Project 366 / 366 - The end, the story and the beginning

So this is it. The final instalment in my blog-a-day project for 2016 and what a year it has been for all of us. We've witnessed so much but unfortunately focussed on the bad. There's still a lot of good happening but sadly it's not so media friendly as the bad.

Writing daily has had its challenges. Despite the understandable possibility of repetition I have tried hard not to say too many of the same things twice. It has been difficult and yet in my defence, I'd guess that some things are worth saying twice. I've managed to find time where there was none, sacrificed other things to get my writing done and been able to create, debate and counsel myself in the process.

Of course I've fallen into some kind of routine. After the first few months and having exhausted what felt like every topic of conversation I found myself staring at a blank page. It's a worrying feeling, just like having a dry patch in anything creative. But then I found myself walking the dog in the dark of night and conjuring up just a single word or phrase which I found all I needed to begin to write. And that became part of my routine.

And just starting to write is often all it takes. Those first few words, that first paragraph and then the words begin to flow. Not every post was great but just the act of writing sparks something and something is better than nothing. My writing was done in one sitting, not mulled over or edited. I just sat and wrote for 20-40 minutes and then published what I'd written.

Some days it was easy. I'd furiously type as fast as my fingers would allow, the thoughts and words naturally evolving and flowing down a storyline path. Other days it felt laboured. Some days I felt I had nothing yet when I got going I wrote a lot. Other days I felt I had something yet ran out of steam quite early. You can never tell until you try.

I've enjoyed the English language, playing with words, grammar and phrases. I've avoided politics yet leant on opinion. By drawing on my own life experiences to explain a scenario I've begun to realise how far I've come, what I have achieved, what I have experienced and what I have learnt. Yet I appreciate that there's still a lifetime of work to be done and experiences to be had.

The challenge was set for myself so I haven't really told many people about it. I've not posted the links on Facebook where I'd get the most attention but on the fire hose that is Twitter but only as and when I've felt that what I'd written was strong enough. So if you've taken the time out to read any of my posts then thank you.

My next challenge is a weekly vlog. I've crafted a style and am nervously relishing the task. If you've set yourself a creative goal for 2017 then good luck. Stick with it though the good and the bad. The sense of accomplishment is amazing and to have a body of work to reflect on in years to come is a comforting feeling.

Onwards and upwards.

Project 366 / 365 - Angels, demons and decisions

Whether you believe in resolutions or not, be they new years resolutions or any time resolutions, there comes a time in everyones life when you look in the mirror and say enough is enough. You can't lie to yourself, after all you're the only one who knows every facet of the facts. You can try and trick yourself but you can't lie to yourself.

In your heart you'll know when enough is enough. It could be that you're drinking too much, that a certain type of food or drink that you love isn't really agreeing with you, that you're not going anywhere in life, that you're over weight, that you're still smoking, that you're unfit, that you're struggling, that you have no sense of purpose, or no direction or that life is just passing you by. But whatever it is and whenever it is, when you look yourself in the eye and have that revelation that's when you can make a mental choice.

Changing a habit is hard. Breaking out of a rut is difficult. Sure it's easy for a day but to permanently change a forged routine can be difficult. The force, or will, in some is strong. In others it's weak. That's why some break free with apparent ease whilst others struggle.

That's why health experts don't like the word diet. Going on a diet suggests a temporary change. A temporary change in diet will result in a temporary change in body shape. The moment your diet reverts so will your body. You don't temporarily give up smoking (well hopefully you don't), you permanently give up smoking. Adopting a healthy lifestyle is a permanent fixture - you don't have to completely eliminate all the foods you love, you just have to control them and understand the effect that they have on you.

My sister is planning on giving up coffee and cutting out sugar. Now that's a hard task. Any change that you make will have a physical and mental effect while your body begins to adapt. Cutting out caffeine results in pounding headaches. Quitting sugar will result in headaches, full body aches, sickness, mood swings, possibly the shakes, a fuzzy head and low energy. But all this is only temporary. Before you know it you'll feel brighter, clearer and better than ever. No more cravings, no more blood sugar roller coasters, no more sugar related headaches or 3pm slumps. You'll lose weight and feel better than you've ever done.

If there were more healthy choices accessible and affordable then a greater number of people would make the change. The fact is that healthy choices are few and far between and they are expensive. A McDonalds burger costs £0.99. A McDonalds salad costs £3.39. And this is across the board. An average family would struggle to only eat healthily. It's a sad fact. The industry needs to change.

But at the end of the day we all have a responsibility to ourselves. We all have our angels and demons and we all have our choices to make. For me it's about taking that moment in the mirror and making mental choices and decisions and not letting them pass. Doing nothing is easy, staying the same is simple. After all it's what the majority, it's what everyone else will do. Do you want to be the same as everyone else? Or do you want to be different?

Project 366 / 364 - Writing, sketching and talking

When was the last time that you were alone in your thoughts for 3 hours straight? When you had an uninterrupted block of time to develop an idea? And I'm not talking about when you've been lying in bed. Chances are you can't remember.

It's a different world out there. One where constant connectivity, always on call, always available and being constantly in demand are a part of everyday life's evolving pattern. And this happens everywhere, all the time.

But just as those rich and famous people yearn for a world where they can switch their fame on and off, at least for anonymity, so we are now wishing for much the same. Living off the grid whilst still being connected is nigh on impossible. You want to be viral without the virus. You want to be in charge but without having to answer every question. You want the role but not the responsibility.

I struggle with it sometimes at work myself. From the moment I arrive at work I'm faced with an avalanche of questions. That barrage doesn't quit until the day is over and sometimes I'm left wondering if I've accomplished anything.

Creativity is a flow. It's an evolving, turning, changing and mutating thing. Creativity breeds creativity - the more you create the more ideas you have. Interrupting the flow results in stifling its natural evolution. How many times have you been in the zone, been interrupted, and then never got back to where you were?

Ideas can be like ghosts; blink and they're gone.
Creative inspiration can be like dreams; stop thinking about them and they're forgotten.

Yet most of the time the interruptions are on the spot, in the moment decisions. There is no wait. There is no come back later. But scheduling isolated time isn't that creative. You can't necessarily force creativity. Ideas don't just magically appear on demand. Sometimes that flash of inspiration will appear at the most inappropriate and inconvenient times. You have to retrain your creative mind to deal with stopping and starting.

Write things down, sketch things out, talk things through. We have campfire chats at work; creative hot-pots of fermenting ideas where something can come of nothing and quickly scribbled notes can be developed further.

It's difficult to fight evolution, instead you have to adapt to it. Change how you do things just as you have done your entire life and you'll begin to succeed.

Project 366 / 363 - Resolutions; supporting and succeeding

As we approach the end of the year everyone begins to think of what the new year will bring and the resolutions that will be promised. We're all trying to be better, it's just hard sometimes that's all.

But resolutions don't have to be about giving something up they can be about starting something, making a minor improvement on something or just promising to make more of an effort with something. The problem that a lot of people have is that they're striving for perfection and that just doesn't exist.

I'm not a big fan of new years eve, it feels contrived and forced. Yet I love the beginning of a new year and the fresh start that it can bring. I enjoy resolutions and I relish challenges. You'd be forgiven if you thought that I enjoy endurance.

Most of what we promise ourselves we will fail at and most of the time that's not 100% our fault. To give up smoking, to eat healthier, to do regular exercise, to write more, to be more creative, to do almost anything takes more than one person. It's a team effort. It's about your support network; be that your spouse, your family, your colleagues or your friends. Being accountable to someone helps. Having someone give you the time, or the push when things get hard is what gets you through.

