Be a net creator

Black Mirror, London

Since the internet came about, I've been dumbly consuming content like everyone else. On the whole though I've managed to be a net creator.

If you totalled up the time you spend contenting content vs consuming it, what's that look like?

For me I've always been a net creator. That's just the way I've been wired. I'm not saying that all of my content is worthy of accolades, I just like to be productive and create stuff. I get bored if I'm not writing, thinking, taking photos or creating digital art. Always experimenting. Way back in the day I was a moderator of a now dead minidisc forum, even then back in the day I guess that was creating - around 3k posts on that forum. I also used to trade minidisc mixes, building and curating playlists. Loved that back in the day.

Roll forward to the smartphone era, and wow am I going kinda crazy on content creation. 7k+ images on flickr, 3k+ images on instagram stories, loads of daily insta stories, blogs, Picsart, LinkedIn, youtube, tweets. LOADSA CONTENT! Where the hell does it all go and what's the point? Well mainly it goes into walled gardens that are the big internet companies, who then sell ads. I've alwasy been careful to have a back up of all of my pics and vids, so I'm not a slave to these companies.

I create content for me first, if other's happen to like it then all good.

So that's the real point. I just love creating new content. Trying new styles, apps and platforms. I'll continue to do so as I find the freedom in creativity one of the most positive things a human can do. Being a net consumer is soul destroying. Get out there, live life, look around, enjoy the moment and always be creating.

Black Mirror, Train

Why are commuters so miserable? Men in Black International

This big old advert is currently in London Waterloo. The idea is that you sit in the booth and get a picture from one of the agents. I didn't really hang around to find out. What I did observe is that most commuters we just blanking these guys like they didn't exist. Now I'm no raving MIB fan, but why not stop for a laugh.

I'm assuming people are just too busy, self conscious, or miserable.

I wish people unleashed a bit more fun in themselves and had a bit of a laugh. Commuting is soulless enough as it is!

Maslow's Heierarchy of Needs - Social Belonging

Maslow's Heierarchy of Needs

I've been thinking a bit this morning as I've woken up about Maslow's hierarchy of needs and where I am on the pyramid. I've definitely got the basics covered.

• Physiological needs
• Safety needs

Totally nailed if I'm honest. I can eat and sleep, I'm warm and I feel safe.
The next three I think is where I can work on:

• Social belonging
• Self-esteem
• Self-actualization

I don't know exactly how I would work on them or what I need to do to get to self-actualization. It's worth me pondering these over the next few days and weeks. Maybe then I can draw some conclusions on how to improve my life.

 Social Belonging : According to Maslow, humans need to feel a sense of belonging and acceptance among social groups, regardless of whether these groups are large or small.

I guess I do have that covered. I also guess that social media covered that for me a lot in the past. I used to be a social media fiend. I would post multiple times a day to Instagram stories. Sharing all sorts of mundane stuff, then check the views. What was the point in that. "Oh wow, my life is so amazing look at me" Fuck that, those days are over. I'm actually becoming more insular I rekon. I'm actually starting to care less about the wider world. I care less about social belonging on social media. I care less about Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Flickr. I really don't feel the need to share much more beyond this little blog here. But it's good to share and I'm relishing a bit of anonymity. Being online and in the spotlight of the world suddenly feels a bit creepy to me.

So how am I going to improve this area of my life? What practical things can I do to feel a belonging? Firstly I think it needs to start with my wife. She's the single most important person in my life, so if I start anywhere it should be there. Maybe I'll start a bit of a gratitude journal or something that will just improve how I think of our relationship. Maybe I'll come up with new ideas on how to improve this area of my life going forward

Marketing is difficult

Dear friends, I read this recently: Marketing is the only field I know where once a new strategy has been tried and is found to work, it completely stops working.  Absolutely nailed it. This is the single reason marketing is tough. Marketing is all about using channels, techniques and messaging in unique and creative ways that stand out from the crowd to get you mindshare for whatever it is you are promoting. As soon as you find the winning formula everyone knows about it and copy it, so so it's longer effective. That's what makes us marketers a little bit bonkers. We have to keep trying new things. Doing the same thing as you did before means you are effectively going backwards. Did you ever meet a successful marketer that wasn't trying new things, a bit of a risk taker? Pushing things forward to try brand new ideas can lead to challenging conversations in a business. How does a marketer build a business case that  demonstrates ROI for a brand new marketing strategy or programme? It's not easy and involves some guesswork and intuition. Two words that most CFOs seem to hate. Nothing in marketing is predictable. It sounds unbelievable, but I've been in a meeting where someone has suggested we "create a viral marketing campaign". Yeah, like that's something you can just roll-out. That said, the challenge of constantly trying to find a winning strategy is is what makes it a such an interesting career choice. Cheers and all the best - just another of my 100 days of writing challenge

The art of solitude

When was the last time you were alone? Truly alone?

I'm rarely alone. I'm always filling the void with other people's thoughts.

It all started with my first iPod. Music would fill any spare time I was alone. Other people's thoughts.

