Author: Bal Bansal

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Week in Review

Week 2… 2021!

It’s all happening isn’t it! – But first things first, my apologies for not sharing my Friday Thought. I had a really busy week, and whilst I plan a lot of things, I just didn’t have enough time to get to releasing my Friday Thought.

But on a positive! – I’m on my second review of the week!!

  1. What’s WhatsApp? – That’s right!! This could be the norm in a few years. So…. WhatsApp released new ‘conditions’ if you want to keep using their platform. As you may know, they are part of the Facebook group – and whilst your messages are encrypted end to end, they want to gather some other data about you – and share it. Now for them, it’s all about the experience, but many have become scared, thought it’s violating their privacy and started to switch to Signal and Telegram. Whilst I’m not going to tell you what to do… there’s some great articles out there – and if you do want me to tell you what to do… WhatsApp me!
  2. China wants to build its own $306 billion use car market from scratch! Basically, they want to double the value of secondhand vehicle sales by 2025. Now China already has more then 270 million vehicles on it’s road… and estimated 15 million secondhand models were sold in 2019! Put some contrast on it… 173 people out of 1000 in China own a car… comparing that to the US, it’s 837. You can be sure to say, it’s all happening in China… wonder if the authors of AutoTrader are reading this?!

So here’s my top two stories of the week… I reckon it’s going to be a busy year, lots happening!! – and I’ll share my review of the week (or please get in touch with a better name!).

If you have any top stories to share – get in touch, or if there’s a particular topic you’d like me to share the latest on – happy to do so!

Till next week… stay safe, and take care!

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Week in Review

What a year… so far!

Wow… Can’t believe it. Only a week (and a bit) into 2021, and so much to talk about.

Let’s put aside everything that happened at Capitol Hill… (and the actions of Trump), and the vaccination roll out in the UK… (which is good), however this new strain of Covid isn’t…

And focus on a couple of things that have also hit the headlines.

  1. Elon Musk. Richest man in the World. Took over from Jeff (Amazon ) Bezos. Two reasons why I like this news… Firstly, he’s done well with Tesla, SpaceX and his other ventures – he’s truly believed in them and continued to pursue them! and secondly, he actively reached out to folk to ask how he can donate his money and/or put it to good humanitarian use!
  2. Hyundai and Apple. Getting together. To build an Electric Car… Apple have been trying for a while to get this project running, however, they’ve realised they need someone who has got the knowledge on cars. Step up Hyundai. They are doing very well at the moment. And when they announced they’re working with Apple, share price rose 20%! Why do I like this bit of news… well, it provides us options other than Tesla and a few others… and it shows you can’t do everything on your own, if you need help – ask for it! (no shame in asking for support).

I was thinking about replacing my Friday Thought with a round up, or at least 2 bits of tech/interesting news… however, I’ve been asked to keep the Friday Thought… so will slot this in elsewhere into the week!

Which takes me to my last point… what will 2021 bring?! We can clearly see the decrease in car sales (overall) however, the gap between sales of electric and combustion engine are closing in – meaning more electric cars are bring sold. Norway, however (with it’s Government grants, etc..) are the first country to sell more electric cars than petrol/diesel! (Well done Norway!)

Well, we’re on a lockdown for early part of 2021, and I don’t see much changing till Spring/Summer… which means, alot more homeworking, less travel and more hobbies? – of which, we all saw a number of people who took up their passions/hobbies and turned them into businesses! (which is great!) – some of you reading this and who follow me on social media, will know I joined the trend of baking. But with a slight twist, of doing vegan/eggless cakes. They came out quite tasty (not me just saying that!), and I started taking photos, sharing them on Instagram (@balsbakery), and started to get orders in! Been selling cakes, however – it’s probably something I won’t scale up into a business (just yet!) due to time…

So I’ll wrap up this Sunday Blog post with a few thoughts… 1. If you’ve got a passion, pursue it! and 2. This year, we’ll see a bigger shift towards more sustainable/environmentally friendly products (including cars).

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Bal's Friday Thought

Bal’s Friday Thought…

Firstly, All the best for 2021. Hope you had an enjoyable festive period.

Moving into 2021…. there’ll be challenges. We’re seeing them now, a week into 2021! – but key thing is, have faith.

Have faith in yourself. Have faith in what will happen. Have faith in your abilities. Have faith in what will be…

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…last one for 2020

So, I’ll be first to admit – I’ve not been as active as what I could have been on this blog… yes, I’ve continued with my Friday Thought (that was due to popular demand), and I’ve shared posts throughout the year – especially when I was on Radio. But, one thing I will promise for 2021 is more… more on this blog, more content, more videos…

I’ve been sharing a lot on my social media channels – such as my Twitter, Instagram, etc… But will be also sharing it on my blog. Now, I mentioned video… I know I’ve said it many times, and I’ve done a few videos, but that’s a few too little. Need to up the game on videos – so will do more! (Promise!!)