I couldn't have written 366 blogs in 366 days without the support of my wife. And that wasn't her telling me to write. It wasn't her giving me feedback and it wasn't her giving me encouragement. It was her understanding why I was doing what I was doing and giving me the time to complete my task; day in, day out.

It's the same for her training. There's no way that she could have accomplished what she did this year without my support, without me giving her the time, space and opportunity to train.

You hear the top athletes saying that it's a team effort - well it's exactly the same for you and me.

So if your spouse, or family member or friend is making a resolution the number one piece of advice I can give you is to give them the support that they need. Give them the time to train, or write or create. Give them the emotional support to give up what they're trying to quit. Help with their meal prep, help them avoid what they need to avoid. Without you the hard quickly becomes nigh on impossible.

Project 366 / 362 - Schools, technology and patience

Why do youngsters feel that they are entitled? Why do "millennials" have that demeanour of expectation? Is it their fault or does the fault lie elsewhere?

Simon Sinek had an interesting take on it. He broke it down into a few categories;

As kids they were told that they were special. They were told they could have whatever they wanted just because they wanted it. They did better at school just because their parents complained. The schools gave out participation medals - medals for coming last which devalues the medal and the reward for hard work and it embarrasses the person who comes in last as they know that they didn't deserve it. So it made them feel worse.

Then these kids left school or college and went out to work and realised in an instant that they weren't special, that their parents couldn't get them a promotion, that you get nothing for coming in last and by the way, you can't just have it because you want it. And in an instant their entire self image is shattered resulting in low self-esteem.

To compound this problem we're growing up in a Facebook/Instagram world, in other words we're getting good at putting filters on things, we're good at showing people that life is amazing even though it's not.

And then there's technology...

Engagement with social media and mobile phones releases a chemical called dopamine. That's why when you get a text, a like, a share... it feels good. It feels good to get a response because you get a hit of dopamine. Dopamine is the exact same chemical that makes us feel good when we smoke, drink and gamble. In other words it's highly addictive.

There are age restrictions on smoking, drinking and gambling and no age restrictions on social media and mobile phones. So you have an entire generation that has access to an addictive and numbing chemical called dopamine through social media and mobile phones whilst they are going through the high stresses of adolescence.

And then they are impatient.

The kids are are growing up in a world of instant gratification. You want to buy something you go on Amazon and it arrives the next day. You want to watch a movie? A TV show? Binge - it's all there on download. You don't even have to wait an entire week for the next episode. Everything you want you can have instantly. Everything that is except job satisfaction and strength of relationships. Those are slow, meandering, uncomfortable and messy processes.

And so within business these people are expecting to make an instant impact when they've only been in the job 8 months. It's as if they are standing at the foot of a mountain and they have this abstract concept called impact that they want to have in the world which is the summit but what they don't see is the mountain. So they need to learn patience. That some things that really matter; like love, job fulfilment, joy, love of life, self confidence take time.

Everyone's at fault. The parents, the schools, the technology and and environment. It's a sad state of affairs.

Project 366 / 361 - Learning, suffering and working together

We've got a lot to learn. And I'm not just talking about us individually but also as a nation and as a race.

We're searching for aliens, chasing ghosts and trying to understand the universe when we don't even know or understand ourselves, let alone our neighbours.

The few are getting the masses to fight wars over race, beliefs, land, money and power resulting in a never ending suffering for millions of innocents.

The global population is expanding so rapidly that the earth cannot sustain the weight of their needs.

We're cutting down trees, polluting our atmosphere, destroying habitats and killing our wildlife in the pursuit of money and luxury because we don't care. We're only focused on our life, our lifetime and our needs whilst turning a blind eye to the future of the planet for our children and our children's children.

We're limiting our ability and progress because we're not working together. We're selfish, arrogant and self-centered and as result we're going to lose.

I've always thought that the concept of money was whilst on the one hand logical, on the other it was completely illogical. Yes we've all got bills to pay but most people won't do something for nothing. As a race we could achieve so much more without the strangulating limitation of money.

If the fate of the earth was threatened in an armageddon style kind of way then we'd all die because someone has always got to get rich off of it. If we pulled together, removed limitations and settled disagreements then we could cure most diseases, live in a sustainable world and distribute opportunity more evenly.

It seems crazy that in this 21st century, in this modern high-tech world that we'd still be faced with many of the same problems that we've been faced with over the last 50 years or more. For the top few percent of the population life is getting better but the divide below is getting bigger.

We've got the solution; all the pieces of the jigsaw are in our hands but it's going to take all of us to figure it out. Sadly I don't think we ever will because we're just not willing to work together.

Project 366 / 360 - Spending, paying and reaping

We use ourselves, we abuse ourselves. We flit between a strictly healthy lifestyle and a let-your-hair-down-and-gorge-youself-stupid season. We all do it, well nearly all of us and we believe that we’re entitled to do so. Which of course we are; this is our life and we take full responsibility and control of our actions.

Youth is certainly wasted on the young. They’re ignorant of their ability to recover and repair, to take hard knocks and come back stronger. It’s only when you get older do you begin to understand the effects certain behaviour has on your body and the fact that you don’t bounce back quite as easily as you used to.

2016 has been a sad year for famous deaths. Just yesterday we learnt that George Michael, aged just 53, died of suspected heart failure. At 53? That certainly seems way too young to me. What a tragic loss of an incredible talent. But could it have been avoided?

This year has certainly made me notice that people aren’t getting away with anything, that sooner or later everything catches up with you. No one, no matter how rich, famous or successful you are, are not immune to the effects of living a toxic lifestyle. George Michael had a history of drug abuse and from my perspective ended up paying the ultimate price.

Sadly your body can only take so much. Those people you see obesely overweight or constantly smoking, living on junk food or ignoring exercise, those couch potatoes, alcoholics and drug addicts — they’ll all end up paying the price for their lifestyle. They all do.

I believe that the way you behave during the first 50 years of your life dictates how you live the second 50 years of your life. Of course this doesn’t always apply but it’s a pretty good measure to live by. Of course it’s never too late to be more healthy. Subtle changes can reap incredible reward but just because you’ve stopped scrunching that paper doesn’t mean it’s not weakened and scarred.

As David Brent once said; “Live fast and die young? Die old. I’m not orthodox, I don’t play by the rules”.

Project 366 / 359 - Change, fireworks and the universe

There's a lot of things that change in life. In fact most things. In fact everything. Whether you know it or not we're all changing, even in a very small evolvic kind of way, but we're all changing.

We went for a walk this morning; our usual Christmas morning walk-with-the-dog hill walk (really just to wear the poor hound out before we get drunk and open presents for the entire day kind of walk). But this morning, amongst the rolling mist and the clatter of birds wings, I noticed something. I noticed that nothing had changed.

If everything is changing how comes nothing has changed? Well it all comes down to time. Some things move faster than others. It's like dragonflies only live for a day but who's to say that this day for them isn't an entire lifetime to us? Rivers carve mountains just not in a day. It's all relative.

It comes down to my firework theory... The big bang. Now stick with me here for a minute. Scientists say that the universe began with a big bang and that as we know the known universe is expanding. Well just imagine this... there's a firework that has gone off at night somewhere, that's the beginning of our universe. Next these spinning firework balls split and the cooling parts create solid balls. The hot parts stay as suns and the cooling parks become planets. As the parts spin away from each other their universes appear to expand and the night sky appears dark.

Who's not to say that we aren't just atoms and molecules inside the cells of another being? All we can be is who we are, making the best of what we've got.

