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 

Mix and Focus

On Monday I talked about what you can achieve in just 48 hours. What I observed during StartupWeekend was that you need a few things in order to achieve the best results.

1. You need the right mix. Of people that is. The team must cover every aspect of business. Marketers, business people, designers, developers, all need to work together as a team to come up with ideas and implement them.
2. You need to focus. During the ideation process you can get lost in features and added value. This can easily end up diluting the real offering. Decide what problem you are solving and do that.
3. You need to do the work. Coming up with big ideas is just the beginning. If you cannot implement them, you haven't really achieved anything.
4. You need to find a reason. Just building something is not enough. In order for people to connect with you and buy into your product/service you need to find reason in what you are doing. Why are you doing this? Search within your team to find your reason.
5. Optional: Do some research. If you have the time, do some research. But don't take into account all comments. If you just listen to what people want you won't be trully innovative.

Now that you have everything, get ready to launch!

Posted by Harry Mylonadis 

Pay Attention and Do The Work

Photo by Liber 

In order to have and work on great ideas and projects, you don't need to wait for inspiration to come in some form of a muse. You have to pay attention and do the work.

Great ideas don't always come to you, you need to look for them. Pay attention to everything, what people talk about, what they are looking for, what problems you face daily. Make it a practice to analyse everything that happens around you.

Once you have a glimpse of an idea you need to start working on it. It doesn't matter if it's the best, if it's concrete or if it will be the final idea that you will use. Whatever it is you will only be able to know if it's good by working on it. As the time passes you need to allow it to evolve with the work you are doing and make it grow into something that is useful.

Stop spending your time on "busy work" and start working and creating.

Posted by Harry Mylonadis 

Where's the Love

Starting up can give you a feeling of great seclusion. You spend your days and nights working on your big idea without seeing a lot of result and you start to feel unnoticed.

I was talking with a friend the other day about the difficulties of starting up and he was telling me how he felt unloved at the beginning. It's true, you give it your best and you might not see the return you were expecting. 

Here are some things that I think can help if you are in that situation:

• Spend time with your loved ones. Ask them for their support and spend valuable time with them.
• Connect with people that are in the same position like you. They feel your pain and can help you through it.
• Find a mentor. Someone that can keep you on the right track and ask the right questions.
• Speak to your friends. Don't just talk superficially about things, tell them your worries and get their opinion.
• Read stuff that will give you support. You can find support in books, blogs, magazines and I hope this blog will also help (obvious plug...)
• Don't give up. Keep doing what you love and helping people. They will see how much you care and they will return the favour, trust me.

Whatever you do, don't let it get you down. Keep on doing your work, even when it feels like you are not being loved. You can work through anything with the right support and in the end you will start seeing returns.

Posted by Harry Mylonadis 

Live, Don't Work

We all know how important life/work balance is. Yet most of us work long hours and overload ourselves, thinking that this way we are getting more done and that there is no other way.

Thankfully there is a way. Set limits to your work life. The first thing to do is set strict working hours, it can be 9-5, 10-6 or 12-5. Don't go beyond 6 in the summer and 5 in the winter. At first you will feel more stressed as the clock is ticking and the time is approaching. As you get used to your new routine, you will get either the same or more done in less time. This is the biggest misconception we have, we think that more working hours result in greater results. This is hardly ever the case, more wrking hours lead to tiredness and anger.

Learn your limits and enjoy life. Don't overwork and overload yourself. Find the most effective ways to get things done during your working hours and spend the rest of the day with the people you love being with.

Have a great weekend!

Posted by Harry Mylonadis 

Be an Artist

No matter what industry you are in, you need to work like an artist. The best description I have seen for art and especially modern art is "I could do that + but you didn't".

In your industry you want to convey two things. First, that there is some mystery in what you do. Second, although people think they can do your work, if they try they'll find out that they can't.

For the mystery part, you have to make some of your work seem almost magical. You need to give enough information so people understand what you do and at the same time keep some parts hidden so they have some mystery.

For the "I could do that" part, your work needs to be like modern part. You need to be innovative and excellent at what you do. This will allow you to leave people with a feeling that if they try to do what you do, they might do it but it won't be as good.

Any work can be like art. Always be innovative, bold and unique. It will bring you attention and the recognition you deserve.

P.S. Monday is a bank holiday in the UK, so we will see you again on Tuesday.

Posted by Harry Mylonadis 

Do the Work - Encore

Last Monday I wrote a post called "Do the Work", interestingly that week the latest book from Steven Pressfield was published through the Domino Project with this exact title.

Steven Pressfield's book is an inspiration and a guide for anyone starting a project, a new venture or anything new. What's more you can get the Kindle edition for free on Amazon and read it on your PC, Mac, iPad, Kindle or iPhone! 

It's a short book, more like a manifesto and it's definitely worth reading from cover to cover. Enjoy it!

Posted by Harry Mylonadis 

Do the Work

I wish there was a magic pill, potion, tip, exercise that I could give you and would help you be inspired. Unfortunately, there isn't. If you want to do something and be inspired, you need to actually do the work.

If you want great inspiration for a book, you need to start writing. If you want to be an inspirational leader, you need to have people to lead, and it goes on and on. The tips that I post every week help, but for them to work you need to have been doing the work. It's only when your mind has been filled with ideas, problems and options that the tips will actually work.

In order to reach writer's block and need to take a walk to clear your head, you need to start writing. You need to practice everyday (ideally) or at least some times a week. The same is true for design, management, marketing, blogging, you name it.

I personally had been procrastinating starting this blog for more than six months. I had all the usual excuses, not enough ideas, not a lot of inspiration every day, didn't have someone to edit my posts, not enough time etc… And then one day it happened, I took the plunge and started writing. What I find now is that the more I write, the more inspiration I have for another post. I can sit down and plan an entire month in less that half an hour.

If you want to be inspired and inspire people around you then start doing the work. Start every day with that thought and with doing the work that you love. You might have problems at first and be lost, but sooner or later ideas will start to appear and with enough practice you will be able to produce amazing stuff. No more excuses, do the work.

Posted by Harry Mylonadis 

Do What Makes You Happy

Whatever you do, whether you start something on your own or work for someone else, your job needs to be something that makes you happy.

If you don't enjoy your work and are not happy about it, you won't achieve a lot. You will be there everyday delivering the barely essential, maybe even improving a bit, but you will always be complaining and will never have a breakthrough.

If you enjoy your work and are happy about it, you will achieve a lot both professionally and personally. Your life will be more balanced, your work will be something that you enjoy doing and you will be able to achieve amazing results and breakthroughs.

Doing something that makes you happy might also mean that you have to look beyond your comfort zone and what you've always done. It might mean becoming a salesman when all your experience is in engineering. 

We all have to pursue our goals and the pursuit of happiness is never-ending. Doing something that makes you happy for the biggest part of the day, will definitely help you get there quicker.

Posted by Harry Mylonadis