that we never normally use, or that Auntie Ethel is going to ask for that one thing that we haven't got.

The world has changed more in the last 20 years than at any time in the past. It has become smaller, faster and more accessible. New York, known as the city that never sleeps (bars and restaurants are open 24/7, even the subway doesn't stop) is now just one of many catching up. Even London has just started a 24 hour tube service, albeit for just Fridays and Saturdays but it's a start.

We might not all like this changing future but it is the future. Technology is empowering us; accept it, learn it and use it or be engulfed by it. At the end of the day there really is no choice.

Project 366 / 275 - Habits, fazes and lessons

Growing up I liked a bit of spicy food. I think it started when some of my Indian friends at school brought in something that resembled Bombay mix and I was hooked.

I mentioned this when I next saw my parents and, true to form, they begun plying me with spicy food. This accumulated in a trip to London to an Indian restaurant and some of the most inedible food I have ever tasted. It was so hot that it put me off for a long time. How anyone could enjoy such fire was beyond me.

This scenario of my parents latching onto things continued and I quickly learnt that I had to be careful what I said otherwise they'd assume that it was my calling in life. If I mentioned a liking for something or showed a promise in anything then they'd be signing me up for it. Of course this only ever worked for passing fazes and not for lifelong hobbies.

I started going to the gym when I was 16 but my parents quickly dismissed it, stating that "you never stick to anything, you won't keep this up". That was 29 years ago and I'm still going strong. Some may say that it was reverse psychology but if you knew them you'd realise that that's just not their style.

I first picked up a camera when I was 7 or 8 and began experimenting with photography, often rewinding the film to create double exposures or taking multiple shots with different settings all the while taking notes of the settings so when the film was finally developed I could see what worked and what didn't.

I've continued doing this on and off my whole life so when my parents asked me what I wanted for my 40th birthday I asked for some money towards a DSLR. They refused, citing that it was probably just a passing faze. Instead they bought me a flying lesson.

Safe to say that they have never complimented me on my physique nor shown any interest in my photography. They say that you learn a lot from your parents - I'd say that I've learnt a hell of a lot, mostly how not to do it.

Perhaps that's the greatest lesson of all.