What I have, what you've got - that's unique. Whatever we accumulate in life we can't take with us, we know that. The Egyptians tried it and they were robbed. It's what we do with what we've got which is more important. Can you help others with what you've got, can you have a positive impact the lives of others during your lifetime? Don't compare yourself to me, don't compare yourself to anyone. What you have I probably couldn't ever have and visa versa. That doesn't mean any one of us is better than the other, it just shows us how different we all are.

All I'm saying is that we could be everything or we could be seemingly nothing. We could be the top of the universal food chain or just a cell within the testicles of some alien. We just don't know.

Project 366 / 358 - Expectation, frustration and draining

It's Christmas yet half the time you wouldn't really know it. The weather is mild, peoples tempers are frayed, we're hassled, tired, frustrated by friends and family and as much as we've been looking forward to the big day there's a big part of us that can't wait until it's all over, swearing that we're never going to do it again.

Our problem is expectation. We set our expectations far too high and then are disappointed when they aren't met. People let you down, they don't act the way you hope or expect and as a result you feel annoyed. But if people are doing this to you does that mean that you are doing it to other people?

My wife was getting frustrated today and I put my case forward regarding her expectation. I told her to let it go, that people will always let you down and to just let it pass over you. It's not worth getting yourself all worked up for. It's all draining.

Blaming is draining.
Complaining is draining.
Explaining is draining.

I was pulling out of a car parking space today whilst trying to get those last minute 74 things done that no one is actually going to notice when I stopped to let a car pass. My wife glanced over to their car expecting a "thanks" when all she got was a resounding middle finger from the entire entourage of the car. Gratitude expressed flippin' the bird. Nice.

"Merry Christmas" was all we could offer in return as we battled back through an avalanche of traffic all of whom deemed their journey far more important ours, or at least that's what you would have thought given the way everyone was driving.

I think our recent video summed it all up.

Happy holidays...

Project 366 / 357 - Facebook; the good and the bad

Like it or hate it, Facebook is a force to be reckoned with. It's dominance in the developed world is second to none, greatly buoyed by its ability to adapt and change, even subtly to the changing market.

When Facebook first had its IPO in May of 2012 I thought you'd be crazy to shell out $38/share and initially I was proven right as the value dropped quite quickly (by August of the same year) to $19.69. That was obviously the time to buy as today's price is $117.21/share. They are crazy numbers but a lot of people have become incredibly wealthy in the process of seeing something that I didn't.

Facebook for me is a multi-layered platform; one I love for business but shy away from for personal use. I love the potential, I love the intricate and clever functionality of things like pixel code, I love the real time aspect of it and I like the ads manager. But I don't like the text over image restrictions that don't tell you until hours after posting, the frustrating attention span and the ever changing time line algorithm.

You can't fight it though. You have to change and adapt with it. You have to learn and keep up with the times. But this is something that amazes me. To do well you have to amass knowledge; knowledge of hints, tips and tricks. Yet those who have gathered this knowledge seem reluctant to part with it, as if it should be paid for. I, on the other hand, will quite happily give all my knowledge away for free. I'll show you how it's done, when to do it and where to post it.

And that's not because I'm trying to show off or that I'm any kind of expert but because I believe that there's room for everyone. I want everyone to win. Plus I believe that no one will do it as well as me - I'm not a sheep, you lot are. So I will continue to innovate, create and populate my business timeline in a fashion not seen before in our industry. I like paving the way - our motto should be "be the first".

But personally I shy away from Facebook. I don't use my kids for advertising. I don't regularly personally post. I did once upon a time but I got criticised a handful of times for what I'd posted and it put me off. After all it's my profile and I'm allowed to post whatever I want but a few people didn't think that was the case. In the end I went to twitter, anonymously, and ranted. It was a breath of fresh air. That was until people began to find me and then, once again, I retreated.

Unfortunately social media sites are the exact opposite of what they are designed to be. They aren't social, they're actually very anti social. They are filled with "friends" who aren't friends. They are lonely places where people pretend to be something they aren't to impress people they don't even like. They are a potentially dangerous place filled with keyboard warriors who are poised and ready to criticise your every move.

Post at your peril...

Project 366 / 356 - Shutting down, shutting up and facade

It's an interesting time of year both personally and professionally. As the hoards begin their shutdown towards Christmas and the accumulation of retail therapy approaches a climax, livers and arteries, if not tested enough by the party season, are bracing themselves for the inevitable assault and battery. We're rushing towards an imaginery finish line, almost desperate for the sofa of tranquility.

But will it be tranquil? Will the dream, the illusion of festive ideology be shattered once more by the expectation of joy and laughter. Will your relatives who, let's face it, you don't really get on with nor would choose to spend your sacred free time with, actually drop the pretence and facade, relax and enjoy the moment without feeling the need to criticise?

Pity you didn't do chestnuts
Are we going to have dinner?
That's a lot of washing up....

I love Christmas but for me the week leading up to it is one of mixed emotions. I'm trying to have fun but there's work to be done. I'd like to slow down and relax but our clients want to do the same so they palm the stress off to us. I'd like to be calm but I know that financially it's a short month so I'm bound to lose money. Everyone seems to be having fun and I seem to be working; it's a testing time.

Plus I then realise that I still haven't bought my wife a Christmas card and all of a sudden it's the 23rd of December and the clock is ticking faster and louder than ever before. I've had 360 days or so to get a card and yet here I am yet again leaving it until the last minute. Next year I promise...

Of course thankfully this Christmas has been considerably better and more organised than pretty much any other year on record. With my esteemed colleagues we've been able to plan December and then execute against our plan. Creatively it's been very rewarding. We've just finished the edit on our end of year video - whilst everyone posts a "Look back on 2016" video or article we've created something entirely different. If you want to check it out then it'll appear on our Facebook page later tomorrow.

So aside from arguing in-laws, moody mothers, overtired kids, sickness bugs, injured parties, absentees, sugar rushes and debt we're all doing ok and looking forward to Christmas.

It's the most wonderful time of the year.

Project 366 / 355 - Being personal, kids and teachings

If you're thinking of writing a blog you'll find numerous websites out there that'll give you lots of hints and tips to guaranteed success (I didn't read any of them before I started). But it really depends what your definition of success is. Mine was completing a challenge of writing 366 blogs in 366 days, that's all (it's a leap year just so you know). But if you want people to read what you write then you need to treat it like a website. You need to advertise it, you need to cover basic SEO and you need to write what people want to read about.

That last point "read what people want to read about" also means "don't write personal stuff". This isn't a diary, it's not a journal. Despite the fact that everyone is turning into a voyeur they don't want to read about you, they want to secretly spy on you.

But I like personal stuff. I'm like everyone else; I gleam a lot of material from my personal experiences. So to say "don't write personal stuff" is going against my natural tendency. I also like the fact that one day my kids may want to read a years worth of blogs. I'm guessing you can learn a lot about someone by not only what they say but the way they write.

Most days our eldest son, Reece, asks me what I'm writing about. I say things like "The constitutional impact of right wing soviet oppression 1956-1962 - you wanna read it?" to which I get a blank expression. "Nah I'm only kidding, I'm writing about turnips".

I love having children. There's something about their innate innocence, their ability to learn and the fact that they are such a beautiful blank canvas. For me the baby stage was just the baby stage, filled with wonderful memories of first steps and first words and not so wonderful memories of vomit, dihorreah, countless sleepless nights and crying. And that was just me.

