British Society?

So how many of you last night stared at you TV in bemused silence as various talented people were passed over for potential ratings grabbers?  I know I did.. Now whilst I won't go as far as some to say that Rylan Clark has 0 talent, how a "Singing" contest would consider him better than the likes of Joseph Welan now that strikes me as just plain wrong and it wasn't just in the "Boys" category.

Now this isn't the first time it's happened and I'm sure not the last.. we've seen the Jedwoods come and go and all of the drama queens and rating boosters that keep the show paid for but really is it simply just about ratings?

We were given a glimpse of the "judges minds" as we overheard that Joseph was a nice guy you could have a drink with but was he star material..?. well yes but clearly too nice, decent and talented as opposed to loud and simply irritating!

At what point do we as viewers simply say enough?  I'm not uneducated, I'm not an idiot and so therefore really don't want to be treated as such.  I'm actually more likely to continue watching a show where genuine talent battles it out than have TOWIE wannabees screeching and peacocking around the stage just getting their 5 minutes of fame.  Yes I realise it's my choice and I know where the off button is.. my argument here though isn't that I'm forced to watch the ratings boosters get the shot whilst the talented go back to work it's the perception that so many of need something to be wrong in order for us to watch.

It's the same on so many shows and the reason that as a rule I don't watch reality TV, are the British public so dummed down now that it takes the kind of people you'd never associate with or would avoid at any social gathering to make you pick up the phone and vote.. and vote they will.  Each week these non-acts will carry on thanks to morons with more money (or income support) than sense.  You only have to turn on daytime TV to see the kind of person I'm talking about here. 

Is this really what British society is today? 

I realise that it's "light" viewing but to me it's a reflection of everything negative about the get rich quick idealism promoted by these shows, how young people can feel that by being talentless, ignorant and just annoying you can get father than those who work hard and have a genuine something about them.

All opinions are my own!

How To Keep Going

Attending network meetings I often hear people asking how to stay motivated when business seems slow or the phone isn't ringing.  Or how to keep focussed when daily life seems to intrude on business time.  Being self-employed friends and family don't always take business hours seriously and think it's ok to pop in at anytime.
It's not easy especially when you work alone and don't have a team of people helping to reinforce your confidence, so how do you do it? 

One way is to talk to other business owners, sometimes working from home or by yourself can leave you feeling very isolated and make you doubt yourself so mixing with other business owners can help you to see that your not alone and there are others in a similar position.
If you're not able to attend meetings then social media is another way of connecting, it's also a way of observing trends - financial drops, holidays etc. Just being able to reach out and connect can be all it takes to give you a boost and keep you going.  On many occasion it's been a person I've never met that has in 140 characters or less made me smile or given me that boost I needed not to give up.
Also set yourself smaller goals, we often set ourselves impossible targets and then are disappointed when we can't reach them!  Whilst its incredibly important to have a long term plan it's equally important to set realistic "to do" lists that you know you can complete. Some weeks it's all about being day to day and not focussing on 3 months time.  That doesn't mean that you're failing or that your business doesn't have what it takes for the long haul it just takes away a little of the pressure and helps you see the smaller successes!  We often miss the little things when our eye is on the bigger picture and that little job you did that wasn't much of an earner but that made the client really happy is just as important (if not more so if you've achieved at a time when you're feeling bad about yourself).

I think the key thing is to realise that every bad day, every negative thought, every decision to give has been felt by those we seek to emulate, those who seem to have it all, you're not alone in this you just have to reach out!

I'm always happy to chat or offer any words of support and you can connect with me on Twitter http://twitter.com/taryn_creative or at www.creativethinkingcdm.co.uk

 Taryn Lee