Brand Minds Ticket Price – Costs

Let’s start with the price. These are the price packages for 2 people at Brand Minds:

It cost me 530 dollars for the Business Class ticket which includes:

• Access to the event on day 1 and the Marketing Masterclass on day 2.
• Access to the BRAND MINDS member platform and app
• BRAND MINDS participation certificate
• Food, coffee, water, wine, juice etc etc included

These are the types of tickets available:

• General Pass
• Business Pass
• First Class

Yes the last ticket is cool, but for a photo with the Main Speaker I don’t think it justifies the price. Sure the value of the ticket is always in the network (the people you meet through the ticket), but if you go for the general pass experience it’s enough (plus you can meet the same people if you have access to the event).

Considering all the action is happening on the first day of the event. Effectively all but one speaker presents on the first day of the event.

I flew from Switzerland to Bucharest so extra costs with transport + accommodation.

Line up Brand Minds

This year we had : Gary Vaynerchuck , Jordan B. Peterson , Gabor Mate, Dan Ariely, Whitney Johnson, Angela Oguntala and Mark Manson.

How it was at Brand Minds

I was pretty excited for Jordan Peterson. I read his book 12 rules of life and got some good ideas from it. During the presentation, he seemed a bit tired but besides the good ideas he presented, I was impressed by how well he knows how to interact with his audience.

For example, the other presenters didn’t move around the stage but Jordan Peterson walked to every corner of the stage and actually looked you in the eye when he sold you an idea. He often gestured at you to increase the intensity of the presentation.

But what impressed me most at the event was Mark Manson, who by the way I didn’t know wrote The Subtle Art of Not Giving a %*#.

I know this book is very popular, especially in the US but for me, it was quite average.

However, on stage, he is excellent as a speaker. First of all his presentation was very different from others. He started with the ending and actually made us laugh, saying after 3 seconds on stage “Goodbye, thank you! “. And then he explained what it means to start with the ending.

He was referring to the end of life. Namely that we should do things that we will enjoy when we reach the end of life.

For example, one thing he said that stuck in my mind was:

“The most meaningful work we do is the work that outlives us.”

And here he wasn’t just referring to the job but in general. For example, a child, raising and creating a child is something that will surpass your life.

And he’s right, for example, every time I create something that I know has the potential to stay even after I die that gives me the greatest satisfaction.

He then talked about goals and how important it is to choose them carefully because “we become the goals we choose”.

And he referred to Steve Jobs who always asked himself every day in the mirror if he was happy with what he was doing. And if the answer was no for too many days in a row, he changed what he was doing.

So it starts with the end. At the end of your life, what do you wish you could say you did?

Food and stuff

Unfortunately, I was disappointed with the food at Brand Minds. I like vegan food but I don’t think it’s okay to have only vegan food and not offer the possibility to eat something else.

Here I took a shot at the vegan buggers which were simply horrible. Slightly ranked as the worst burger I’ve ever had. And I actually had super tasty vegan burgers.

Wine okay, enough water, selection of juices etc.

Organization

On the organization side, I think they did a good job, registration was very smooth. There wasn’t a moment where I can say I stood in huge queues, nor at the food although there were about 5000 people.

But what really got me out of my head was this.

Whole rows of bottles on the seats.

People reserved their seats like that, and even though the organizers said at least 5 times not to do that, the people kept doing it.

It really ruins the experience. You couldn’t stand anywhere because someone would come up in the middle of the presentation and tell you that he booked his seat here 3 hours ago with a bottle of water…

And that’s how it was all day long, people coming and going when they wanted and putting the bottle on the seat…

Brand Minds please fix this problem it’s super annoying and ruins the experience.

We also had some super interesting lighting effects that gave the event a concert or music festival feel. It was really cool.

Brand Minds location

The Brand Minds event took place at ROMEXPO, 65-67 – Bld. Marasti, Bucharest – Romania

For those who are not from Bucharest, the location is quite accessible. It’s easy to get there from the airport (I took an uber), it took 20 minutes from the airport and cost 35 ron.

Also, you have accommodation possibilities through Airbnb or Hotel.

The people at Brand Minds

I don’t know what all the people at Brand Minds are like but the ones I met were brilliant.

Super open-minded, ambitious, and very interesting.

That’s how I met Razvan, for example.

Razvan is an architect by profession and has a lot of interesting projects that you can find on his website. He is a super cool guy and I learned a lot of stuff from him.

As I said one of the benefits of this event is the networking.

Speaking of networking, at the end of the event there was a Network Party at Fratelli’s and they gave you your first free drink for attending Brand Minds.

My attitude to this event was one of no expectations. And I think you should too.

I don’t expect to get rich overnight from a speaker’s idea when I go to events like this But if I get at least one good idea after the event it was worth it. Or even better if I meet an interesting person then it is a real success

Conclusion Brand Minds

And now to answer your initial question Yes! It’s worth going to Brand Minds. If you don’t want to read the presenters’ books, this is a quicker way to get ideas that make a real change in your life.