But as the kids get older and you begin to be able to teach them things that's when the reward for me really kicks in. Reece is 9 and at a very influential age. He's absorbing and being influenced by everything both good and bad. But we're now able to teach him methodological practices, things that he can implement in his life to affect outcomes.

This weeks lesson as been action and reaction. How a positive action can lead to a positive reaction and visa versa. Simple examples have led to him understanding very quickly the message that we're trying to convey. I love giving Reece advice and see him implement it and reap the reward from it. I love being able to use my experience to help. But of course we're all just a constant work in progress but hopefully progress is the direction we're all taking.

Growing up I didn't have that kind of relationship with my father. He didn't spend time with me explaining people, or the world, or explaining to me why I was feeling the way I was and how it impacted others. The most personal he ever got was when he asked me if I was gay or not and that was it. My parents sent my sister and I off to boarding school to gain our independence as soon as they could. We've never been back home.

For every generation the world is a different place than it was before. I’m not sure that I’d want to be a child nowadays but if I was, and I was given the kind of support that our kids are getting, then I think I’d excel.

Project 366 / 354 - Brand, perception and returns

As a small business, how important is brand image? Would the pounds be better invested in infrastructure, financial reserve and assets? Or is your image and how you are perceived actually part of your infrastructure?

Surely if a client is getting your product or service then how you look, the colour of your logo, the way your website looks, the way your staff dress, the way you talk and the whole way the company looks and sounds technically shouldn't matter. As long as you're doing what you promise to do then why should you worry?

I guess it's all about perception. It's how you are perceived by prospective customers. Let's be honest they're the one's who you're really trying to impress, the existing ones seemingly don't care.

When I first started my business I was working from home. I'd cold call prospective customers and there was a sizeable percentage who refused to give me their work as they felt that as I was working from home I couldn't handle their business. Of course this was crazy, I was managing and co-ordinating freight. I didn't actually see any cargo, instead I recruited and managed various parties to handle the individual links and movements along the chain. All I needed to do this was a computer and an internet connection (ok and a fax machine, this was 2001).

A few year later when I rented a small industrial unit some of those same companies came to me, this time asking me if I could help them. I found it ironic. Nothing had changed, I was now just sitting in an office in a industrial unit rather than at home. In fact if anything I was less financially secure as I now had overheads to manage. But their perception had changed and brand management is a useful tool to create perceptual illusion.

It can be hard to justify. Just like social media marketing, SEO, google ad words, business blogging, e-mail newsletters, directory listings etc... their isn't much tangible evidence of positive results or at least a return on investment on any of these. We ask every new enquiry where they got our details from and the majority don't remember.

Away from a direct referral, "I googled you" is the usual reply.

"What did you search for"

"Can't remember"

"What site came up"

"Don't know"

A great help, especially when we're trying to allocate our advertising and marketing budget. Instead we have to surrender and admit that it's a combination effect. As long as we're getting new enquiries and new business then the combination of what we're doing is working. The return on investment has to be based on the total budget as a whole rather than an individual element.

But part of branding can be about having a united voice and a united message. Yes it's important to be all singing from the same hymn sheet but it must be just as important to encourage flair and individuality. Stifle someone's creativity and you're surely limiting their ability.

I guess it all depends on your product or service and what works for one won't necessarily work for another. It's all just a constant work in progress and the moment you think you've got it sussed everything changes.

Project 366 / 353 - Honesty, strength and honour

So they say that honesty is the best policy. Well in my view honesty is the only policy. Every interaction you have with anyone you know is hinged on trust. In fact our whole civilisation is based on trust. You ask anyone anything, whether it is a favour, for advice, to do something, to let you pull out in our car, to stop at the lights, to hold the door open, to literally do anything; it's all predicated on trust.

And trust is born from honesty. How can you trust someone who doesn't tell the truth? How can you argue with a liar? You can't, it's impossible.

Yet people are constantly trying to pull the wool over your eyes, thinking that you were born yesterday, assuming that you wouldn't be able to tell the difference. It's ludicrous, it's insulting and it's just a massive waste of everyones time.

But sometimes honesty can be disguised. It can be deemed as admission of wrong-doing. Some people believe in their heart of hearts that they are right but when proven wrong they should have the courage to admit their mistake. Sadly this doesn't always happen and their reaction is to sweep it under the carpet and hope that it does away.

Maximus Decimus Meridius once said "Strength and honour" and to be honest that's pretty much all we've got. If we lie, if we deceive and if we cheat then we're only really dishonouring ourselves. If you can't make an honest dollar then you're only really lying to yourself. No one cares about your brags or about your boasts, in fact most people, most sane people, either don't listen or don't even believe you anyway. We're all far too busy living our own lives.

Yes it's different when you're young. Everyone is vying for attention, they are pushing their way to the top to be seen. They're all too cool for school and it's dangerous to try and keep up with the illusion of others.

At the end of the day, when you're lying in bed in the dark of night it's just you on your own. The only competition you should be having is with yourself. Don't lie to yourself because at the end of the day you can't deceive yourself, after all you know the truth.

Project 366 / 352 - Christmas routines, Noel Edmonds and teasmaids

I've said before that I think that we, as people, are made up of thirds. That is a third our mother, a third our father and a new third which is ourselves. And that what our personalities actually end up to be will be the dominant third or combination. That's why some people are just like their mothers or fathers or actually nothing like either.

But as we progress through life we take our up-bringing and everything that we've ever experienced to shape and dictate our decisions. And Christmas is a perfect example.

As children in our house we had a set routine at Christmas. On Christmas Day my sister and I would get up early but not be allowed either downstairs or into our parents bedroom until 7am. It would be excruciating to wait but wait we did until the chime of 7am when we'd pile into our parents bedroom and wake them up.

My parents didn't do stockings but they did have a few presents for us to open in their bedrooms, but not before the teasmaid had done its job. After that initial excitement we'd have to get dressed before piling downstairs to see what Santa may have left us, and that's when the frustration would begin.

To make Christmas last, at least from our parents perspective, they'd ration present opening over a 48 hour timeframe. The most painful part being Christmas morning when, after having eaten breakfast and being given one present to open, we'd have to sit there just staring at the pile of presents under the tree whilst our Mum and Dad spent 3 hours in the kitchen preparing the Christmas lunch. The only saving grace was Noel Edmonds and his multi-coloured swap shop Christmas show. Not one present was allowed to be opened unless we were all in the room together, and that didn't really happen until after lunch and after everything had been washed up, dried up and put away.

In another town far, far away lived my wife, her brother and her parents. Her morning consisted of a stocking full of presents which her and her brother found on the end of their beds as soon as they woke up. They were allowed to open that lot on their own. Once they'd exhausted that lot they'd wake up their parents and be shown downstairs to the big pile of presents that Santa had left and were allowed to open the lot. And that was before breakfast.

Fast forward to today and you've got my heritage of a painful 48 hour ordeal and her history of opening everything in 5 minutes. What do you do? Who's system will be adopted? Who is right and who is wrong?

It's an interesting subject and topic of conversation as the more people you talk to about it the more you begin to realise how different we all are and the varied traditions of each family.

We're all different that's true. There's no right way and no wrong way, it's just a case of taking the best of each other and creating your own, and that's exactly what we've done. One day our children will have children of their own and depending on their wives and their traditions they'll come up with a routine that's just their own too.

Project 366 / 351 - Distraction, masters and jacks

"Distraction" - now there's a word. From humble beginnings to today it's been a theme throughout pretty much all of our lives. My school reports were littered with "Stuart is easily distracted" and "could do better". But why? What's the distraction?

