Some Thoughts this Winter

• The Boxing Day sales have arrived, and I'm yet to see anything that could be described as a bargain. What happened to the credit crunch?
• The new Calvin Harris Album is excellent
• Why is it no matter how much you earn, it's never enough. When does that turn around?
• I finally got my Dad from IE7 / Outlook Express to Chrome / Thunderbird
• Thought about moving to Gmail myself to cloudsource myself... can't see the benefit yet though
• Tom Davenport will run the Wiltshire massive one day, and is more geeky than I am
• It's nearly 2010, we're 10 years into the future, and 5 years from hover skateboards

This has been said before, but it bares recording here. Google will soon have their own Phone, running their own Phone OS, with their own Voice over IP application. So in effect, if I bought a google phone, all I need a network for is a data plan. This means 02 and Vodafone are in serious danger of becoming a commodity provider. Why in the world described above would I want to buy an Apple Phone to pay for my voice calls & pay for data on top?

Want Mobile Payments?

The EDC 2009 Global Payments Survey suggested that in the USA, the mobile would replace the wallet over the coming half decade. A bold statement indeed, and something we have all heard before. It's an argument that is winning traction since Square has won itself a lot of attention, mostly for some snazzy web design, and having a certain Jack Dorsey at its helm.


The problem facing these upstarts is that some very exciting companies are trying to create a solution where the consumer doesn't see a problem. Perhaps the greatest degree of disruption will come from developing economies. Payment processors and banks have been attempting to load these territories with credit cards. Whilst this might give a short term revenue burst, where is the strategy?

Africans are already using SMS as a form of payment, because its simple and low tech. Payments in the western world need to be simpler, and have no barrier to entry for the consumer. The consumer has a phone, and has a bank account. They don't have a payment mechanism that works as well as the card.


Until that is the case, we're in an interesting but risky place with mobile. mPayy and oboPay both show a lot of promise in solving the Mobile Payments problem. However until someone is able to package this service and sell it to the banks, Mobile Payments will not take off. Given that most Payment Processors still think "e-commerce" is the future (scary I know), that could take a while.

Odd Ball

And they gave me a prosthetic ball. Which the first time a girl licked, I had to giggle. I mean, she didn't even know. Couldn't she tell it has a totally different consistency? "Man this dude has an odd ball".

Maybe thats where "odd ball" came from.

There are some pokes on facebook you hold on to, because you know it will be a while until you get them back. So you return the favour by waiting 6 months yourself. Where as there are some you know you will get back pretty quickly. Sometimes I poke those people just to cheer myself up.

Is it a sign of age that I've never installed iTunes on any machine ever? Or is it just some weird old school geekery. There are teenagers now who never suffered the horror of having Napster shut down, and having to use WinMX because Limewire was full of Spyware. Bad times.

I freakin love Chase and Status.

Was supposed to wake up at midday today, and finish shopping. Woke up at 3, sat around and watched TV. It's been so long since indulging in being lazy. It was actually a pleasure.

Cold Mornings

Hooooooooooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!

Gotta love how Wolves have managed to adapt to the cold and snow. Me? Not so much. I am a walking winter weather dichotomy. On the one hand, give me shorts, and a football and I can run around (not naked) and end up sweaty. Give me all the coats in the world and I freeze.

Why is it when we get older, it feels colder? Do you know? Its bugging the shit outa me.

Leeds #CozyTweetup

We came, we saw, we drank!

Big Thanks to hebemedia / leedsonline for the banter and managing to keep @TomDavenport stimulated. That guy has some crazy ideas, and came a long way to share them!

This is why we love Social Media.

Phil will be at the Temple Works this Wednesday in Leeds. An Egyptian Temple... IN LEEDS!

Lisa is the loveliest PR manager I ever met. Enthusiasm is contagious, and I think we ended up infecting all of those around us.

My poor memory resulted in less photos than would have done the meetup justice... but on the strength of this there will be more! Good to meet you guys & girls!

The Social Media Vibe

"The vibe" is something that you either love or hate about twitter, and social media. Like everything that is a trend, from the outside it is downright annoying. Partially because everyone won't shut up about it. The criticism is that all people do on twitter is talk about their love of twitter. (Unless they're the celeb stalker type, I'm looking at you Justin Beiber fans).

But is there something to this twitter thing?