2020 – was a year, that I won’t forget!

There were a few personal ‘things’ that happened which won’t make me forget it, but definitely learn and grow! From a work perspective – continued to deliver and remote working, like many people, was a thing of beauty! I’ve been able to work from ‘wherever’ for a while – but what really hit home was that so many realised they had the same ability but they could balance home and work life! (It’s difficult for sure, but over time…. it works well!).

Ok… we know Covid hit everyone hard. I remember, I was in Berlin in January, and had a flight to Madrid booked for Feb. Covid started to spread, and i pushed the date to March to fly to Madrid… and well, you can probably guess, i didn’t fly out at all!

So my top 3 reflections on 2020…

  1. We needed time to reflect – Many used 2020 to reflect, and understand what is important. We were naturally spending more time at home, and when you’re doing that, you being to appreciate the times you travel, you being to appreciate when you are with friends and you being to appreciate the small things in life.
  1. Tech is moving so quickly… Either you’re on the digital journey or you’ve had to fold. In 2020, Zoom’s Q2 revenue (year on year) was up by 335%!!! That is some phenomenal growth! But the point here is, COVID made a number of people shift to digital quickly, to survive.
  1. Health is Wealth. Above anything and everything, your health is the most important aspect that matters. I know, for one, I started walking more – when the gyms were shut – even downloaded some walking apps – and found some new areas near me, that I didn’t know existed and were so beautiful. Then, as I was working from home every day, I started to take lunchtime walks for 45mins. And during the 45min walk, I would call friends – have a good old catch up – which was wonderful!

Now, I’m not going to focus on 2021 too much…. but I strongly believe, with the roll out of the vaccine – we should see some ‘new normality’ returning in the middle of the year. Even with that, I think the three items I mentioned above will still continue and will resonate with many.

If anything, in 2021…. appreciate life.

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Bal's Friday Thought

Bal’s Friday Thought…

As many of us are breaking up for Christmas Holidays… it’s a time to also reflect on what we’ve achieved over the past 12 months.

2020 has been a year like no other! Many businesses have had to shut, many have had to adapt and many have had the opportunity to carry on.

We all have goals… at the start, I’m sure many wrote… I would like to….. or I could achieve….. but how many of those things did you actually accomplish?

I’ll be taking a few moments to write what I actually did. And I’ll happily share that with you…. It’ important to write down and acknowledge what you did. Sometimes, even you may be surprised!

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Bal's Friday Thought

Bal’s Friday Thought…

No additional comment required I think. You’re not a tree. Get up and move…

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Reuse…

You’ve probably heard me say before, Reuse, Reduce… and Recycle.

We need to look after Planet Earth. But I’ve been recently asked, Bal… with this ban on petrol and diesel cars…. what do I do with my classic? – I want to do my bit for the environment but love my classic car.

Don’t you worry Sir…. I have found a solution for you!

Zero Labs – have a solution where by, you keep the looks of your awesome classic car… but go electric!

Personally, I think this is a great idea! –

Now, you can keep your classic car… but be kinder to the planet.

Check their video out below….

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Bal's Friday Thought

Bal’s Friday Thought…

Sometimes, we feel we need everything now. Or as soon as possible. And when we don’t get it… we start to ask a series of questions – a bit of 5 Why Analysis….

When all we sometimes need is a little patience.

We need to reflect. Understand. And progress. Keep moving. Don’t stop…. Keep pushing and delivering. And if you’re good enough… (taken from Gary V.)

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Bal's Friday Thought

Bal’s Friday Thought…

There’s a few things that Covid-19 Lockdown has taught us… in fact, it’s accelerated some things that were coming.

The evolution of the employee.

How we work.

And we’ve been able to evolve due to technology but also a shift in the mindset. A shift in thinking that is allowing us to add more value and be more productive.

Two examples I’d like to share,

  1. I recall seeing in a signature of a senior leader, something along the lines of….. “I’m sending this email because this time works for me, if this is out of your working hours, I do not expect a reply”.
  2. I recently undertook some learning – via LinkedIn Learning app. I did it in the evening. In my own time. And it was in short bursts.. about 10 videos each of which were 3 to 4mins long. It taught me a lot. In fact, made me do some ‘homework’ and really make me think.

That’s what it is about, right? – Learn, Think… Apply.

Would be great to hear example you may have, in terms of how you’re becoming an employee of the future…

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Bal’s Friday Thought…

When I was being taught/shown Lean… one of the most important items was to ask the question Why. And to delve into it, and get to the root cause.

Once you get to the root cause, you can then understand and start to fix the problem.

This also applies to why you need to do it. ‘Why’ is so powerful. Rather than the what. And people relate to the why…. It’s brilliantly explained by Simon Sinek below…