Most Valuable First

The best way I've found to start the day, is working on things that are of most value to me. Whether that's writing, working on a project or taking a walk and thinking, it doesn't matter. What matters is that you do something that inspires you.

If you don't start the day with something of value, you run the risk of spending your day endlessly chasing emails, checking social media, browsing websites and doing busywork. 

What I've found is that when I focus on what's of value to me, then I have one of those days that I feel like I have achieved so much and when I look at the clock it's still 3pm.

Try it out and let me know how it works for you.

Posted by Harry Mylonadis 

A Selfless Act

Snow finally came to the UK and it hit London pretty hard on Saturday.

As we were making our way home that evening I saw in the distance an old man with 3 bags on the one hand and dragging a big shopping trolley with the other. Without thinking I told my wife "Pull over, I need to help that man".

I got out of the car, went over and started pushing the trolley. We chatted a bit and when we reached his house he stopped, took off his glove, shaked my hand in a very grateful way and thanked me.

That was all I needed, enough to make my evening and keep me going for the next days.

Posted by Harry Mylonadis 

When In Doubt

When in doubt about whether you should work on something else or go for a walk, always choose the second. If you have a dog, take it with you.

Why? Because the time you will spend on this break will give you the needed energy to complete the task you wanted to do in a lot less time. Plus I don't have to preach you about the benefits of a bit of exercise.

What are you waiting for, go for that walk and clear your head for a few minutes.

Posted by Harry Mylonadis 

Lights, Camera, Action!

The scene is set, everyone is at their positions, knows what they have to do, knows their lines and then a blooper happens. What happens next? Take 2.

I know what you're thinking, what does this have to do with anything? When we work on something we expect to do everything right from the beginning. Instead of starting and acting, we spend endless hours planning in order to avoid any mistake or failure.

What's the alternative? Start, act, try new things. If you fail, that's no problem. Try again. Each time you will become better and stronger. Don't expect to get it right from the beginning, there are many things to learn and the best way to learn them is by acting and learning from your mistakes.

Posted by Harry Mylonadis 

Practice Every Day

Practice is something that deserves it's own post. I've mentioned time and time again that in order to achieve what I talk about, you need to practice. It's not just a matter of doing it whenever you need it or whenever it comes to your mind. You need to practice on what you want to achieve on a daily basis.

This is the only way to become good at something. You can't wake up one day and know how to simplify, you need to practice over and over. The same principles, the same ideas. Learn, fail and grow.

Once you've done your 10,000 hours, you can start calling yourself a guru, an expert or anything else you like. Until then, you need to practice daily and as often as possible during the day.

Posted by Harry Mylonadis 

Be Happy Where You Are

Being happy makes our life better. It makes us more productive and helps with idea creation.

How we feel about our life has mainly to do with our attitude. If we are on the pursuit of happiness we always find something wrong and it's this attitude that we need to change. We need to embrace whatever comes our way in a positive way and always reflect on the past positively.

I know this works because I've been there myself. When I was younger I used to be stressed, anxious and reached a point where I had blackouts and breathing problems. It was tough and I didn't know what to do. I thought things were out of my control and that it would be difficult to be happy and feel better. Then something changed. I had a black out while driving (this was stress related and luckily I was at a traffic signal when it happened) which opened my eyes. I realised that in order to change I had to first change my attitude and then things would follow.

I took it step by step, looking at problems with a positive attitude and reflecting on the past with a positive eye. Things slowly started to change, I felt better and happier. This led to a point where I felt happy where I was. I always have goals and always try to make things better, but I can now say that I'm happy where I am.

Start now, whenever something happens deal with it with a positive attitude. Reflect on your past and realise how bad things that happened led to better ones. Make it a practice and slowly your attitude will change.

Posted by Harry Mylonadis 

Look Inside

When someone wants to start a new business or build a new product, the usual thing to do is market research. Look into what people need, if there is a good market and generally what the problems are.

For a change I suggest you do something different. Look at what problems you are facing that you can resolve. Build a product that you need or you would take your wallet out and buy. That's what I did in my latest personal project CPU Wars and it has proven to be a great success. I combined my love for games and computing, and built a card game that I would buy without a second thought.

This not only provides you an immediate market (with 7 billion people, you can bet there are more people like you), but it also gives you one of the most important elements of a successful brand, Passion. Take a look inside and you will be surprised at what you might find.

Posted by Harry Mylonadis 

We Are All Free

We saw this today and it really inspired us.

Posted by Harry Mylonadis 

Fandom

Last Saturday I was at an amazing gig of one of my favourite bands. They started small in California 17 years ago, they never did any usual promotion (MTV and the others) and now they almost filled the Wembley Arena! To put this in proportion, that's where the likes of Madonna and Sting perform. How does a metal band do that?

They have devoted fans. They are doing something that they love and they do it for their fans. I've started experiencing this last week with my side project CPU Wars. When you start building a fan base, it quickly becomes a community. That community not only loves what you do, they'll also do as much as possible to help you succeed.

Whatever you are doing, you should be doing it for your fans.

Posted by Harry Mylonadis 

Spontaneity

I learnt how to ride a bike without training wheels when I was about 4 or 5 years old. After that I kept using my bike to go everywhere until I was 18 and got my driving license. So I can say I have good experience.

When Cycle Hire became available in London, I immediately jumped on the chance of getting a key so I can hire a bike. The first time I went to use one, something strange happened. I got on the bike, fixed the seat, checked everything and was ready to start cycling. That's when my mind kicked in and clouded everything. My legs were shaking, my hands were shaking and I could barely start peddling. I did a few yards, the bike was all over the place and I almost fell. I kept at it and when I got confident that I could do it I started cycling.

Was it that I didn't remember how to cycle? Definitely not. I had cycled for almost 15 years, so I had all the knowledge I needed. What happened was that my mind clouded my confidence and judgement. As soon as I got on the bike, I started thinking of what I had to do, what I need to be careful of, how things work, etc., etc. As soon as I got past that barrier, it was like I had never stopped (apart from the pain in my legs).

When you start working on any project, try to quiet that judgemental voice. If you have the skills and some experience, then work spontaneously without judging what you are about to do. You can review your work later. The act of creation needs spontaneity and being able to experiment. If you keep on judging yourself then you won't be able to create something extraordinary.

Posted by Harry Mylonadis