What Motivates You?

Image courtesy of samuiblue / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

In our day and age, where Generation Y and the Millennials are struggling to launch their dream career and are instead stuck  in 9-5 jobs or education, it's no surprise that today's youth is getting more radical then ever. Young offenders are on the rise just as are the number of graduates. The competition out there is tough and, it seems, the lives of twenty-somethings can got in either of two directions - uphill or downhill.

Uphill, in the sense of getting a job of some kind after countless unpaid internships have drilled a whole in your parents' wallets. Or even better - getting a job somewhat related to your degree or future career. That is until you realise that actually you don't like it. Or worse - you don't like being chained to your desk from 9 till 5 (FYI: as most office slaves will tell you, nobody ever finishes at 5. You will be lucky to get out the office door at 6).

Many of my friends who have recently started their first "proper" jobs are actually wondering whether it is the right role/company/mode of working for them. Should they look for something that involves more out of office work? Something with flexible working hours? A bigger or smaller company? So many questions, so many decisions to make. It's not easy to survive in the concrete jungle and yet do a job you love.

So my question to you is how do you keep yourself motivated in this struggle? What helps you get out of the bed in the morning? To go to work, to go to the gym, to be committed to a hobby? What stops you from going in to a downward spiral?

I know some have quit the daily grind for more flexible working in search of happiness and dream careers. Yet I also know others who have stuck through the initial difficult first steps to reap great benefits.

Those of you who know me, know that I'm a pessimist (FYI #2: my psychology professor once said that optimists are delusional and it's the pessimists who actually see the realities of life), yet I wake up every morning full of hope. I hope that the weather will be good, that I will do better at the gym, that I will be one step closer to living the life I want to live.

I am a firm believer (to a fault, I admit) that one has to work hard to achieve their goals. So I wake up everyday, ready to face the world as if I was going to war. But I also get out of bed because I can't wait to have my porridge, to catch up with friends, to bask in the sunshine (on one of those very few days that we've got sun here in the UK!) and other such trivialities of mortal life.

What about you? What keeps you ticking? Any tricks for getting out of bed during your lowest lows (like a big hot chocolate on the way to work)?

Many self-help books will tell you to succeed you have to find the "why" that drives you. So let's go through this "search" exercise together - share with me in the comments section below :)

5 Minutes with an Aspiring Fashion Photographer

Ladies and gents, meet Ali Foroughi, the twenty-something fashion and music photographer and advocate of hidden talent in Loughborough. His magazine has become the holy grail for aspiring creatives in the East Midlands. His creativity and determination has won praise by many (and gave him the opportunity to cover LFW), apart from his personal tutor who is trying to keep him in the lab for his engineering degree.

So how is it that someone who originally set out to conquer the world of mechanical engineering decided to follow his passion and run his own photography business? I managed to get five minutes with the rising star (after 2 attempts!) and got to ask some questions...

What inspired you to become a photographer?

I’ve always been very arty. My mum is a painter, so it’s always been in the family. You can’t really follow art because you won’t be making any money. But I’ve always been interested in graphic design. A few years back, when I was editing photos, I thought why shouldn’t I be just creating these photos myself instead of looking online which takes hours and sometimes you have to pay for stock images. So I bought a camera. And I’ve always had some kind of interest and when people asked for photos I always tried to be creative. So I bought a camera and instantly fell in love with it. Just the whole idea of it. And as I did more and more it became better and better. And then I chose to do fashion because I enjoyed that more and more when I did it. Because you create something out of nothing. You have to put all of it together.

A shot from the black and white photo shoot for issue 2 of Jungle Magazine

What is your most memorable photo shoot?

I would say, the best one was the cover shoot for the second issue of Jungle Magazine – the black and white one because there was a lot of organisation going in to it. It was something I’ve been meaning to do for a very long time and when it happened I was very pleased of the result. That’s my favourite one so far. It could have been better. The next issue will be a lot better. You learn as you go along.

Have you faced any challenges when you first started?

There have always been challenges. There is nothing easy. Even though it seems, like a lot of people say, you just take pictures of pretty girls but that is not what I do. There are a lot of thought processes to create the photos, like coming up with a concept and booking the models, the makeup artists, the location and you get cancellations. There are a lot of organisational skills that go in to it. So that’s one bit of it that I have to take care of myself. And then with the magazine it’s a team that you’ve got to organise. Give people some work and a lot of stuff is dependent on everyone else rather than you. So it’s not just you willing to put all the work, you’ve got to motivate others to get to their deadlines. And all of it is a challenge. Another bit of it is the funding – it is really difficult. It’s a very enjoyable job and you learn a lot basically.

