MAKING YOUR GOALS A REALITY - WHITNEY OLADEINDE (25/05/2015)

I cannot stress enough how important it is to have goals, and you can never be too young to start setting and reaching your goals. Richard Branson once said, ‘I believe in goals. It's never a bad thing to have a dream. If you really want to do something, just do it. Whatever your goal.’ If dreams are not age-specific, then goal setting is something that people at all ages can have and achieve!

Why are goals important?

1. Goals can make your dreams a reality. You can’t wake up one day and say I want to start my own business without a plan to get you there? Winning or becoming successful never comes by accident.

2. A breakdown of your dream into achievable goals motivates you and is a constant reminder of where you want to be in a year, 5 or 10 years’ time

3. Without goals, you can’t measure your success or progress

4. If you can’t measure your success, you may not reach your full potential, preventing you from living life to the fullest! And who wants to look back and regret never reaching their full potential?

And for those of you who already have goals, I’m sure we can all admit that we fall into the same trap of writing out our goals and not fulfilling all of them each year. Who wants to look back at the end of 2015 and feel it was a wasted year? 

So here are a few tips that I have recently started using to make every year more productive than the last:

Tip No. 1 – Have goals for ALL areas of your life

Growth is important in every area e.g. academic (maybe getting those top marks), personal (challenging yourself to learn a language or an instrument, for example), goals for your future career (this can be to get work experience in that field). 

Tip No. 2 - Break down your goals – The “how” part of making your dreams a reality

One of the main reasons that people never fulfil their goals is because they make them too big and this can be discouraging. Breaking them down into smaller, more achievable goals can help with this. I tend to break my goals down into monthly and then weekly goals. For example, one of my goals for this year is to improve my cooking skills. I’ve broken this down by choosing 12 dishes that I want to learn to cook this year and I’ve set one for each month. Another thing that works for me is phone reminders; I have a weekly reminder every Sunday evening to remind me to set my goals for the week. I also have a monthly reminder on my phone set all the way to the end of 2015. This reminds me at the end of every month to look back at my goals of the year and see whether I am happy with the progress that I am making. This “How” part is what makes achieving your goals possible and realistic.

Tip No. 3 - Share these goals with someone who can hold you accountable

In the same way that I suggest you split your goals into academic, personal, career, etcetera, I also suggest you get a mentor for each of these areas. This is extremely important in making your “how” part effective. Someone who has experience in a specific area that is important to you can be very valuable and at least you can save some time by not making the same mistakes that they did!

Tip No. 4 – Where do you falter every year?

What are the problems that prevent you every year from fulfilling all your goals? Are you prepared to not let them make you falter once again in 2015? If not, what can you do? You might be someone that lacks organisation? To prepare, you could use the weekly phone reminder idea to make sure that you use your time more effectively. Or keep a diary, or stick notes around your house. Whatever way that will work effectively for you, start putting it into practice and make the rest of your 2015 a successful one.

Views From A Graduate - (Skill acquisition VS Education) Dillon Everest

Well, “where to start?” A question many of us probably have asked ourselves when embarking on what may be a long journey or a seemingly difficult task. But! Just like the beginning of every good novel, every well thought out film or the cartoons we all love in private beginnings never really have to make sense or follow a formula, its just important they start. And in starting, the story evolves and develops into what we share with our friends and family as the “one time I did…” or the classic “do you remember when…” episodes around a dining room table that one spontaneous night you decide to stay awake until the early hours of the morning.

But where are my manners, I haven’t even introduced myself. My name is Dillon, I’m 22 and I’ve just finished my final year at Coventry University studying BSc Analytical Chemistry & Forensic Science – yes, that’s a mouthful, but trust me it’s not as menacing as it may appear by the length of its name (but it’s certainly not suited for the likes of a twitter conversation). My three years in Coventry has brought me a cumbersome amount of joy, countless memories to take away, invaluable life skills and a set of trustworthy, like-minded people I can truly call my friends. It has also taught me a number of lessons I wouldn’t have otherwise learnt if I hadn’t come to university. Thus, this three-year rollercoaster has brought me to realise a number of things. These have varied from discovering things about myself to coming to accept that a lot of what goes on around me in ‘real’ world does have a direct impact on how I go about my life right now, as appose to when I was younger and being able to comfortably say “that doesn’t concern me”. My first experience of this was the increase in university fees.    

