It’s now mid-Feb. How many of our new-year resolutions have we stuck to?
Remember my Habit Tracker? – I’m glad to say, I’m doing well! I’ll share some statistics in another blog post.
But today’s Friday thought is all about getting into those habits only takes five minutes.
Honestly, it doesn’t take long to start… five minutes is all you need to get going. Then keep going. Bit like riding a bike…
Aren’t we always in a rush?!
I’ve noticed recently, that everyone is busy! No matter who you talk to, usually the first thing they say is… I’m busy, it’s been crazy, working so hard, lots of things to do, etc…
There’s a Japanese word – Yutori.
And honestly, we do need to slow down. We need to savour the taste. Enjoy the moment. Just take it in…
When was the last time you did that?
I was on LinkedIn the other day and up came a video. Unfortunately didn’t catch the name of the person talking but it was a great video and I managed to scroll back and take a screen shot.
The big takeaway and which forms my thought for this Friday is…
I speak to so many young people who are looking for a job. And I encourage them to give examples of what they’ve done, what they’ve worked with and what they’ve achieved already.
Experience is critical.
Build your resume/cv with experience. Then the jobs will flow.
Remember… skills pay the bills.
Recently, I’ve been having a few conversations about the advancement of AI. And in particular, this new Deepseek from China.
Before I started to write my blog post last week, a friend of mine sent a great substack post by Mark, which summarised it perfectly!
There’s a link to it below and I thoroughly recommend you read it. Off course, I’ll be discussing AI and other tech more in the future, as we prepare ourselves for a whole deal of uncertainty. I say that, because we’re seeing so much geo-political changes taken place. Take Trump in the US for example, take what is happening across Europe, then you’ve got the Middle East, etc…
Technology is playing a huge part in all of this. Deepseek has come out of the blue. There’s so much more that’s brewing underneath the surface that will appear very soon… and then the race is on! (But what is the race?!) To do better, whatever the rest of the world is working on.
Here’s a link to Mark’s article…
https://marktopps.substack.com/p/deepseek-the-ai-app-that-has-the?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
This Friday’s Thought is all about how you treat others.
It’s the values you display. How you are with others and how you act is how you truly are as a person.
Everything else is temporary and limited. Below is my Friday thought along with a video… the video is of the Dutch Prime Minister. Some of you may have seen this already. For those who haven’t, he spills his coffee, and rather than asking someone to clean it… he cleans it himself. He treated the people around him with respect. Especially the cleaners.
The video of the Dutch PM…
I’ve been carrying a little note book with me recently. Actually, just started this year to carry it around with me – to capture notes, ideas and basic thoughts.
And as I write today’s thought, I’m reflecting on a conversation I had with a friend recently about Apple’s operating system (iOS) and Android. In my opinion, Apple make it so simple to use… Android users will argue that Android is way ahead of the game and much better.
You know what – they might be. But the whole connectivity and I’m going to be honest, the creativity that Apple offers… makes the complicated simple.
I can’t believe that it’s mid-January already!
I shared that I read a book called Atomic Habits (great book!) and I pulled together a ‘habit tracker’ – where I basically have a calendar view of my habits, and then track which ones I do on which days and then over the month, I can see which ones I’ve done the most and which ones I haven’t.
For example… I’ve got on there – gym, walking, drinking 1 litre of water, writing (not doing too well on!), reading, and a few more.
Now as I reflect on my habit tracker, I’m realising, I need to make sure I give all my habits attention. There’s some that I haven’t done at all. For example DJ.
So… when I was younger (alot younger) I used to DJ. Loved it. But haven’t done it for many many years…. then it all changed. Talking to my friend, I decided to buy some decks (mixer) and downloaded some dj software on the laptop. And started mixing/DJ’ing towards end of 2024. This is one of my habits. And I’ve not done it so far in January. Which got me thinking, could I break this habit down further to make progress….
And I’ve done just that. I listen to music all the time, in the car… in the plane, when travelling basically and then when if I’m in the hotel in the morning, etc… why not start to put songs/music together which I could mix? or why not listen to mixes that other DJ’s have done where I could take inspiration from?
So habits can be broken down to make progress…. and not beat myself up that I haven’t done anything on that particular habit.
For those who have not read the book, recommend you read it or find out what the book is about via their website.
But in essence… you build habits, to get better at something, Doing it little but often will see results.
Here’s what a habit tracker template looks like and I got mine from – https://daydesigner.com/products/habit-tracker (you can also just google and you’ll find so many different types of templates).
What do you want to get better at? What habits would you list?
A few weeks into January, how are those new year resolutions and commitments coming along?
Last year, towards the end, I read the book – Atomic Habits. Absolutely loved it! If you’ve not read it… you should!
With it… I’ve made a Habit Tracker. For example, I’ve listed things I want to do, like go to the gym, more walks, etc… And it made me think about today’s thought.
If you want to achieve something new or grow – you have to do something different….
I posted the below image on my instagram as a story a few weeks ago- if you don’t follow me, my handle is @mrbalbansal
I post all sorts I get up to… mainly related to food, football and various other adventures!
So what is really important? the journey or destination?
It’s a question often asked.. but you know what, Tiny Dragon is right… it’s the company. The people. Those you surround yourself with. I’m lucky to have some really good friends, one of which I go to a carvery with every few months (for those who don’t know what a carvery is, it’s a hot roast… like chicken, turkey, etc… and then lots of veg! – there should be a photo on my insta!)… and others, who I meet up and we talk, chat…
It’s not all about where you are going… it’s about who is with you.
Happy New Year!
Here’s my first Friday Thought of 2025! Been doing these for a fair few years and hope you enjoy them. I really appreciate the kind comments I receive when a Friday Thought really hits home with you…
Today, it’s about those ‘glimmers’. Not a glimmer of hope, but turning triggers on it’s head!
Look out for those special moments… and you’ll see more of them.
