I recently entered a photo competition and won. I rarely enter competitions and I certainly don’t consider myself to be a talented photographer. But I know how to tell a story. And a picture can tell a thousand words after all.

The theme of the competition was ‘Freedom For Me’. Submissions had to sum up in an image what freedom meant for us. The intriguing factor is that this competition was run by my employer. …

Our mindset defines who we are and how we live our lives. It’s the set of beliefs that you have about yourself and the world.

You’ve heard of the growth mindset. The belief that our abilities are not fixed. That we can take on new challenges and learn new skills throughout our lives. You might pride yourself on your growth mindset around your skills and learning ability, but what about your mindset about money? Has this been fixed without you realising it?

The attitudes and beliefs we have about money are ingrained during our childhood. Just like our beliefs about…

So you think you’d like to get a job in marketing but you don’t have any experience? Or maybe you are starting your own business and don’t know where to start with marketing?

Think again. We are all marketers now.

I felt inspired to write this article after reading a quote from the weekly email newsletter from James Clear.

“Don’t feel qualified? Nobody does.

You can only be qualified to do that which you have already accomplished or trained for.

Anything new is accomplished by unqualified people.”

The whole point of marketing is to get people to pay attention to…

You wish you could meditate. You tried a few times and gave up. You just can’t control your noisy thoughts. You keep hearing about how great meditation is so you feel you’re missing out. You would like to give it another try but don’t know how to do it right? Sounds familiar?

This is exactly how I felt about meditation before I figured out how easy it can be. And what an amazing impact it would have on my life.

I have been meditating regularly for about 5–6 months. I first started because I was becoming angry for the most…

I grew up poor. Dirt poor. The kind of poor where you have to eat the same low cost meal everyday and can only afford to heat just one room of the house through the cold winters.

But don’t feel bad for me. I had a rich childhood in so many ways that money can’t buy and I found a way out of the poverty. And I’m no longer programmed to be poor.

My eyes have been opened to the fact that the people around us who appear to be the richest because of their material possessions are often in…

Are you as impatient to get results as I am? Are you an instant gratification type of person? When starting something new, do you expect to see an immediate impact?

I’ve been reflecting back over the past year and thinking about what I’m most proud of. Without fail, every single one of my proudest achievements has happened as a result of gradual, persistent and incremental effort.

This mindset won’t come as a surprise to any fellow fans of James Clear and Matt D’Avella. Both Clear and D’Avella are fans of slow growth — in fact, D’Avella has recently launched the…

Are you being selfish with your time? How much time do you spend giving to others? You can do all sorts of things such as volunteering in a homeless shelter, helping out at a fundraising event for a local charity or driving your elderly neighbours to their medical appointments.

Giving to others doesn’t have to involve these more obvious charitable pursuits. It can be an activity that doesn’t take you out of your comfort zone or take up much of your precious time. Have you considered mentoring?

No matter where you are in your life, you will have knowledge that…

If I spent as much time being productive as I do experimenting with different productivity tools then I would outperform Elon Musk.

I’m always on the lookout for new tips and tricks to improve my focus and increase my output. And I know that I’m far from alone as there’s clearly a big market for this stuff.

My favorite books on the subject by far are ‘Make Time’ by Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky and ‘Deep Work’ by Cal Newport. All productivity aficionados reading this will be very familiar with both these books.

While I had taken on board much…