Sweet neighbours

sweet neighbours

made in the Moorlands     design and images©Tom Tomkinson

Can’t stand sleeping

can’t stand sleeping

If you could master stand up sleeping with your eyes open that would be something.  I tried it once but fell into a pond.  There was a time when if you were spotted nodding off during a really boring lesson at school it was okay for the teacher to sneak up behind you and whack you on the back of your little nodding head with a volume of Moby Dick so the contents of your nose flew across the room.  A useful alternative would be to slap a huge steel ruler down on the desk creating a shock-wave strong enough to send you leaping high into the air. This was a time known as ‘the good old days’.

made in the Moorlands     design and images ©Tom Tomkinson

Young and beautiful

young and beautiful

Hang on to your youthful optimism, hope and enthusiasm for as long as you can and learn to recognise those who would deceive you.

made in the Moorlands    design and images ©Tom Tomkinson

Smarty pants

smarty pants

made in the Moorlands     design and images ©Tom Tomkinson

After you

after you

Taking care of yourself is no selfish act – it is the priority which keeps you fit to help others.

made in the Moorlands     design and images ©Tom Tomkinson

 

When opportunity knocks

It’s important to pursue opportunities in life.  It’s how we discover who we are.  Start a business, go on a jungle adventure, change career, start a new relationship, learn to juggle, eat Sushi.

Following opportunities is how we find our place in life.  Some people have opportunity radar to seek out new ventures.  The rest of us just bump into opportunities when they pop-up.   Opportunities come and go.  They can be elusive and uncertain, risky or trivial.

When faced with uncertain opportunities, we rate our personal aptitude for risk somewhere on a scale between the gung-ho and the hyper-cautious.  The former will leap onto opportunities with little concern, while the latter will stand back and ponder the consequences to infinity and beyond.

We’re all different and the differences are unimportant.  What is important is that when your opportunities knock, pursue the ones that you want, take as much care as you need and apply as much enthusiasm as you can muster.

made in the Moorlands     design and images ©Tom Tomkinson

 

Bang your gong

bang your gong

When you need to promote your talents, the things you make or the great ideas you have, you may discover you lack the confidence you need to promote yourself.  You may not have an aptitude for networking or a taste for manipulating opportunities.  It’s not uncommon.

Many successful people work hard to overcome their natural reticence.  If the self-confidence you need is missing, you will need to do what they do: grit your teeth and learn to simulate it.  Let’s call it ‘acting’.  It takes hard work and dedication but it will provide you with a springboard to get you to where you want to be.

made in the Moorlands     design and images ©Tom Tomkinson

Start shining

start shining

If your mission in life is to attain a state of celebrity, eminence, greatness, glory or stardom in your chosen firmament you will need to shine brightly.  All the stars in all the skies shine, but some shine more brightly than others; they are so distinct, conspicuous and pin-sharp that they leave a brilliant impression as they pass.  Don’t plan to rely on destiny – dazzle

made in the Moorlands     design and images ©Tom Tomkinson

Great strategems

great strategems

To quit or not to quit, that’s the question.  If you have any dealings with strategic planning, business innovation, product development or business rationalisation of any sort you will have a perspective on knowing the value of abandoning a dying proposition.

The spectre of irrationality and self delusion can creep unseen into our planning processes posing as innovation and originality.  Beating the dead proposition saps our vigour, dampens our enthusiasm and blocks genuine innovation.

made in the Moorlands     Design and images ©Tom Tomkinson

 

Thinking about thinking time

thinking about thinking time

Seems to me the creative mind is a mind in perpetual turmoil so it’s great to take time out from the creative process for a while.  Do some distracting activity; play in a band, ride a bike, read a book, play a game, decorate  a room, cook a meal, fly a kite or maybe a do a bit of light gardening.

made in the Moorlands     Design and images ©Tom Tomkinson