As many will know, currently in the UK universities have been given permission to raise their student fees up to a total of £9000 per year as a result of a lack of government funding being made available to many universities across the country. 64 universities announced their intention to charge the full £9,000 allowed by the government from 2012, with the remaining 59 all charging at least £6,000. Back in 2010 when this was first brought up (as a result of the Browne Review), it didn’t cross my mind at the time that I could eventually be paying up to £9000 for the right to study for a degree. But that’s not because I was worried about the figure, the number didn’t resonate with me in terms of it being expensive because to me it was worth the money. In 2012 when the fees were raised, I was in the mental position that a degree is the reason I’ve been in education all this time; the reason I had gone through exam after exam painfully surging forward to achieve the best grade I could. So with this in my head, at the age of 19 the price was irrelevant, because what was up for grabs was worth it.

Three years pass and it’s now 2015. I had grown a beard and put on a bit of weight thanks to the atrocious sleeping patterns and the role alcohol had played during that time. Amongst the drunken nights out (and in), the deadlines and exams, I feel university and the importance of what I gained from it had changed in comparison to what I felt I would gain when I first came to Coventry. My time in university made me realise that for the entirety of my academic life, I have been subservient to a system that has no true meaning and is nothing more than arbitrary figures set by a group of individuals who throw questions at you like cheese to lab-rats. At each passing stage of education I was told not that was I had learnt previously was incomplete, but rather it was wrong. Lessons and assignments proved to be nothing more than preparation on how to pass an exam – where the result will mean that an individual was good at passing exams, but not necessarily understood the information nor knew a way to apply it in the real world. THAT is what my problem is with the education system right up until and throughout university. Learning should be an opportunity to truly expand ones knowledge and a tool to enable them to acquire new and exciting skills. Nowadays, the purpose of a lesson or lecture is to arm you with tools to pass your upcoming exam and to penultimately make the educational institute, of which you are a member of, seem more appealing on paper.

I once thought that the point of going to into education was that you would gain the opportunity to come out with new set of skills allowing you to work efficiently in the real world but really all you’re doing is falling into a system that supposedly designed to help you get a job or earn more money or be beneficial member to society, rather than to increase quotas and raise funding. A book I read recently titled “The First 20 Hours: How to Learn Anything Fast” by John Kaufmann highlights the topic of skill acquisition vs. education and credentialing and the point he made in this segment hit every nail on the head for me. He goes on to say:

“Despite the high-minded efforts of teachers and professors around the world, modern methods of education and credentialing have almost nothing to do with skill acquisition.

Skill acquisition requires practicing the skill in question. It requires significant periods of sustained, focused concentration. It requires creativity and flexibility, the freedom to set your own standards of success.

Unfortunately, most modern methods of education and credentialing require simple compliance. The primary (but unstated) goal isn’t to acquire useful skills, it’s to certify the completion of a mostly arbitrary set of criteria, established by the standards committees far removed from the student, for the purpose of validating certain qualities some third party appears to care about.”

It is that focus on acquiring the certification rather than the skills that pains me to say no form of education is truly worth £9000. The real life skills like house hunting, paying bills, your entitlements as a student and a tax-paying member of society; all of these aren’t taught to you. However, from a young age you’re filled with the idea that the natural progression of thing is to go onto university and get a degree, in the hopes it puts you ahead of those competing for the same job role as yourself. The truth of the matter is, we’re guided like sheep into the barn by the idea that a university degree means success or ‘safety’ in the real world, when in actual fact you’re no closer to applying the skills needed to survive in a work environment than your degree-less peers.

In summary, university provides the opportunity to learn lessons about life and how to manage yourself by creating a sandbox environment where more often than not, it is safe to make mistakes, squander money here and there and even go hungry for extended periods of time – all without life changing consequences (in most cases). In an ideal world, these lessons cannot and should not come at such an extortionate price. But the exposure one is subjected to by going to university, mixing with a wide variety of different people and having to get along with said people, is a journey we should all have the chance to experience in one form another. What university lacks in cost effectiveness, it makes up for in life lessons.  

Views From A Graduate - Paul Olasehinde (18/05/2015)

Recently my friends and I were reminiscing about our tenure at university, as you do. However, this particular time it wasn’t about the crazy nights out or how we managed to do a 3000 word essay in one night but rather the usefulness of the whole university experience. Fortunately for us we went to university before the 9 grand tuition fees were introduced, so we ‘only’ racked up debts of around £20-25 grand, unlike the post 2012 students who are looking at that figure without even taking into account any sort of maintenance they may also have. So now I speak to my fellow graduates and ask you a simple question, was it worth it?

In general I’m happy I went to university. I met some people I consider close friends and previous friendships became stronger as we struggled through. So in that respect I don’t regret the experience. But, when I think about the real reason why I went there (to gain a degree in my chosen field which will put me higher up on the ladder than those who didn’t in order to get a JOB), I honestly think maybe I shouldn’t have bothered. Ultimately I blame this on the ‘system’. I don’t think we were given enough information about life after uni or even shown the real reality of what may happen. Maybe it’s my own fault for being naïve, but throughout my life all I’ve heard is how university will set you up for the rest of your life, how important it is to go and all the hundreds of other pro’s that come with it and I’m sure some of you can relate. However, it was not that. 