I'd say it's not that I was necessarily easily distracted more that I had a lack of focus. But maybe they are the same thing. Maybe the teaching wasn't engaging enough. Maybe I just wasn't interested. What I do know is that I'm seeing history repeat itself in our children. That lack of attention, that shortfall of focus all summed up and labelled as distraction. It's frustrating to see because as we all know, they could do better...

Of course nowadays distraction is disguised. It's presented as opportunities, as new ideas and as potential ventures. They are things that I'll think of, dream up, or see and want to do, start up or try. But they'll all be things that will take up that most precious of commodities; time. Plus they'll take me away from my core business which is driving my life and impacting my direction.

But distractions are fun. It's fun to explore new ideas and new ventures. It's fun to stretch your legs and flex your creative muscles. It's also incredibly beneficial to constantly try new things, to push past your boundaries and to step out of your comfort zone. You've just got to be able to recognise when it's having a negative impact on your core business.

I sometimes liken my life to spinning plates. 1, 2, 3 or 4 plates are relatively easy to manage but start adding too many more and you begin to lose control. Spread yourself too thin and you're no good to anybody. You'd be better to focus on 1 or 2 things and become an expert at them rather than be okay at everything. Be a jack of all trades and you'll be a master of none.

Project 366 / 350 - Countdown to Christmas

There's an undeniable pressure at Christmas. The want for it to be amazing and the pursuit of perfection can drive the mood from happy to sad faster than Santa's magical trip down the chimney. What appears at first glance to be a gradual build up towards the festive period turns into a concertinaed crescendo of last minute panic buying, voluntary excesses and enforced smiles.

Now of course this all starts with such innocence and irritation. The shops innocently display the first signs of Christmas in their shops shortly after the summer solstice, much to the anger and dismay of the entire nation. The entire nation that is apart from the 0.1% of the population that appear to literally live for Christmas.

Before you know it you begin to notice those irritating "only 12 Fridays until Christmas" Facebook posts. FFS, it's still September. Before you know it it's Halloween and then bonfire night but everyone's left scratching their heads as the majority of us are still wearing shorts and t-shirts.

And that brings me on to people who wear shorts 365 days per year, regardless of the weather. Why? What are you trying to prove? I saw one the other day who was dressed for the summer from the waist down, but for the winter from the waist up. What's that all about?

And then it's December. Those organised ones of you have already finished your Christmas shopping. In fact you did most of it in the January sales after Christmas last year. You'll know the one's as they'll be giving you something that you may have wanted last year, but most certainly don't this year.

You promise to put the tree up sooner rather than later this year but the days turn into seconds and pass just as quickly. The month is well into double figures before you've even untangled the lights but after a push and a purge the house is decorated. The attention turns towards the big day itself and it's brought to your attention that you're the hosts. In fact you've already been told this but you did't listen. I mean why would anyone be organising Christmas in August?

Your spouse wants to show the house off so wants it to be perfect. Cue decorating, re-carpeting, shelf erecting and furniture buying. You over purchase on alcohol, food, drink, games, wine (red, white and mulled), titbits, spirits, decorations, champagne, crackers, Christmas jumpers and erm.. did I mention drink? In fact we buy more stuff that we don't use just in case Aunt Ethel wants that Baileys and Amaretto cocktail that she'll never ask for.

I know all this because we're always the host but this year I've promised to be smart about it. It'll never work out like that but my intention is good.

Project 366 / 349 - Odds, evens and wagons

We've almost made another trip around the sun. So when the year is up and you stop and look back over your shoulder what are you going to think? What are you going to be proud of? Had you made that promised progress? Have you adapted and changed with the times? Has your 12 months of evolution been positive?

There's a lot of talk about 2016 being a bad year. Like the year has anything to do with anything. My wife swear by odds and evens - she doesn't like odd numbered years and clearly favours even numbered years, stressing that the odd numbered ones never quite go as well.

Yes there have been an unprecedented number of celebrity deaths this year, plus Brexit and Trumps triumph, terrorism, Syria, Iraq, the Zika virus, ISIS, earthquakes, tsunami's... the list goes on. But when you drag yourself away from the computer screen with the misguided impression that this has been a deadlier year than usual, you'll come to find, in fact, that everyone (including celebrities) are living longer, healthier lives.

If you don't watch the news you're not informed.
If you watch the news you're mis-informed.

But I digress. Surely the point of living is to learn and improve. To strive and succeed. To challenge and to overcome. The time will pass anyway, being a procrastinator is only fooling yourself. So if you promised you'd do something 12 months ago and failed then now's the time to revisit those promises.

The road that we travel in life is a bumpy ride full of potholes, crevices, slopes and obstacles and we're riding a rickety, unstable and unreliable wagon. We're bound to fall off from time to time. We're bound to get stuck every now and again. And we're bound to get lost every so often. It doesn't matter. Every turn of the wheel provides the opportunity to learn. The longer we ride the smarter we can become. All you've got to do is get back up, dust yourself down and jump back on. It's as simple as that.

Project 366 / 348 - Do-er, viewer and voyeurism

Are you a do-er or a viewer? Are you someone who watches everyone else doing all the things that you'd like to be doing yourself but are unable to motivate yourself to action?

Make no mistake, everyone is a voyeur. And I'm not necessarily talking about peep-show-people, I'm talking about just how everyone seems to be watching everyone nowadays. How social media has turned everyone into an extreme voyeuristic version of themselves.

I mean how many people do you know who are on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat etc... but who don't actually post anything or interact with anyone? For me it's most of the people I know. Forgive me but isn't the whole social media world meant to be... erm... social? People I talk to say "yes I'm on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/Snapchat but I don't post anything, I just go on to look."

I've been on Twitter for a while. At times it's been my only social platform and at times I've been very social. But the more I use it the less social I feel it has become. So much so that I've now pretty much withdrawn from it. I only really use Facebook for my business page. In fact whenever Facebook does a "year in review" mine is considerably and desperately thin on the ground. Instagram I use to publish my latest photographs, again I like it but I don't use it to interact. And as for Snapchat... the jury is out (I don't really understand it if I'm honest).

So personally my level of interaction has certainly diminished. It's probably because I don't want to be a social media slave; a tech junkie feeding off likes, hearts, comments, retweets and shares. Seeing people constantly, and I mean constantly on Facebook makes me sick. People preach of a life offline but live a life full time online. There's so much inconsistency, so much contradiction and so much bullshit that it puts me off.

I wonder what the future of social media holds. Will a social platform become an augmented or virtual reality? Or will that mean real time? And then will it fail because people like doing things in their own time? There's a possibility for anything and you'd better believe that it's just around the corner.

Project 366 / 347 - Ups, downs and preparing

Nothing lasts forever. No matter how hard you work at things you have to accept that at some point things will end. And I don't mean that necessarily in a bad way either. It could just mean the a phase of a relationship ends, be that a personal or business one. It could mean that the phase that's ending is being replaced by a better version. It doesn't all have to sound negative.

But being mentally prepared for change helps. Knowing, understanding and realising that things won't always be the same is half the battle. Sticking your head in the sand for either good or bad reasons is never a good thing. You have to open your eyes, appreciate when things are good and prepare for when things aren't so good.

And it happens to everyone, regardless. Some of the biggest businesses in the world right now will go through a seismic shift of fortunes one day. Half the battle is maintaining the good times - why else do companies like Facebook buy so many other companies? They're trying to maintain market share as they know that there's 101 other companies nipping at their heels day in, day out.