Another huge and I would say the main benefit is networking. Here you find cool, open, innovative people, leaders, teachers, and people who want to develop and grow. People like you. And I feel that’s what the organizers of this event ultimately want, to create a community.

I hope this article has given you an idea of what it’s like at Brand Minds and I look forward to seeing you next year.

The post Brand Minds Review – Is it worth going to Brand Minds or not? appeared first on Vladislav Ray.

In this article, I want to do a short review about 2020 and make “some” of my 2021 goals public.

For me, 2020 (age 24) started really well, my business was growing, and we had 3 profitable months (January, February, March). As soon as April came, restriction started, and everyone started to panic, and we lost some big clients.
It was my first year as an entrepreneur (bad timing, heh? :)). You could say it was bad timing, but it was the best entrepreneurship lesson I could ever get for me.

Always listen to the market. Be ready to adapt fast or die.

I want to thank 2020, the universe, and everyone who helped me (especially my girlfriend, without her, I really wouldn’t be mentally healthy this year, hehe )

I am grateful that I had (and still have) the opportunity to manage a full-time business with 2 employees at such a young age.

I am noticing that I am starting to enjoy more the process instead of the results, which I think is a good thing since everyone is preaching it :). When I was younger, I was obsessed with the end goal, and that’s it.

Now I am taking a moment to appreciate all the things I’ve learned along the way and find joy in the unknown.

What to expect from 2021

It’s been 4 years since I started to create smart goals for the next year. And honestly, now I could not see how I can enter in a year without having a plan to enjoy/live it

I am ready to share some of the goals here just because I plan to update the progress from time to time on my blog.

Okay, this year I will:

–Get a B2 Goethe German Certificate.

I have 0 previous knowledge of the German language, so that would be a fun and challenging thing to do

The Foreign Service Institute (FSI) suggests that you need about 750 hours to get to this level. I have less than 300 days till my exam date, which means I have to put 2 hours and a half per day to get to that level.

More on this on another article.

-Read at least 6 books.

Last year was 12 books; this year is down to 6 to meet my other goals. That is just 1 book every 2 months; the average book length is 300 pages. Even if I put 5 minutes per day into reading, I would still accomplish this goal.

-Do sports all year round

Last year because of the pandemic, I decided to go home gym (meaning I did exercises only with my body weight).

In September 2020, I started to run , and I ran 200 km in total.

I ran in the heat of 30 + degrees Celsius, in rain and on minus temperature. It’s amazing, after 5km in the rain at 7AM, trust me…nothing can put you down during the day hehe.

This year I have the same goal, just do sport, no pressure.

The only way I measure this is by answering a simple question: Have I done any type of sport at least 3 times this week? If the answer is yes, then I am on track.

And last year I achieved it. January 2020 started with a set of blood tests and everything was perfect. It was the first time in life when all my values were perfect.

I am not putting any pressure on myself with this goal; it’s the simplest goal because I’ve always loved doing sports and pushing my body to do the extra mile.

-Take one digital drawing course and draw at least 6 digital portraits

In December 2020, for Christmas, I received as a gift this digital drawing course. (thank you <3)

Now, what you need to know is I always flirted with digital drawing. Whenever I had bad days, I would go to the tablet and start drawing digitally.

I never took it seriously, it is just a relaxing/meditation type of thing.

This year, it’s time to watch and learn from someone who really knows what he’s doing :)).

I plan to finish the course by the end of the year and draw at least 6 portraits. If I’m not ashamed, maybe I’ll share a few on the website.

The course has 27 hours and 127 lessons.

I am hoping to improve my digital drawing skills by the end of this year.

Conclusion

Usually when I set my goals I make them on 3 levels:

1. Career
2. Sport/Health/Body
3. Personal Development (development on any possible level)

As you can see, I shared just number 2 and number 3.

The reason for doing this is that this year for number 1, I am ready to take a huge leap of faith, and I am not willing to make it public just yet.

It’s a turning point for my partner and me as well, and I think If we play it well, we will thank us when we will be older.

More on this probabbly next year.

It’s an exciting year and I can’t wait to spend it with my loved ones.

Peace!

The post Fear? Not If You Use New Year Resolutions The Right Way! 2021 appeared first on Vladislav Ray.

I jumped immediately to the blog, this needs to be shared. The world needs to know this. I found what a successful day means to me.

Let me explain what I mean.

Early today, I felt a bit lost. And I asked myself, did I put 110% for my dreams? Did I make the most out of this day? 

So you know how the mind works, and it starts to go deeper and deeper. In a heartbeat comes anxiety, and you fall in this weird place. 

But the thing is this time my mind started to search for a solution. And I kept asking myself: From a career standpoint, what is a successful day for me? 

The right questions

To answer this question, I had to put the right questions first. I asked myself, “What do I want to achieve with my actions? “

Answer: I want to grow my digital agency. 

Next question.  “What do I need to do to grow my digital agency? “

Answer: 

• I need to write more content
• Give more value
• Get more exposure

Question: If I have only 16 hours in a day, how can I produce more? How can I be more efficient? 

Answer: I need to be more focused, less distracted. 

Okay, okay. I am getting close. 

