Seven steps to improve your life

What they don’t tell you, however, is that finding a willing guru to selflessly hand their hard-earned life experiences to you on a plate is nigh on impossible.

Luckily, we have a persuasive touch here at Friday: if it’s a mentor you seek, look no further. We’ve rounded up a magnificent seven assorted experts to share their top tips so that you, too, can do it like the professionals… It’s time to go pro! 

Linda Davies, Dubai-based novelist

When it comes to penning something worthwhile, a lot comes down to the time and effort you put in. Linda’s novels, for example, take many months to bring to life. “Everybody’s story, their emotions, their hidden sides, could make a good book,” she says. “Everyone has the material. But to translate that into a full-length book you really have to love writing and be prepared to slog.”

Linda says you should begin by mapping out your plot and then worrying about it endlessly, asking yourself questions, seeking answers and recording your thoughts on your phone. “Look like one of those nutters having a one-sided conversation,” she says.

For Linda, one of the hardest parts of the process is trying to keep going when she suddenly thinks it’s not working. “I can do plots easily enough,” she says, “though technically, thrillers can be demanding, but bringing the characters fully to life can be tough.” What Linda does is think about their purpose, what burns inside them and what they truly care about.

With multiple novels under her belt – including the acclaimed Djinn children’s series – Linda has learned that reading your work aloud is an important part of the process. If you can get someone else to read your work back to you, she says, better still. “If they fall over their words or hesitate, you’ve written a clumsy sentence,” says Linda. “Also, you’d be surprised at how many repetitions you overlook when rereading your work silently, either words you use too much or concepts that you keep harping on about from different angles. Say it once, say it well, then shut up!” www.lindadavies.com 

For Gibbs, the vision was to take a wafer-thin video screen and insert it into a greetings card – meaning marketeers could get their message across to customers instantly in a sleek and stylish way. The road to success was littered with obstacles, however, and Gibbs says that far from the popular image of the modern entrepreneur as a self-important flash-Harry, a more realistic image is of someone with his feet firmly on the ground.

Latent entrepreneurial tendencies, he says, will typically rear their head when someone spots something that isn’t working very well. “An entrepreneur is always looking for a better, more efficient way of getting things done.” With Dubai, the city that has so many innovations, an innovation such as TV in a Card was just waiting to happen, he says. “The emirate – where everything is possible – actually was the inspiration behind the card,” said Gibbs.

While dedication and hard work are the entrepreneur’s stock in trade, Gibbs’s final tip is well worth remembering if your path to glory sees you burning the midnight oil for the fifth night in a row. “Success is about working smart,” he says. “Lots of effort does not always mean lots of reward.”

www.tvinacard.com. Clients include Bentley motors, Flickr and Selfridges

William Hanson, a tutor at the English Manner Middle East Academy

“A lot of people think that a thank you text, email, tweet or Facebook post is acceptable, but it is not,” says Hanson, author of the forthcoming book The Bluffer’s Guide to Etiquette for the socially less fortunate. “A proper handwritten letter or card is far more the done thing and shows a greater level of appreciation for the hospitality or gift you have received.”

In order to write a meaningful thank you, Hanson points out that you first need to actually mean it. “One side of A5 is correct when saying thank you for a present or dinner,” he says. “Two sides is correct when thanking someone for a weekend stay.

“A thank you text is better than nothing, but it is not a fair pay-off for the effort the giver has gone to.”

The English Manner Middle East Academy was launched in the UAE in February 2013 and offers private tuition and training workshops in subjects such as social etiquette and household staff training. www.theenglishmanner.ae

Paul de Visser, Executive Chef at Makhonya Company and former Executive Chef at Ruth’s Chris Middle East

Ruth’s Chris Steak Houses can be found at The Address, Dubai Marina

“Saying no can be hard because we know we will disappoint someone,” says Peters, whose business school has been delivering integrated corporate education solutions for working professionals in the Middle East for the past 20 years. “We often end up not being clear and beating around the bush.” While he admits that a CEO’s seniority sometimes allows for a certain ‘end power’, more often than not “a CEO uses influence and balances competing priorities and challenges” when saying no.

“And to do that, he or she needs to think through a situation calmly and clearly.” Peters says that saying no should be a two-step process. First, clearly say the word itself – the dreaded ‘no’ – and then you must explain why. “Do this twice,” he says. Once when you’re initially turning them down and then again later, when the person has had time to digest the response and is thinking more clearly again.

If you’re looking for absolution, though, you’re out of luck. “I don’t think it’s possible to say ‘no’ without it leaving us feeling slightly bad,” Peters admits. “What really helps, though, is to think about why one is saying it – it is not out of ill will, but out of a need to progress the right projects in the best possible way.” www.ashridge.org.uk

To get you into a new way of thinking, Chard suggests taking pictures… without a camera. “I know it sounds weird, but it’s all about teaching yourself how to see and to educate your subconscious mind to recognise the relevance in what you see. Look at the world and think, ‘What is it about this that is drawing my attention and why?’”

By building an appreciation of composition in your mind, you can start taking these mental pictures everywhere you go: once you’re better attuned to the world, pick up the camera. “It will make a dramatic difference to your shots,” says Chard. “Once you have a goal and vision, you then only need to figure out the technical elements: you’ll be controlling the camera instead of the camera controlling you.”

Chard’s final tip is to remember that photographers never stop learning. “It’s really all about understanding yourself as much as the world around you,” he says. “Every time I step into a bookstore or gallery I learn something from another photographer’s work; learning from others is just as crucial as learning about yourself.” www.duncanchard.com

David Kuo, Motley Fool money expert

“If you don’t know where you are and you don’t know where you’re going, how can you possibly know when you arrive?” he says.

And, he says, you need to be ready to make minor tweaks to avoid nasty shocks later on. A rainy day fund should be a key part of any budget and should ideally be enough to cover six months’ of general expenses. “It’s also important to make adequate provision for long-term savings. You must make this money as inaccessible as possible.”

Finally, he asserts that budgets shouldn’t be a chore, but a delight. “Reward yourself if you hit your surpluses at the end of each month. Companies reward employees with bonuses, so you can do the same.” www.fool.com