There’s a lot to be serious about at the moment. It’s a tough market and every business I know is pulling out every strategy in the book to stay ahead of the game and get it right.

The problem is, when you are very serious and look into things too deeply, I find you can miss what very obviously a bad idea or wrong direction. Sometimes it pays to look on the lighter side of things and keep it all very simple.

So! To lighten things up a bit, and in no particular order, below are three of my favorite quotes which at many times of my business and personal life, I’ve thought about and must say they have helped enormously by bringing things immediately into perspective.

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. Eleanor Roosevelt.

As my colleagues will tell you I do not have a confidence problem when it comes to presenting our creative. And it can be infectious, which can only be a positive thing.

If you are starting a company, introducing a revolutionary product or just developing your business in the way you see fit, then worrying about what others think should not be a critical factor. If you are concerned about being different, or not normal, however much you believe in what you are doing, then you will never feel good about it.

If you worry about this then you will never do anything exactly as you believe it should be done and that could easily have an affect on how successful it eventually it is. Quite simply sometimes you just wished you had followed your own instincts.

Likewise if you are pitching above your weight you should never feel “not up to the job” until you have proved to yourself that you are not. Forget what others say, that’s irrelevant. Often the only way to grow is to extend your reach and often with extension comes the reality that “you can do it”.

Quite simply don’t give anyone your consent to make you feel inferior.

Those who do not study history are bound to repeat it. Winston Churchill.

In the creative and marketing industry we see a lot of start-ups. Now not wanting to devalue the first quote and have people tell you what to do, I am talking about accepting that no idea is original. There is definitely someone out there who has tried it before.

We are often brought ideas for products and services that we have seen before and we’ve seen why they didn’t work. Not because they were bad ideas, more that they needed to be developed and when someone brings a similar idea to the table we can spot potential problems, weaknesses or challenges because we’ve seen them happen before.

Quite simply – try to learn from their mistakes because most things fail first time and unless there is money behind them they eventually run out of steam before they are brought to market.

You can often get the research and find out want went wrong and what’s still do be done.

Remember rather than make the same errors as those in the past, make different ones that get you closer than the last person and mean you are not starting from scratch every time.

Change before you have to. Jack Welch.

One of my absolute favorites and one I have always tried to stick to if I can. The world revolves – it doesn’t stop – so why should we.

If you accept the status quo these days then it won’t take long to fall behind and potentially disappear all together.

If in everything you do, you think about how it will be in five years, you can understand that it won’t be much like it is today. And that’s the key. Once you realise this, a whole lot of things simply fall into place.

If I am honest, I spend most of my working life in the future, thinking how not only Impact will be in five or 10 years but, how my clients will be as well.

It’s essential because markets change so quickly, as do products and services and, you quite simply have to be thinking that far ahead just to stay competitive.

This has a definite effect on your life and you find your present something you have been with living for months or years as you’ve developed it.

They won’t teach you these quotes in business school, but they are worth thinking about all the same.

So that’s three I keep in mind often. There are more, but these are the principal ones I certainly live by. Something that can give me direction or a sobering thought when things get tough and I need a second opinion.

Whatever you are anticipating for the rest of the year. Growth or just keeping your head above water sometimes a lighter approach can give you a definite edge in business and be a good booster for morale. At Impact we have everyone’s favourite quote framed on the wall and to be honest its interesting to see what thoughts inspire others – perhaps give it a go.

I think whatever happens in the UK, Europe or beyond we’ll all do the one thing in this country we always do.

Keep Calm and Carry On. The British Government.

Wayne Hall – create with impact.