We all grow up in different places, with different people and influences. Our thoughts, opinions, beliefs and values make up who we are as a human being, personally and professionally. I’ve always been known as having strong beliefs, some of which are below.

• Appearances matter, and people always judge a book by its cover because a picture tells a thousand words. Everything that gets built or designed should look beautiful and take someone’s breath away.
• Give a retard and a genius the same 2 options of easy and/or hard, and even the genius will take the easy one. If you can’t use it, you won’t use it. Passionately focus on usability and always keep making it easier and easier, forever.
• Cash-flow negative businesses and/or companies that survive on debt finance (e.g. an overdraft) are a nightmare and should be avoided at all costs.
• Products are generally easier and simpler to sell than services, as the latter’s pricing is arbitrary and too flexible for robust accounting. Always strive to productise what can be, so it can be sold more easily to customers.
• Honestly above all things. Lies cost hearts, time and money, and the truth is much easier to remember.
• Never stop learning, ever. People get lazy after leaving school or university and their brains settle into a morbid malaise in the workplace. It’s up to us all to educate ourselves and seek out the answers to the questions in our head on our own initiative.
• Life should be centred around principles, not feelings. Principles never change and are conceived in sober moments, whereas feelings drive us to do irrational things and are temporary.
• Apathy is dangerous and pointless. We all have to use our own initiative and practice going out and getting what we want. We cannot react; we must be pro-active and think in advance, always.
• The aim of all things should be to create magic – to take us away from our own normal surrounding to somewhere else. Somewhere our hearts, spirits and minds are inspired and flourish, and something that goes beyond what we expect or understand.
• Anyone has the capacity to be a genius. Geniuses are made and only rarely creative. We all have moments of genius, and geniuses all have moments of total stupidity. Look for the genius in everyone and celebrate it.
• There’s no reason not to help if you can’t. Help doesn’t have to mean doing something, it can mean doing nothing and letting someone else do it for themselves. If you have the ability, time and resources, you must always help.
• Beautiful and ugly don’t exist as absolutes. Everyone finds different things attractive, and the two are subjective and relative. What is beautiful to one person is ugly to another – there is no one standard to conform to.
• Always find a way to say yes and a way to do it. In the UK we are fixated on why we can’t do something when we need to be deliberately finding reasons about why and how to do it.
• Changing your thinking changes your life. The way you think and your most dominant thoughts dictate how you live, what you can achieve and where you go. We must all take the initiative to evolve by always learning and analysing ourselves.
• There is no reason not to be polite. Manners are incredibly important and show respect for yourself and other people. Always remember your own dignity.
• Basic literacy and numeracy are absolutely essential. Punctuation, grammar, imaginative use of vocabulary and simple aptitude to express and articulate yourself are incredibly important. Make the effort.
• Never, ever become involved with any person, organisation or enterprise that exploits human beings in any way. Examples are sweatshops and gambling.
• Life has no dress rehearsal, and “one day” will never come. There will never be a perfect time for what you want to do. You need to do something about it today, right now, even if its something small. Put 100% effort into everything you do.
• What you know is what you were taught and experienced. Question it and rebel against it to understand whether it is right or not. Your beliefs are someone’s opinions.
• Politics in business costs time and money. Only delivery and execution are important, Keep it away from me and focus on getting the job done.
• The Internet is the best computer system for everything and has come to be the engine that powers all communication in our lives, and will power our children’s. All electronic systems should be internet-enabled.
• Arguments are pointless. Debate isn’t. Debate must always be stimulated and opened in all matters as it allows moderation in decisions and the full range of views and beliefs to be aired. It allows us to learn more about the issue and each other.
• Be someone who has something to say. Be somebody with understanding and some opinions. Read the news and learn about the world around you. Know yourself and your subject intimately so you can pass on knowledge to others.
• Reality TV is the worst thing ever invented. Its cheap, tacky, pointless and adds nothing to the minds of people who watch or society as a whole. It’s a way to make a lot of money from TV that doesn’t cost a lot to make.
• Suffering strengthens character and creates persistence. Nothing comes overnight. To win or succeed at anything we must persist through all obstacles, all pain and all distance and time to reach a goal. Persistence creates respect and credibility.
• Always keep your eye on the big picture and the things that matter. When you are in the thick of things you can only see the trees, when you need to see the whole forest.
• Look for the best in everyone and catch them doing something well, rather than something bad. Everyone is special in the own way, so deliberately seek out the special traits and abilities in everyone you know.
• The concept of “honour” did not die out in the 1500s. It is the reputation, self-perception or moral identity of an individual or of a group. Always honour others and be honourable.
• Humans are intrinsically spiritual beings who are having an animal experience. Spirituality is all that we can’t see – feelings, beliefs, religion and more.
• Never give up. Fighting for what you love to the very last breath no matter what the consequences or obstacles. Do everything you can possibly do that’s in your power and keep doing it for everything. Never stop, never compromise, never look back.
• Humanity is more important than formality. Have fun in all you do for your own sanity and enjoyment. If something can be sincerely expressed in a relaxed and casual way, it should be chosen over ritual and seriousness.
• Personality changes after life experiences and time passing by, whereas basic character does not. Who we are, our foundations, are our character. Character faults are endemic and lifelong.
• Love triumphs over evil and breaks the back of darkness with its gentle touch. Mercy over revenge, kindness over selfishness, compassion over hate and forgiveness over bearing a grudge.
• Knowledge without wisdom is dangerous. You can know everything in the world but the information is pointless as you don’t know how to use what you know. Wisdom is the precious goal and the aim of all things.