The titans of old still exist in some new shape or form but as a drastically reduced version of themselves. It's like the old heavyweight boxers - undisputed in their heyday only to succumb to age. Everything changes.

My one wish in business is to be financially secure, not just at work but also at home. There's a very satisfying and comforting feeling being able to pay bills on time and it's something that I pride myself in doing. Everyone gets paid early or on time. No one is kept waiting. It makes for a very good negotiating basis.

Having a solid financial base also allows for those inevitable fluctuations in business. We all get them but as long as you have the reserves to survive you'll do just that. Fortunately for us nowadays those fluctuations aren't anywhere near as dramatic as they used to be. We used to go from feast to famine and survival was tough. Experience really helps.

One of the most severe of droughts for us would be the winter months. During December, January and February nearly all of our customers would just stop giving us business. Coincidentally their business dipped at the same time so there was nothing we could do about it. It was a very worrying time. Fast forward to today and we still get those dips and I hate them when they come. After all the bills don't stop just because the income does.

Project 366 / 346 - Drinking through the ages

My wife and I call these few weeks leading up to Christmas "silly season" We coined that phrase because it's a barmy time when you're out more than in, you're over-indulging and burning the proverbial candle at both ends. Some years it's me out night after night and other years it's been her. This year it's quite even with her gaining the slight edge.

Christmas parties and get togethers tend to have a common element - alcohol and, following our company Christmas do last Saturday, it's something that I've found quite entertaining.

I'm not sure if it's an age thing but your attitude towards alcohol changes as you get older. I always remember my mother saying that as you get older you begin to understand when to stop drinking, when you know that the next drink will be the one to drive you over the edge. Personally I've kind of nearly always known when that drink comes. I say nearly as some times I've been drinking far too quickly and it's caught up with me before I've had chance to realise where I'm at.

My first drunken episode was at home when I must have been around 13. My parents had allowed me to drink one glass of cider every now and again. This particular evening I'd had one glass and asked if I could have another. My mum must have been in the middle of some great TV program as she nonchalantly said "yes help yourself" and before I knew it I was on my 3rd. I was tipsy, giggly and as far as I can remember my parents thought it was highly amusing.

In my teens, from around 17 to 19 it was all about drinking as much volume as possible and my drink of choice, like most others, was lager. Our group of friends went out every Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday night down the same pub. It was a fun time but completely different to today. We went out at 7pm and were home by midnight at the latest. It was only if we were invited (or gatecrashed) a party when the night went on longer.

That party season ended when we all began buying houses and settling down. We were all around 20 when that happened which seems so young nowadays. Beer money became a luxury and mortgages became a reality. I pretty much stopped drinking for about 5 years - money was tight.

I'd lost my appetite for lager and as my father was a bit of a wine connoisseur and I'd been brought up on wine I moved onto wine and spirits. I had a natural preference for red wine which was great as most people I knew preferred white, so I'd always be left with most of a bottle to myself. My spirit of choice became Jack Daniels or Gin and I stuck with those until pretty recently.

It was only when I woke up one morning with a sore throat that whiskey was introduced. After having the sore throat for 5 full days my wife suggest one Friday night to “try a whiskey, you know, for medicinal purposes”. She poured me a large glass of neat whiskey. It ripped my throat out but seemed to have a slight anaesthetic effect. She poured me another, this one feeling a little less coarse on my throat. Shortly after that she left to go out for the evening only to find me on her return spread-eagled on the sofa cuddling an empty bottle of whiskey.

I woke up the next morning with no sore throat. Whiskey was now my closest ally and I've enjoyed a regular tipple or ten ever since.

If lager is for your 20's, wine for your 30's and whiskey is for your 40's then what have I got to look forward to in my 50's? Sherry?

Project 366 / 345 - Cards, gifts and standing out

Whatever happened to Christmas cards? And I'm not talking about between family but between friends and in business? At home we used to receive up to about 100 cards. At work it'd be the same, accompanied by copious amounts of wine, spirits and chocolate.

Now? 2 cards so far at work and 10 at home. But why the change?

Cost and technology. Dwindling card sales results in a hike in prices which creates a self-fulfilling prophecy. Cards from places like Clintons cost at least £5 per card, so at that rate we easily spend well in excess of £50 on cards for immediate family alone. You can see why people don't bother. Why write when you can text, or post a message online? Yes it's more convenient and environmentally friendly but I think it's also lazy and to be honest people like a bit of an effort.

Most people you ask respond with the line "I don't do cards" coining some yuppi-esque new world nonsense. No you don't do cards because you can't be bothered. But no-one is going to hold it against you either. But you do do cards though, just not Christmas cards. You'll still happily do birthday, valentines, new baby, just married or literally any other occasion cards.

The recession drew an end to corporate gifts and despite an improved economy businesses are out of the habit of budgeting for such things and seem unlikely to resume. But perhaps that's where they are missing a trick. Perhaps by making the effort, by investing a few pounds in cards and gifts then they'd stand out. If no one is doing it then perhaps you should. If you follow the crowd then you'll get lost in the crowd. If you stand alone you'll be noticed. Go old school, go retro, after all people love a bit of nostalgia.

Project 366 / 344 - Toxicity, negativity and elimination

I've been reading a bit lately about the toxic effect negative people have on you. From stifling your ambition by saying things can't be done to being sucked into their negative tornado in a downward spiral of complaint.

But some of these people are hard to get away from, at least in the short term. Distancing yourself from them can be very difficult. But one of the articles I read the other day likened it to smoking; if the person was smoking rather than being negative would you just sit there inhaling the second hand smoke? No, you'd move away, you'd create distance between you. And perhaps that's the best example there is.

We all want to be lifted up, to be encouraged and to feel like we are reaching higher and higher but finding and surrounding yourself with the people who will do this is hard. There is a massive difference between someone with blind optimism, where the person is ignorant to reality, and someone who is positive. Unfortunately the majority of incredibly positive people I know suffer with blind optimism too.

There's a massive can't do culture out there. In fact it's the noisy majority. Finding the smaller, quieter can do crowd is becoming harder and harder. So where did you find the people you need to succeed? One article I read suggested volunteering, not only as a great life practice but also as a way of surrounding yourself with people with happier attitudes.

I think I need to get out more. I think I need to business network more. I meet a lot of people in my business but I need to start meeting different people. I'm a very confident person but I find certain situations uncomfortable and that's something that I need to work on.

With the new year fast approaching we all need to take stock. It poses a great opportunity to review, re-set and re-focus. Yes you can do this at any time, you don't need to wait until the dawn of a new year. But with the holiday season and new year just around the corner this is a perfect time to recalibrate.

Perhaps start the year eliminating toxic elements, be that food, people, environment or whatever. Nothing is going to happen overnight, it all takes time. But if you start the year as you mean to go on then you are at least setting yourself up for success, rather than continuing down the same road.

Project 366 / 343 - Trust, intention and delegation

Trust is a major issue. Who can you trust? I mean really trust? I'm guessing that it comes down to what you're trusting someone with but the general feeling being able to rely on someone is a cornerstone, it's a foundation of any relationship.

Trust is one of those things that takes a long time to build but seconds to destroy. One false move in a relationship, and I'm not just talking about a spousal relationship, I'm talking about friends, working colleagues and associates, one false move can undo a lifetime of confidence.

Some may say that one of my weaknesses is that I'm too trusting. I believe that people will do what they say they are going to do. Why else would they promise it? Why say one thing and then do another?