If I think back to secondary school  I quite ignorantly dismissed other routes to success that didn’t involve university as lesser. Now I’m older I see all the other pathways to success with part of me wishing someone told me then. Although the way my mind was wired, I probably still would have stuck with my ‘beloved’ uni pathway. I’m here now, 24 years of age and everything that I’m doing at this moment has not been a result of my university degree. On the other hand going to uni did teach me a lot of things which I may not have experienced until I had moved out of the family home. Paying for bills, money management, house hunting are just some the many key skills I gained by going to university which I’m very grateful for. 

If I’m totally honest, although university was somewhat a taster of real life; one experience I valued above others is what I learnt about social situations. You really do learn about yourself, the kind of people you like, those that you definitely don’t like, and how to handle possible issues that may (definitely will) arise. You are thrown into the deep end, as I’m sure for a lot of us you find yourself in a totally different area of the country, living with strangers and having to co-exist peacefully is nowhere near easy. A lot of valuable life lessons were learned through tough times and in some sense the 3-4 years you will spend is really the making of you, as my time there most definitely shaped me to be the person I am today.

I understand that there will be a few who disagree with some if not all of my points and I didn’t write this to tell people not to go university, rather its just an honest viewpoint of how I felt about the whole process. I believe everything happens for a reason no experience is useless and university wasn’t, but if I could gain the life skills (obviously minus the debt) and not study I personally would have taken that option in hindsight. University is a great place to go, and you probably wont find an experience like it elsewhere, but I reach out to those thinking they have to go, and urge you to continuously look at other avenues and make sure that if you do go, that it is the best path for you. University isn’t the be all and end all, but if you do find yourself there you won’t regret it (until you’ve only started writing that 3000 word essay at 11pm which is due the next day, and all you’ve written is the title). So to answer my own question, I think it is worth it…to a certain extent. ;)

InnoCos Digital Summit in London (Review) - Boohema Boohene

The international innoCos conferences have not only set a goal to organise exciting presentations, rousing speeches and inspiring workshops, but also bring together representatives and leading professionals from the fields of Innovation, Marketing, R&D, retail, branding and packaging in the cosmetics industry promoting networking to challenge and inspire. 

The third Annual #Beauty20 Awards took place on April 29th and MCM were given tickets by BlogsRelease to attend the ceremony. It was an extremely pleasant experience to be amongst some of the largest beauty companies such as Mary Kay, L'Oreal and Benefit. There were also other big corporates such as Asda and Phillips which gave the event media based content as well as information about the beauty market currently. There were two presentations that really stood out for me during the day. 

The first presented by Phillips and their speaker talked about the various beauty products, that they have for males and females. The speaker recommended some websites that other beauty brands could use to reach a wider audience in terms of advertising. A lot of the content in each presentation was focused on the importance of the internet as we learnt that many consumers now prefer to buy make-up online as they can order it from their homes, as well as read reviews and see ratings on products. Therefore online marketing is crucial for a company in order to not loose customers.

The speaker from Asda spoke to us about how Asda have used Youtube to reach their target audience which are mothers. They have launched a channel called 'Mum's eye view' which consists of videos from popular vloggers sharing Food, Lifestyle, Fashion and Beauty videos. This has been a big hit for Asda as many mothers work from home and browse Youtube so it would be easy for them to stumble across the page. Asda also engage mothers through online competitions and quizes. The speaker emphasised that everything is strategic in terms of getting hits on their page. Around 3pm is when mother's pick up their children from school meaning they have a few spare minutes to be on their phones, which benefits Asda.

After the presentations we were then moved to another room where we were greeted with wine and a variety of canapé's to unwind as momentum was built for the awards. The rewards went to the most successful beauty brands, retailers and bloggers for the categories of Best Beauty Blog, Best Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram, Best App, Best Online Video, Best e-Commerce Website, Best Beauty Startup and Best Beauty Brand Online. 

Benefit Cosmetics was the big winner this year winning three categories. Best Twitter, Best Instagram and Best Beauty Brand Online. Although all companies are in the same industry you could really feel an atmosphere of togetherness and support from everybody. It was more of a networking opportunity than a competition which was nice and professional. 

The day then came to a close and everybody received beauty goodies with products such as nail varnish, mascara, lip balm, and cleansing liquid. 

Overall I enjoyed the day very much although I am not specifically a beauty blogger it was nice to learn more about the industry in depth. It was also a great event to learn more about online marketing tools that you can use to expand your business. I'm glad that I was able to be part of such a great ceremony and would definitely return.

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