Ali's work published in Vogue Italy (PhotoVogue)

You also run a magazine, as mentioned earlier. What’s the idea behind it?

The magazine started with the fact that I felt that there are too many talented people in Loughborough and their work is not being demonstrated to anyone. I wanted to get my work out there, so one of the ways was me submitting to different magazines but I thought that there isn’t such thing in Loughborough that is giving such exposure to these people. And the idea behind the name Jungle is that it is a jungle out there if you are a creative to be able to actually succeed in what you are doing.  So this is a platform to help people and myself to get to the next stage. But at the same time it was challenge because I’ve never actually had managerial experience. It was a challenge for me to teach myself how to be a leader and how to organise people and how to handle different business situations. 

And what do you think the response has been so far?

It’s been crazy. It’s actually a lot better than I expected. With the first issue we covered the map - we had views from pretty much every country which was incredible. The second issue just came out recently and on the first days we had 2500 views, which rose to 12000 over the following few days. This is pretty amazing. I wasn’t expecting that. It is good. A lot of people have responded to it very well. A lot of it is thanks to networking. My friend always tells me your network is your net worth.

A photo taken by Ali for the blogger Cosmin Cernica at fashion scout "the ones to watch" show

And finally what advice would you give to other young aspiring creatives?

I would say don’t be scared to follow your dreams. To work hard and take all the practical steps to achieving your dream. At the same time, if you do that, it means that every morning you wake up and you go to a job or a career that you love to do, rather than a normal everyday job. And also just network, network, network! That’s all that matters.

Jungle Magazine Issue 2 is out now and you can read you digital copy at jungle-magazine.co.uk.

To Achieve Your Fitness Goals You Need to Exercise Your Mind

When most of us, mere mortals, see a super well-built and fit person, the first thought that springs to mind is “Wow! They must work out a lot!”

But what most of don’t know is that actually there is much more to working out in order to be (and look!) fit.

I have mentioned here on this blog several times that diet is much more important than exercise. That’s a fact. Your body shape and composition is 70% influenced by what you eat and 30% by how much you exercise.

But there is another less talked about aspect to fitness - it’s a concept called mind over matter. Yes, all professional athletes and those involved in the sports industry on a professional level know about it. Yes, there are countless books (and courses) on sport psychology.

And yet, considering the amount of people that go to gyms or other types of non-professional fitness training, there are disproportionate levels of awareness about this concept between the pros and those trying to lead a healthy lifestyle.

If you’re a non-pro like me, here’s a revelation. There are 3 important factors in achieving your top fitness levels: 1. Mind, 2. Diet and 3. Exercise.

For instance we often think we can exercise only until our muscles start to burn and hurt, but physiologically we can do more if we set our minds to it. We crave certain (not-so-healthy) foods, when actually our bodies don’t need the extra empty calories and so forth.

This is why it’s important to train our minds to think differently. Instead of saying that you want to lose weight, tell yourself that you ARE losing weight. Instead of say you want to be fitter/faster/stronger, say that you are fitter/faster/stronger (at least you were fitter that yesterday!). This type of present-tense self-talk is a fuel for positive behaviour and change.

It sounds easy, but takes time to put into practice. We are all so good at sabotaging ourselves, that positive thoughts may not be so easy to form. But the first step is to understand what we are doing wrong and why. If you think of yourself as fat, slow, skinny, unfit you are very likely to remain the way you are or even worse to turn these thoughts into reality.

What could be the cause of these thoughts? Could it be that you were often called fat when you were young and now you are more likely to think of yourself as fat? You need to dig deep and ask yourself some questions. And it’s not as scary as you think (turns out I am too worried whether people will see me as arrogant and full of myself if I let those positive thoughts influence my behaviour).

So in a way fitness is about much more than looking good. It starts from within. The ultimate goal here is to believe in yourself and to work harder to achieve your goals. Say that you are losing weight and see that it will become much easier to forgo the chocolate cookies passed around in the office. Say that you are fit and power through that extra set of exercises.

Believe in yourself. If you don’t, who will?