Everyone loves a great Christmas party, unless of course you are a little like me and you have gone to one too many already. 

Christmas is coming closer and there have been a lot of party invites. I have mostly opted out as I don't have the "missing out syndrome" (FOMO) and know that as you get older, there is only so much casual chit chat you can handle.

Fuck it! Seriously, I know I just swore but that's exactly how I feel right now. We keep holding ourselves back in fear of something. Actually, everything. But where does that get you? Nowhere, that's where.

The end of the year is neigh. It has come along for many of us, faster than we would have liked.

It seems, the older we get, the faster life passes us by. There really is no better reason to live life the best possible way we can.

Two years ago, I hired a family member in my business. It was the best decision I ever made, simply because for selfish reasons, I was able to see her more than I would if she didn't work for me.

Ashleigh Cameron started out fresh from high school and while studying a Bachelor in Commerce Majoring in Marketing and Human Resources, she chose to come and work at our Marketing Eye Sydney office in the social media department.

What's not to love about Monday's? If you are anything like me, you arrive at work all bubbly ready to tackle the week ahead; refreshed and excited about what can be achieved.

Making a conscience effort to be the best version of yourself takes a lot of soul searching. It also takes a lot of strength as you have to look yourself in the mirror and work out what is working and what isn't. Where you can improve and where you don't have to.

About 3 or so years ago, I made a momentus change by looking deeply within myself and exploring what I could possibly achieve in this lifetime. I set goals for everything imaginable, including the life of my dog (check out Instagram account @thereal_pippasmith), my health, my family, my career and so on.

I broke up every area of my life and worked out how I could live it better than I have lived it before. And you know what, it mostly works. Except you will slip up like I did on a few things, but they will mostly be things of the heart where your reaction isn't quite what you would have planned for it to be. By slipping up, you have the opportunity to change and work on that area, while you keep developing yourself and achieving the goals set out in front of you.

If you thought it was hard to start a business, spare a thought for those who are actually running businesses and trying to take them to the next level.   It's one thing to get off your bum and start a business that originates as just an idea, or the next viable step from working for someone else, but what happens when that takes off? Is it easier or is it harder.

Guest Post by entrepreneur and "money man" Scott Malcolm, of Money Mechanics. 

The excitement of a new business venture or idea requires a different energy and skill set to the day to day of running a business.  Entrepreneurs have skill set and vision to setup business but often need strategies in place to take the business to the next level and run it!

A high performing marketing team differs from one industry to another and for that matter, one business to another. The basic fundamental of what defines the success of a high performing marketing team relates solely to the performance of the balance sheet, and marketing's ability to drive high quality leads to sales teams, and give those same teams all the tools in which they need to sell.