Sadly I'm proven wrong far too often. Peoples good intent is trumped by their lack of action. It's probably not out of malice but just out of over-promising then under-delivering. But it hurts as usually this is partnered by ignorance; ignore me and I may well go away. Unfortunately that's far from the case. All I want is communication; a phone call, an e-mail, a text... anything just to let me know what's happening. But instead all I get is radio silence. It's an all far too common occurrence.

And then people wonder why I get pissed off and why I switch off to them.

I find delegation difficult. The problem is that no one can do the job as well as me - they know it and I know it. But I'm trying to let it go. I'm trying to come to terms with the fact that someone doing the job 80% as well as I can is still acceptable and then releases me to grow my business, to go out and do the things that I not only enjoy but bring more business to the company.

One of my colleagues said to me the other day "You'll never step away, you love the day to day operation too much". God no, I want to step away, I just need the confidence to do so. I mean can you imagine earning and not having to work so much for it? Can you imagine being able to delegate all the things you hate in your job and only be left with the stuff you love?

Project 366 / 342 - I make the rules around here

One of my main traits is that I like being in control. I like being the master of my own destiny and I like the responsibility that my decisions bring. Now of course they come with their own unique set of consequences. One wrong move could spell disaster but the adrenaline of navigation is a ride worth taking.

Running your own business, or set of businesses is like a rollercoaster. One minute you're up, the next you're down. One minute you're going like a bat out of hell and then next you're cruising. There's an abundance of pressure, pleasure and pain, sometimes all within the space of 24 hours but ultimately the ride is worth it.

In the past I've weighed up the pro's and con's of running my own business. The benefit of working for someone else is the work/life balance. I never switch off, I'm always on. I'm constantly creating, thinking, analysing, worrying, wondering, debating, learning and searching. I can't imagine what it is like to switch off my computer at 5.30pm and go home and forget about working until 9am the following morning. I've forgotten what it is like to take a lunch break every day. I can only dream of a 2 week vacation.

Then there’s the money. Yes I could earn 2, 3 or 4 times what I take home now if I worked for someone else. But that’s all I could earn. Working for myself means that there is no limit. If I made a roaring success of what I do then I could earn whatever I wanted. I’m not saying that that’s going to happen but it could, there’s a possibility. There isn’t that possibility working for someone else.

The buck stops with me and that's the pressure. I'm responsible for livelihoods, for legalities, for revenue and for profit. I'm the forklift engineer, the photocopier fixer, the computer expert, the vehicle mechanic. I'm expected to know everything about everything, to balance graft and harmony, to maintain equilibrium and to keep those hundred spinning plates from falling.

But I couldn't stand being told what to do. Maybe it's because I've been doing it for so long but I now couldn't imagine it any other way. A friend told me recently that "people like us can't work for other people" and in some ways that's true.

When I was younger and I worked for someone else I'd constantly come up with ideas to improve their business but because I was young my ideas were dismissed. One of the older and more senior staff members would steal my idea and re-pitch it a week later and it would be taken on. He got pay rises and promotions so in the end I stopped feeding him my ideas.

And that's what I love about running my own business; if I have an idea then I can try it and there's no one to stop me. It's incredibly liberating. Of course many people have ideas but ideas are a plenty, they're ten a penny - execution is the key.

Project 366 / 341 - Santa, magic and Christmas

The legend of Father Christmas is a precious one. It's a wonderful tale that we tell our children from the moment they are born and we keep the magic going as long as we possibly can. Reece is 9 and Lincoln is 5 and my wife and I kind of know that sadly this is probably going to be the last Father Christmas Christmas, if you get what I mean.

The problem is other children. Reece is possibly the last one in his class to still believe and we are doing everything we can to keep it going for just one more year. His friends shout their mouths off in a hierarchal manner, dispelling magic and changing beliefs without a care in the world. Little do they know that one day they'll be parents themselves and will be watching the magic of Christmas glowing in their children's faces and praying that maybe, just maybe, they can keep the magic going for another year.

Lincoln still firmly believes but his heart will be broken only too soon. The other children in his class are already casting doubt in his mind and once his older brother doesn't believe then it's just a matter of time until he convinces his brother of the same.

It's sad really. I remember the year when I stopped believing. My parents had wrapped up one of my presents in a Highland Spring Water box, something that we had delivered at home every month, and without a word at that moment everything changed.

Once Christmas loses it's magic it doesn't come back until you are well into adulthood and probably not until you have children of your own. Once the veil is lifted the commercial aspect is revealed Christmas isn't the same again.

Ultimately Christmas is for children and a time of wonder and magic but it's also a time for rest and reflection, for eating and drinking and a time for friends and family. There's a warmth about December Winter; whether it's because of the open fires, the warm mulled wine, hats, coats and scarves or just the warmth of having those you love gathered around you for a few festive days.

The January Winter is a different one, it feels colder, darker and less welcoming so enjoy the next few weeks before the promises of the new year begins.

Project 366 / 340 - The education system and what could be

Is the current education system broken? Is it antiquated, backward thinking and nowadays destined to fail nearly everyone going through it? Does it need a complete overhaul?

Everything in life gets an overhaul. Everything gets modernised, revised, re-done and reviewed yet the education system doesn't seem to. The practices being taught today are the same as those taught back in the 70's and 80's. The world is different now and it is time that the education system was changed to reflect this.

Now don't get me wrong, if you want to become a doctor, lawyer, scientist or any of those kind of professions then higher education is vital. I believe that the brain matures and becomes ready to not only learn more complicated rhythms but understand the patterns. I think that the majority of people just aren't ready and don't have the mental patience to take this kind of information on.

But for the rest of us, staying at school into our mid 20's is a waste of time, effort and money. Students are leaving university with degrees, yes, but also massive student loan debts which take years to repay. Repayments like these eat up the reserves which would otherwise be (hopefully) going towards getting on the property ladder.

I left school at 16 and bought my first house within 5 years. My sister did much the same. I was an average student at best and lower than average the rest of the time. After 15 I didn't learn or wasn't taught anything that I've ever needed since. School for me from that point was a waste of time. It became this one-size-fits-all kind of education with the problem that I didn't fit.

I wasn't just another brick in the wall.

We weren’t taught life skills; how to cook, how to manage money or a house, how to budget, how to negotiate, how business works or what responsibilities we’d be faced with in the outside world. Everything from 16 was a baptism of fire whereas I don’t think it should be like that.

The education system has the opportunity of turning this countries school leavers into the next world leaders. If only we’d educate them in the way of the world, how working together we can achieve anything, how to trade internationally, how to buy and sell, how trading works, simple politics, economics and relationships. If we want the UK to have the next Steve Jobs then we need to be educating, inspiring and providing for our teenagers accordingly.

Look at the Olympics. After London 2012 the government ploughed millions upon millions into our sporting infrastructure, and the result? Team GB had the most successful Olympic games ever in Rio 2016. It's no co-incidence, it's the result of investment and effort. And if the same investment and effort was put into our educational system then I believe that Britain could be Great once again.

Project 366 / 339 - Parenting, gratitude and happiness

Parenting has to be the hardest job in the world. And I don't mean physically demanding but more mentally draining. With no manual and no one-way-suits-all approach we're all just flying by the seat of our pants in the desperate hope that everything works out ok.

My wife and I work tirelessly trying to provide a home and environment for our children that they love and maybe one day will look back on and appreciate. But maybe in doing just that they lack gratitude and humility.

We're often thought about taking the children to the orphanages in Romania for them to witness what real suffering is like. To show them how other children of the same age live in the desperate hope that they begin to realise just how lucky they are.