The mainstream media loves to talk about how big Facebook got on a slow news day, but you get the sense they still don't take it as seriously as they could... and I'm beginning to think the gap is generational. For this post to make sense, we're going to have to generalise a little, but here goes:

Baby Boomers - Born Prior to 1961


The Baby Boomers still occupy the prominent social & business positions, their thinking is the status quo for how business and society reacts to new trends. Their lens, is the lens we have used successfully for a very long time. Kudos to the Baby Boomers. Things are a changin' though...

Generation X - Born between 1961 and 1981


Generation X or the "MTV" Generation is often cited as the rebel generation and is a little more reactive. Responsible for the .com boom, the growth of the personal technology industry and further liberalisation of media Generation X lived up to its name. It still did all of this through the Baby Boomer lens of Globalisation...

Generation Y - Born between 1976 and 1990


Generation Y is the favourite of AdAge and a whole lot of PR / Marketing companies right now. Understanding Generation Y, is fundamental to getting the Social Media Vibe. Having grown up with technology and to a lesser extent the internet, as a generation; Y see's nothing wrong with giving away its data to the information for convenience. Facebook and Google are trusted because they are Trust Agents, ie. They are trust worthy in the eyes of todays youth.

Social media has real value to these Generation Y types. Not because it's a fad, but because it fits the way they see the world. These views are challenging convention and causing an awful lot of upheaval in the old economy. Just look at how unhappy News Corp is with Google, or the Advertising revenues of Newspapers. The Baby Boomers and Generation X take some level of comfort from the human interaction, but the very key of Social Media is humanising our online interactions. Being ourselves online.

It leads to a lot of philosophical questions. Am I more myself online? In person? Alone? Outdoors?

These kinds of questions don't sit well with the old world, since they challenge some pretty fundemental beliefs. The key is how this change will impact YOU. The way we interact is changing. Knowing the change is coming means you can take action today to be ready as these changes begin sweeping through into daily life, and business as usual. No matter what age you are, these trends beg some very interesting questions indeed.

• Maybe you could pitch social media to your company?
• Maybe you could start a blog and begin building your digital identitiy?
• How about looking into this Social Media thing, are you part of the conversation?
• Does this Generation Y lot have a point?

Or you could just wake when the change has already happened. You don't have to do anything, you lucky thing! There is an awful lot to be gained by taking advantage though. Worth a shot right?

Oh and a word to the wise. High pressure sales don't trick anyone but other high pressure sales types. Snake Oil is endangered.

Sitting Comfortably?

The Leeds #CozyTweetup just made the big time.

CozyTweetup in Leeds – 10th of December

Hi. I’m Simon, how are ya?

We have a CozyTweetup happening in Leeds, on the 10th of December at 6pm at Boutique

Like you the cozytweetup idea caught my attention. One because the name is very human and inclusive, everything a socially savvy twitter meetup should be… and two because the concept is nifty. Why meet people in a high pressure convention center, when there are far better, more informal places to meet?

Like you I’m on a journey to expand my twitter network, meet people and generally enjoy the process. So the idea struck; why not organise a CozyTweetup in Leeds?

Leeds is Little London, and has a vibrant community of exciting talent, wanting to network, the cozy way. You don’t have to be from Leeds to attend, but given the times involved it’s a head start.

We have The Snug at Boutique, all to ourselves to use and abuse. It is just off Call Lane in Leeds, between Normans and Mook. If you’re struggling for directions, drop me a note @sytaylor and I’ll hook you up with the info you need

A big Thanks to Mazi for the assist. So who's coming?

Date for your Diary: 10th December

Keep December 10th Clear...

Since this post, The Leeds #cozytweetup has generated an awful lot of buzz and interest among the brightest and best in the Leeds Social Media circles.

The idea comes from www.cozytweetup.com & the brain behind @mazitv The goal of the #cozytweetup is to come meet like minded twitter users, in a relaxed environment. Why? Because you guys rock!



So here's the deal. We have a special location lined up on December 10th, 6pm to 9pm at Boutique We have the "snug" to ourselves, so it defintely fits the bill as cozy. Come meet the most influential twitter users in the Leeds area... Find out what makes them tick, tock.

If you would like to get involved, drop me a note at sy@sytaylor.net or on twitter @sytaylor

We have Leeds Guide coming to give us a visit, as well as some of the better known PR agencies in the area. This is the perfect opportunity to meet the right people, in the right setting with the right amount of time to stick December 10th in your diary...

Remember December 10th. Leeds is about to get twitteriffic.

Battle Scars

Music tends to find you at your worst points, and help you understand that feeling that splits your heart in two. It's when you've been fighting for months on end against yourself, you can feel something that never felt happening before. Hope is here.