Now my next question was brilliant. 

What is an absolute must to call a successful day? What do I need to do to say, “Man, I am happy with what I did today.” 

So you see, my mind was trying to create a system, some global tasks that are available each day. It can be a struggle to find a roadmap or a boss if you don’t have one at your daily job. 

Okay. So back to the question. I started to put 5 tasks that are important to me.

The 5 tasks

1. Contact 5 potential clients to tell them about my excellent services.

No matter what, I need to contact at least 5 people each day to show them what extraordinary things we can do for him.

2. Go to the gym.  

Health and Sport is a big thing for me. It helps me to perform better and feel good mentally and physically. I go to the gym 3-5 times a week.

3. Write/post content for one of my 3 leading websites. 

 Since I have a long term strategy involving SEO and content marketing, I have to be consistent and post daily to at least one of these websites. 

4. Read for at least one hour. 

This is pretty straight forward. The concept is simple. If I don’t read, I stay at the same level. 

Why should I expect my situation to change if I am not willing to evolve/grow? 

5. Learn german for 30 minutes. 

This is a new one for me. I added Learn German to A1 to my objectives this year (planing to speak about this in a future blog post). I know, I know, A1, it’s easy. But right now, learning to speak fluent German is not a priority, but it could be in the future. You never know  

Next step.

Now that I clarified my 5 most important tasks for the day, I have to make a rule to be feasible. 

If 3 out 5 are completed, call this a successful day.

This is the bar I set myself in order to stay mentally sane. If I complete 3 out of 5, I am happy, I had a productive day. Sure, there are other tasks through the day, administrative tasks, unexpected tasks. But these are the core tasks, the one that I care about.

Yes. I can 5 out of 5. But maybe going to the gym 7 days a week is probably too much.

So that’s what I did. I made a Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound “successful day.”  A smart day. 

I tend to create those systems in my mind a lot. It gives my brain some air at the end of the day. I know it sounds like a “control freak,” but I promise you it’s not. It makes the day a lot easier. 

Those tasks are important to me today. Next year it can, and it needs to be something different. 

Depending on which level we are at, we set our daily routine. Good habits create success.  

If you still read this, now it’s your turn. Ask yourself, “What is a successful day for me? 

It could be to spend some hours with your son. Play the new video game. Hit the gym. It can be anything, but you have to commit to it. Put some daily effort into it.

Let me know in the comments if this helped you and if you care to share I want to know your 5 most essential tasks  

I wish you a fantastic week! 

The post I found what a successful day means to me appeared first on Vladislav Ray.

I will start by saying that, during my life, I’ve tried several methods to improve my focus and eliminate procrastination (from physical journals, online journals to motivational videos, apps etc)  and what I realized is that the power does not come from the method itself but from the mindset. Yes, the method can give you a pushup, but that’s it. For example the tasks that I am struggling with, and I absolutely hate them, are things like “washing clothes, clean apartment, buy food, cook”, and unfortunately, I have to do these things almost daily. The one I enjoy is actually work-related, they don’t feel like work to me, that’s why I affirm the mindset is everything.

Since I am not trying to sell you something on this blog, I will add a disclaimer,  The method I am using will not be necessarily effective for you. Every human is different, we have a different work ethic different goals and mindsets. That’s why you need to test & learn. Find a method, try it out, fail, go to the next one!

Ok, now let me tell you how I function. What I like to do is to reward myself for every successful task. This concept is very very old. And it is used very frequently in the children’s education and animals as well. But somehow from a certain point of life, we forget about this method or we expect that somebody else will reward us for our personal achievements.

How does your dog get motivated to do a specific thing? Because he knows he will get rewarded if he is a good boy Next time when you finish that assignment at school: reward yourself with a chocolate. Next time when you deliver that long waited paper for your boss, order some sushi .

Another thing equally important: Define the prize/reward before starting the task. In this way, you will motivate the brain and build hype around the task.

For the ones, at the beginning of the road, this habit can get pricey, fortunately, there is a solution to this. Since I’m an incurable gamer I constantly try to gamify my life. Essentially, exactly like in a video game your level can be your age, bank account a number that increases as you build more experience and so on.

What is Gamification? Gamification is the application of game-design elements and game principles in non-game contexts such as life. And that’s exactly what habitica.com does. I treat my life like a game to stay motivated and organized, it makes it simple to have fun while I am accomplishing my goals.

In Habitica you have 3 tables. You put your Habits, your Daily goals, and your To-Do list.

This is my character and when I check off tasks my character level up and unlock features and even quest(opportunities) exactly like in real life!

For every completed task, you receive gold, with gold you can purchase armor, weapons, potions to improve your character. The community is formed from more than 2.5 million players and I already interact with some of them from my guild “Designers & Entrepreneurs”.

This is what works for me now, maybe in the future, it will be under another form, but the concept will be the same “plan-complete-reward”. Thank you for taking the time to read this blog post.

Remember: Reward yourself. 

I hope this was helpful for you and make sure to check my  1 million dollar journey.

The post One Method to Increase Your Productivity appeared first on Vladislav Ray.