I'd like them to donate some of their toys to children in hospital over Christmas; to give without the expectation of receiving. Maybe by witnessing other people's gratitude then they will begin to understand their own fortunate position. Maybe they need a shock. Maybe we've been doing it all wrong.

Seeing your children happy is the best feeling in the world. Seeing them unhappy is possibly the worst. But sometimes happiness is something that you need to work out for yourself. Perhaps it's not always our responsibility; as long as we are proving all the right tools and and environment then maybe they need to work it out for themselves.

Maybe that's what growing up is all about.

My childhood is such a long time ago now I don't remember. I don't remember the low points of being 9, the struggle, the fitting in, the impossible work and the discipline. Maybe I don't remember because it was so bad that my mind has deleted those memories.

All we know is that these next 5-9 years for our eldest are incredibly influential and we don't want to make the wrong move. We don't want him to be somewhere which will have a negative impression but at the same time we don't want to mollycoddle him.

Parenting; it's a tough racket.

Project 366 / 338 - Cool, class and style

What is cool? How does something become timeless? Is it individual perception or something greater than that?

I got wondering about these questions over the last few weeks. There I was, walking through the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas back to our room to get changed before heading out to renew our wedding vows and over the hotel music system they were playing Frank Sinatra. It gave me goosebumps - this timeless music, so fitting for Vegas and so apt for that moment.

Sinatra's music is over 50 years old now yet it sounds as warm and familiar as it did when I first heard it some 30 years ago. Some things never grow old and that's what I love about legacy - we have an opportunity of leaving a permanent mark on the world, a timeless reminder of our brief existence.

But what makes cool? Is it something natural or something fabricated? Some people ooze class even without effort but I'd say that in general it comes down to styling. Look at any of the fabricated pop stars from the likes of X-Factor. These are every day people who, following success on the show, are literally transformed into people that resemble our perception of a pop star.

But then there are the actors and "A" list celebs who spend a fortune to look at their very best every time they step out of the house. Considering they rarely get seen out wearing the same thing twice they must have a Narnia style wardrobe providing them with an endless choice of outfits.

Of course they'd call it pressure but I think I'd take that kind of pressure all day long.

It makes you wonder what you could be capable of yourself. I mean just imagine you had access to the same wardrobe, stylists, hairdressers and advisors. Plus a nutritionalist, personal trainer and assistant? How different do you think you'd look?

Project 366 / 337 - December, Christmas and expectations

Tis the season to be jolly, that's for sure. When crackling fires, warm mulled wine, Christmas songs, roast chestnuts, thick jumpers, frosty walks and hearty food are aplenty. I've often spoken about how downtime is much more enjoyable if you've put in the work and this time of year is no exception.

If you've worked long hours, grafted, hustled and made many sacrifices throughout the year then you can perhaps begin to look forward to a bit of downtime and relax for a few days. Of course many of us can't really take our proverbial foot off the gas for long. Overheads stay the same, bills still need paying and the pressure remains.

Christmas is a funny time though; happiness is mandatory, gratitude is expected and if you're not constantly and instantly in the Christmas spirit then you're a misog. We buy more food and titbits than we could ever consume, we overindulge and binge on alcohol, chocolate and every rich, full fat and cholesterol spiking nourishment we can lay our hands on.

And then what? The new year dawns and we flip 180 and go overboard in a dryathon, in a no-alcohol, clean diet, new-year-new-you, gym-signing, holier-than-thou pursuit of de-toxification and healthier lifestyle.

It makes me laugh, not for any other reason but that I'm pretty much describing myself. I'm my own worst enemy; relentlessly pursuing business success, striving, hustling, sacrificing, training and clean eating which is then swiftly rewarded by excessive consumption of alcohol and fast food. As I write this I'm considering a year off alcohol and a dive back into physical training. But that's easy to say and difficult to do.

But until then it's December; my wife is in the process of putting up the Christmas decorations which will be swiftly followed by putting up the Christmas tree. It's something which she is very good at - she has a natural flair for interior design and has great taste so our tree is always the centrepiece of our home at Christmas. But of course I'll get it out the cellar, fan all the branches out, erect the tree, sort the lights and then unpack and arrange all the decorations. That's my job. I'll then be allowed to hand her each set of decorations on demand for her to place on the tree (I'm not allowed to touch the tree for fear of placement errors).

The house will look beautiful, glowing and warm. The fire will be lit and for just a fleeting moment all will be calm in the house.

Project 366 / 336 - Influencers, friends and change

I came across a saying the other day which really stopped me in my tracks and made me think. Now considering the number of so-called inspirational talks, sayings and posts that you see on the internet it takes something quite special to really resonate nowadays but this one really did;

"You can't change the people around you but you can change the people around you"

Now just stop to think about this one for a minute. We're surrounded by people, the majority of whom are probably not the best influence. They are people that we've somehow accumulated along the way and have become part of our friend network. Others are part of our business network. Many of which, if we were really honest with ourselves, aren't really our type of people.

So who is your type?

They say that you're the average of the 5 people that you spend the most time with. If that's true, and to be honest it's hard to refute a lot of the time, then we really need to be taking a long hard look at at least those 5 people.

I've often thought that I could really do with surrounding myself with more influential and creative type people. I don't mean to sound big headed but most of the time I think that I'm the top of my tree. Whereas I'd like to be surrounding myself with people who would push me harder and further.

The problem is I know what I need but finding it is harder than you can imagine.

"You can't change the people around you but you can change the people around you"

Yes you can't change the people around you. They are stuck in their ways, opinions and are limited by their own perceptions and beliefs. Yet we can decide to change the people that we hang around with, that we surround ourselves with. And that's the key. Don't try and change people but change the people.

Project 366 / 335 - Money and memories

"Money doesn't grow on trees y'know" - and how true that is. Many of us are working longer, harder and smarter to earn more and more money to improve our already impossible lifestyle. I say many as so many others are coasting, unwilling to graft, unwilling to sacrifice but yet still willing to complain.

So if it's so difficult make why do you waste so much of your money?

It's one of the things that I'm trying to educate our children in, especially our oldest. Reece is only 9 but has scant regard to the value of money. He says that he's going to be rich but when asked how he says that "you'll give it to me". I've put a stop to that train of thought straight away.

Next he explains that he's going to earn it but I explain that life is expensive and that many people only earn enough to get by, to live a simpler life. It's true that we live to our means - the more we earn the more we tend to spend. Earning money is only half the battle, controlling your spending is just as important. Your bottom line is affected not just by your income but also your overheads. Reduce your overheads and you increase your profit.

But sometimes you have to have some level of disregard for cost. Life is for living, it's for experience and it's for making memories. Our recent trip to Las Vegas was expensive but yet if we'd dwelled on the cost we would have ended up doing nothing. We were there for a few days and the priority was making as many memories as possible, so we did just that.

You have to respect money but not let it control you. You have to exercise sense and sensibility, rationalism and caution yet balance that with confidence and extravagance, determination and realism.

I was always told that I should split my pay packet into thirds. A third to pay the bills, save a third and spend a third. Life's not quite like that yet the theory remains. Work to live not live to work. If you're not enjoying some level of your earnings then perhaps you need to re-evaluate.

And saying that you don't earn enough is rubbish. You can always earn more. You can always spend less. I know people who are married who don't have kids, who both earn a decent wage and live in a small home yet have no money. Obviously they do have money but choose to spend it on mindless things that don't bring value. And then there are others who are married with kids who don't earn that much yet manage to live a very happy and eventful life.

It's called a budget. Work to it and allocate for it. You'll find that you'll control your spending better and be able to buy the memories that will last a lifetime.