When my heart stops beating, and my lungs stop beating, I hope somebody cares. When you're under a cloud, you become very good at making excuses, and pretending everything is OK. It's called justifying. Taking the truth and bending it to suit your weaknesses. The battle with yourself is the hardest because you believe your own bullshit.

I believed mine. For the longest time.

What's more the stronger you are, the stronger your resistance to those who are trying to help. Sometimes we do the worst thing, when we're trying to do the right thing.

My excuses were carefully crafted, and the walls so well built nobody could get past them, they ended up liking me in spite of them. I don't care if I don't sleep at night, I just wanna get this right. Disappointment has a name; laziness.

You know the fear of success, it's the thing that makes you check facebook instead of calling a friend. You know the fear of success, it's the thing that scares you from telling someone how you feel. You know the fear of success? It sucks. Its everywhere. Its gotta go.

Half of my heart is a shotgun wedding to a bride with a paper ring, half of my heart is the part of me who never truly loved anything. Half won't do.

Who says I can't be free, from all of the things I used to be? It's been a long 9 months working for TSYS, yet I owe my boss an incredible amount. I needed a kick up the ass to start solving the problems that were building up and causing me to be unhappy. The only person in my way was me. Now I feel free.

It's been a long time coming, but maybe, just maybe... I'm becoming the man always wanted to be.

The Leeds #CozyTweetup

What is #Cozytweetup and why the heck should I care?



You love Twitter, you love this social media thing, and you especially love the type of people it attracts. Yet the whole thing is about attending conferences which cost hundreds of pounds to attend. What if bright young things could ride a wave of Social Networking talent, and meetup with the leaders in the field from their area...

I present, the Leeds CozyTweetup.

From the website

CozyTweetup was created thanks to a conversation between @Mazi @Ilicco and @Darenbbc on Twitter about gathering for a quiet meal one evening. The meal turned out to be a, not so quiet, 20 strong crowed at Pizza Express where a lot of fun was to unfold.

Due to the success of the first CozyTweetup more followed and the event has attracted sponsors from companies such as Magners, Tweetdeck, Next Web, Media 140 and Mixcloud to name a few. In true Twitter style the word just keeps spreading and the demand for them continue to grow.

CozyTweetup’s are relaxed and fun, providing a fantastic opportunity for Twitter users to connect in real life. There’s no agenda other than to come along, chat and have fun! You don’t have to be a whizz on a computer or a social media expert to attend. The event is for everyone and the more diverse, the better.

What's next?

Watch this space for Venue and Time / Date details. If you're interested, or think you can help in any way, contact me. sy@sytaylor.net

Culture and Creativity Collide

Inspiration is a wonderful idea. Depending on how cynical you feel today, it's either that aspirational poster on your bosses office, or it's that spark of mania where you believe you are actually Jesus and about to solve world poverty with a stick.

As the world gets smaller, we temporarily lost our local influences and culture has spread across borders. We in the West can now dine around the world, within 5 minutes of any major city center. We are also truly multicultural, not without problems... but we do live among each other. You mesh all that together and mix it up, and the mashups of creativity are yeilding aweomeness like; Bollywood Dubstep, Chinese cinematic epics and Russians singing Katie Perry.



If that's not entertainment nothing is!

For some this happened in the horrible, corporate way. The British Pub in Disney Epcot is a shining example of what is not culture. Initially Culture was dominated by the Music and Movie industries. The internet has had an interesting decentralising role. By giving power back to the little guy. The best little guy's in the world, are getting famous!

The value in real influence is however greater than ever. If you sort through the populist chaff, and there is some very wholesome influence available.

What influences you? Here's my (short & not in order) list:

Battlestar Galactica
Epic Video Game Music
Incubus
Ceasar Milan
Reading books
Clouds
Travelling
Conversation

Diversify what you see, hear, feel, taste, touch and smell and you will automatically become more creative. Inspiration. Where do you get yours?

Network Building - Location Based

There is nothing more distasteful than a cliché to start a blog post with, so instead this one starts with some good old common sense. The bigger your network, the easier your life.



I always loved those old Mafioso types who could hook you up with anything you need. Picture the scene. It's the 1930s and you just walked into a bar after your car broke down. You're having a terrible day, and the barkeep and his whiskey collection is your only friend. On telling the good barkeep about your troubles, he mentions "I know a guy, Jimmy Hands can fix you right up".