This is is even more the case today,

- Music
- Podcasts
- Email
- Books
- News
- Social media
- TV
- Gaming

I'm like most people. If I queue for a second I whip out my phone.

Solitude is becoming increasingly difficult in today's world. So what, who cares and why does that matter?

It matters because at what other time do you get reflect on things and think creatively without any outside influence? It matters because without it I'm forming the habit of relying on external things to provide me happiness. Solitude is not loneliness.

> “Being solitary is being alone well: being alone luxuriously immersed in doings of your own choice, aware of the fullness of your own presence rather than of the absence of others. Because solitude is an achievement.” Alice Koller

For most people, the only time they have solitude is in the shower. I bet some of your best ideas have been in the shower or whilst cleaning your teeth.

I'm lucky, I was born before the internet. I understand the benefits of solitude, I've just got to find the time and the place to practise it. It's tougher for young people. There's a lot of research that shows that the rising levels of anxiety amongst the iGeneration (born 1994+) can be partly attributed to the fact that these young minds never find solitude. Boredom is not a bad thing.

If that's the case, why not extend these periods of solitude? It doesn't need to be in a remote cabin in the woods, anywhere will do. I plan to re-learn the art of solitude again. It's not that scary to be alone with your thoughts. It's liberating. I'll keep you posted on how this goes.

So stop reading this, put down your phone and rediscover the art of solitude.

Cheers and all the best.

Time to reboot SMART goals

Dear friends,

I'm sure you all know about SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-Bound).... Yawn, soooo BORING and so late 2000's management speak. Time for a reboot.

I gave myself 10 minutes to think of a better set of words for the acronym SMART goals:

* Simple
* Memorable
* Aspirational
* Rewarding
* True

Here's why this SMART acronym is bang on for goal setting:

Simple

A goal doesn't need to be complicated. The more simple the goal, the more powerful. Goals are the end result, not the tactics on the 'how' to do stuff. Here's some simple goal examples.  "Grow revenue by 5%", "Run 5k in less than 30 mins", "Generate more pipeline for sales", "Write every day for 100 days". Simple goals may be less specific, but I really believe goals have to be at a macro level. Not everyone will agree with me - but when simple goals are combined with the following four points, they become very powerful.

Memorable

Simple and memorable go together in perfect harmony. The point is this - why have a goal, if you can't remember it? A goal is usually a longer term commitment. Something you need to work at everyday. If you don't live the goal you will fail. You need it etched in your brain, not on a spreadsheet or HR system that you need to look-up. Forgotten goals are a complete waste of time. Make your goals memorable.

Aspirational

Generally we all have daily wins. We are all growing and achieving better things each day. That's capitalism and growth at work, things bubble along nicely and we if we ride the current on the whole we will succeed. But, that's not a goal, that's just the norm. A goal should be a disrupter, that's what I aspire to. I'm not settling for a goal that doesn't push me - no one should. Equally, we rarely, if ever acheive goals on our own. An aspirational goal is something that a team will get behind too.

Rewarding

What's the point in setting a goal if there is no reward. A reward doesn't need to me monetary by the way, it could be in the form of recognition, fitness, more time, love, gratitude,, winning awards. Money helps though, it can be a motivator for sure, but not always. The reward should be personal. So many times, I've seen SMART goals, that just don't reward success. "It's your job" is not exactly a reward for hitting goals, especially aspirational ones. A compelling reward is fundamental to success.

True

True goals, are things that we really honestly want in life or work, and we are prepared to do whatever it takes to achieve them. It often takes a huge amount of self sacrifice and single mindedness, but if you truly want something in your life, then you have to do what it takes to get there. If you develop goals that aren't true, you are just setting yourself up to fail.

So there you have it a few more thoughts for my 100 days of writing.

Cheers and all the best.

Powerpointing should be a verb and require a license

Dear friends,

As a conservative estimate I am exposed to around 2 hours of Powerpoint a week. This varies from weeks where I see zero Powerpoint, to conferences or meetings with up to 8 hours of Powerpoint a day. So during my career I reckon I have watched around 1680 hours of powerpoint. That's a lot of slides. You need 10,000 hours of something before you become an expert. So I'm about 16% expert on watching Powerpoint. Oh the joy!

How has this not become a verb? A bit like *"Googling"* which is of course a term we all use for searching the web. *"Powerpointing"* should be the verb for presenting slides. *"Good luck with your Powerpointing today..."* or, *"Did you see Mark's Powerpointing today, it was awesome..."*.You get the idea. I might try using this and see if it catches on. You heard it here first.

Another thing, with probably billions of hours and dollars wasted in employees sitting through mind numbing Powerpoints. There should be a license to Powerpoint. All Powerpointers should obtain a Class B license to be able to present internally, say in groups of up to 10 people. Class A licenses are required for public Powerpointing or groups of 10+ people.

A final thought, Microsoft are missing a trick. With all this Powerpointing going on in pretty much every business on the planet, can you imagine how much a cheeky little banner ad would be worth?

Cheers and all the best,

More musings for day five of my writing challenge. Hopefully, this injected a bit of humour into your day. You can now proceed to your nearest Powerepointing room for your next meeting.