So it struck me recently, that whilst my bunch of friends is wonderful and I do pretty well meeting people, it's never something I really attacked with purpose. For some reason this morning, I figured why not try some location based searching on twitter? See if anything interests me.

Today I'm reminded of why I love twitter. The Advanced Search feature lets you search for tweets by location. Most people from Leeds infrequently mention Leeds in their tweets. When you think about it, it makes sense. Why would you mention where you are from in everything you say?

Give it a shot, simply enter your location, and a radius you want to connect, and then see if anything looks interesting. Interest lead search is GENIUS. I could lose myself in it for days. Humanity comes off looking a lot smarter when you filter for things you are interested in :p

Lets see how well this whole network building thing works. Bookmarks updated, daily search of Leeds based tweets ftw

Payments Innovation

Is the payments industry and innovation diametrically opposed? Banks, payments infrastructure & the business model we use has been the same for at least 30 years if not more.

Are there good reasons for this?



Looking at the payments sector, you have very large slow moving clients who until the past decade have been entrenched in a risk averse position. This has lead to the rise of compliance, propriety standards and data silos.

In effect the industry built walls around itself and then asked the consumer to come to it. The consumer, who had little choice at the time took the best offer on the table.

In a sub prime housing bubble, with strong profits and even stronger bonuses, what motivation was there for change? The collective wisdom of all in the industry was that the security offered by existing infrastructure and Gatekeepers worked well.

We had an evolutionary change when Generation X revealed to the world it's new age. The Internet brought The Information age. Sure enough, 5 years later most banks were thinking about online banking. A typically slow, but measured reaction given the sheer amount of security required.

Now Generation Y has revealed its own masterpiece. We call it Social Media. No doubt like "World Wide Web" and "Netscape" Social Media and 2.0 are terms that will die with the buzz that created them. Yet when the dust settles what will remain is the value.

The Generation Y consumer's core values differ greatly from the Payments Industry. Generation Y wants instant access, 24/7 and to own the interaction. The risk of not granting this wish is that Generation Y are not shy about rubbishing bad service. Or on the flip side praising good service.

How can the payments industry take advantage? This is the challenge of innovation.

Another Twitter Commentary Blog

Blogging about twitter is now so popular it has become a cliché. It's a loop of people talking a funny language about a confusing service to the outsider. Yet there are those who go crazy about it's potential with a kind of zeal usually reserved for religion or sports fanatics.



Why then has the growth become a little sluggish? I can only relate this to my own experience, and those who I have tempted to try twitter and who eventually gave up. See, the whole thing is a bit daunting and weird at first. It's not like spotify, hulu or facebook in that signing up actually feels like you're doing something satisfying or worthwhile.

You sign up with no followers, nobody to follow and the whole thing is very dark.

Simplicity is the key for many of the larger social media mega sites. Despite the message presented by the media, and the best intentions of those willing progress, the vast majority of people are still internet novices.

Lightweight internet use covers your occasional youtube visit, possibly even iplayer and access to online music. The lightweight user also probably uses their PC as a Word Processor, however this user is still not digitally connected in the way many of the social media and technology savvy are.

There are hundreds of services that try to wrap up other services into one simple and easy to use application. Still from the user perspective it's confusing.

Twitter falls into this category of a service with hundreds, if not thousands of apps. Now unless you are following your favourite celebs, how do you get involved? Twitter has an interesting ecosystem and may find the answer. However so far, it seems to require the brilliance of a Mark Zuckerberg to really engage users with a valuable product.

Twitter clearly has value. It's faster than the news for breaking news, an amazing way to check the pulse of humanity and the first service where people come together based on interest rather than social structure.

Does that mean it is useful to your Mum? Probably not. If you're missing the twitter revolution and you want to make a difference in the world. It's wise to get clued up. Otherwise, let the thing happen. It's still very early in its development, and you're not missing much... Yet.

I have been wrong.

The liberation of being wrong, having it pointed out, then being told how to fix it is hard to measure.

Until recently I held a self limiting belief that I was uber talented, and the world refused to recognise it. I felt hard done by. The problem with that mindset is, that yes whilst I had some results and a few things I could point to as being "better than average". There was nothing other people pointed to and went "woah". (With the odd mind blow sentence being the exception)

When something comes along that questions your mindset, the usual response is denial and excuse. The world is very forgiving of denial and excuse, because most people do it too.

Being smarter than the people I grew up with, didn't automatically mean I was smarter than everyone I met. Having a few good ideas, didn't qualify me as unique. Those ideas have no value without action.

The problems in my life are my fault. Destructive behavior like over spending means I don't have spare cash to buy things I want. Not pursuing girls hard enough means, I don't have high quality girls in my life. It's only at work where there are people who see the talent and WANT it to shine, that I get challenged. You know it really bothers me, that I know women who can never meet the right guy. I could be that guy for them, but I am just too lazy or forgetful. Irritating!

I love a challenge. But am fundamentally lazy.

Now I see this. I see it everywhere.

I am two people in one. I can be distant, uninterested and bored even when there are plenty of reasons not to be. Or I can be engaging and the most interesting person you ever met. There is very little rhyme or reason to these flows. It probably has something to do with hormones, mood and the lunar cycle. Learning to manage it, and even it out is a bugger though. Consistency would be nice.

I feel like breaking the cycle with a little adventure.

I woke up at 4am with a dream.

There are no words, only a feeling.

What I needed was the gym, it set me right and made it all ok again.


I woke up at 4am with a dream. A dream that your DNA could be linked to a unique OpenID, and at a stroke, the internets trust issues are solved. What separates us from everyone else in the world is who we are. The quirks, the broken bits and the mistakes.

To be human is to be wrong, broken and fail... then to still have the desire to get back up the next day and do it all again. I'm growing to love humanity for this aspect, in fact all life has it. We just get up and have such desire to survive.

Frustration of aging

For the first time in as long as I can remember, I'm working for a boss who wants to help me improve, and will go the extra mile to help me. In business a rare experience. It feels all shiny and new... like when you get a new phone.

The current job is great, except for the 50 minute commute either side (in good traffic). There are prospects, good people and the company has a pretty strong future. The weird sensation is being right back in the politics of it all though. Having to actually battle to get work done, and not fall into the blame game takes it out of you.

It's a strange company where you have to fight to do a project, you also have to fight to get it delivered, and resourced. Then if it slips because of anything at all, people always try to stick it on you. I'm used to a process world. Where everyone goes to look for the email chain and evidence first. This is insanity. Luckily my boss has the experience to teach me how to fight back, and will do so on my behalf when I'm out.

As a result I WILL work my ass off for that guy... BUT.

The whole thing doesn't feel right. I can't do this forever.

I feel stressed out, and like I never have spare time. My mum just moved house and is getting lonley and I can't go see her more than once a week because I have to work so hard just to keep work and my own life going. I get it, people have harder lives, but this is tough because there is no respite.

I feel bad about not having seen my Dad or Grandmother in nearly 6 months. They're not bad people. I miss them. The plans to control my life, they're in place, but always seem just around the corner.

I am frustrated. I want fun, and to see friends again, see my family and have some spare "ME" time left after all of that. Surely with all that, my contribution is valueable. My ideas useful?

Rant over. If you can relate, tell me how you got out of it! :)

The most helpful Services on the Internet!

Some helpful Resources

Rockstars vs Narcissists is a great piece by @BrettBorders who breaks down the two main schools of thought for twitter user. Be helpful vs Broadcast your life to people whether they like it or not.

ChrisBrogan.com sums up what is right about the Social Media movement, and is basically the poster boy. I have a raging hetro geek crush on him.

It's not just individuals that can be helpful. Kublax a service similar to mint.com will give you stats about where you spend your money based on your bank account details. What's more their blog is lifehacker.com levels of helpful, but in more depth.

Speaking of lifehacker.com I've written far more akward and long winded posts than this one, on how you can pretty much learn anything these days from Google / Wikipedia. Add lifehacker to those tools.

All Problems can be Solved:
Try it yourself. What is bugging you right now? The car needs fixing? Don't have enough spare cash? Need to make more space around the house?

Go type that into Google. The revolution has already happened, now you just gotta learn how to make the best use of it!

If this post is teaching you to suck eggs and lacks that cynical edge I tend to specialise in, good you're already there. You are already able to use the "Web 2.0" to its full potential. There is a lot to be said for admitting when we suck, and the ability to write in a clear and helpful way is something that I had to try.

Now for our regularly scheduled programming. Some random thoughts:

Felicity is a great name.
Mashable rock.
I'm starting to like punk music again.
Double Sailor Jerrys + Cola is a tasty way to a hangover.
My Mum is the sweetest person alive: Fact.
The whole world is one big cadburys cream egg

Cool R&D

What are the best / coolest Research and Development Departments you can think of?


History teaches us a thing or two:

Xerox Parc once had one of the best known to man (or pooch). Widely credited with bitmap graphics, the WYSIWUG text editor, Ethernet, Object Oriented Programming and of course the Graphical User Interface. Not bad for a photocopying company. Apple did well to swoop in and take credit for a lot of the above.

In modern examples who do we have though? Who is really pushing the boundaries? Steve Ballmer of Microsoft mentioned in a recent interview @Techcrunch that Microsoft spend $9.5 Billion a year on R&D.

A pretty impressive figure, but when you consider most of that investment is in the 5 core business functions, Microsoft are investing heavily to stand still and then move forward in a very fast moving technology market.

Paypal have announced Innovate 09 a conference dedicated to their new upstream payments and future innovations. Even in a traditionally compliant market, the internet and networking is having an impact and changing the rules. Rules we now have to question.

Then you have the startup big three of social media. Facebook, Twitter and Google (What blog would be complete without name checking the biggest dogs in the yard?). These have to be the prime examples of human based interaction and Interest led innovation. The key with all of them is they have managed to tap into something brilliant about humans. When inspired we will work our socks off, and almost for free.

Not everyone has a killer budget to blow on "Cool R&D" but there are some steps we can take in the right direction. We're witnessing a changing of the guard in the working population. Generation X now holds the key the baby boomers once had, and Generation Y is finally making it's presence felt. We have two digital natives in the working crowd, but we still work in our compliant business speak / mid-90s ivory towers, hidden behind the Baby Boomers.

Business Gametheory is all together quite a useful tool. So is your Google Fu and ability to demonstrate personality from miles away. Business always felt stuffy and full of protocol. There is defintely a place and time for professionalism. It's losing it's traction as a key tool though. The population wants your company to show its human side.

Chris Brogan wrote something wonderful about "How to Level Up" taking the RPG concept of building your character and applying it to your business life. It can be applied to all life. It can be applied to the gym too! The idea of making achievement measureable and satisfying is something that seems to mistify our education system, yet we naturally seek it out.

Just like we naturally seek out our interests. Cool R&D requires understanding the massive benefits of the long term view, but crucially understanding ourselves better.

It's time

It's time, after years of speculation about maybe doing something amazing with my life, the light at the end of the tunnel seems a little closer.



The question: If you could design your own life, what would it look like? Struck me as quite an easy one to answer at the high level. It's only when you have to start detailing it, suddenly it seems a little harder. Maybe this makes me a geek, but I always wanted to travel, be on the leading edge of technology and network my way to the top.

The problem was I could never square that with a day job that was basically project management or some variant thereof, for quite a few years. I was in effect a reasonably successful wheel turner.

Something in the raw evangelism and hope of "Think and Grow Rich" first jumped out at me in 2005. What followed were my first few steps into trying to make something happen, and the ill-fated ourbook/webook.com idea. As any of you who have tried and failed will know, at the exact second you have an idea, at least 10 others do. The aim and focus is to just get something out there. I didn't, and regretted it like crazy when something remarkably similar popped online in 2008.

I met this crazy talented networker in 2006, shortly after having read "The Game" by Neil Strauss and again altering my perception of life. Having seen ourbook.com go nowhere for a year due to immense inexperience and having not "just executed", I wasn't about to allow the same to happen again. Within 4 months we had a website online, and a community building. What's more my career at work was moving somewhere. I weilded real power and respect, and I liked the taste.

A year later we weren't much further down the line, my health took a turn for the worse and my career in BT was little to write home about. Despite this, my ability to network and really engage people was beginning to blossom. It was a transition period from talented raw lump of clay, into something resembling self sufficient and useful. Like any transition it was painful and wrought with near misses, false starts and soul searching.

While 2008 was the toughest year yet, it was also probably the most important in shaping the build up. I tried in vain with a few more "big ideas", but the passion just wasn't there. Convinced that if my stock was ever going to rise, it would be through one on one networking. The result was quite a bit of perception altering travel. A porn convention, spring break and leaving a very safe comfortable job with regular income...

I loved the freedom of not working 9 to 5. Despite starring down the barrel of moving back in with the parents, it felt right. At these times instinct guides far better than logic. Logic says take the money, reduce costs and get rich slowly. Who ever met a happy vulcan though?

It's also no secret that whilst for the first time, I find myself in a career position where I could very slowly work my way through the ranks, the traditional way. Logic again says get rich slowly...

But then there is this other thing. If I could design my own life what would it look like?

Big question indeed.