Tag: mindset

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Book Related

Mid-Jan Already?!

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?

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Bal's Friday Thought

Bal’s Friday Thought…

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….

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Bal's Friday Thought

Bal’s Friday Thought…

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.

Screenshot
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Uncategorized

Thank you 2024

What a year it’s been!

There’s some conclusions I’ve come to but let’s review some key things that happened in 2024!

Well… before I share the highlights, I’ll let you know, they’re going to be about me! That’s right… I’m going to focus on what happened to me (with a sprinkle of technology)

  1. Travel
    • This year (2024) I got some serious air miles! Both for work and with the family. I managed to get over to Tenerife in the summer which was relaxing (and I read the book – Never split the difference), and then in October I managed to get over to Dubai – which was awesome!
    • I also managed a number of trips to the US for work.
    • One gadget that I think which served me well was my apple air tag. Always kept it in my suitcase!
    • Oh… and when traveling, I like a mixture of reading and watching something good – so before I’m going away, I ask for recommendations. Thank you to all those who recommended good books and programmes to watch!
    • 2025 – I’ll continue to travel and make memories..
  2. Fitness & Health
    • In June, I decided I need to start lifting weights again. So, I started to go gym 3 times a week. The good thing about this, I kept it going… and still today, as I type this (went gym this morning) I’m still doing it! I’ll admit, whilst travelling or away, it was hard to get to the gym, so some weeks… it may have been once or twice. But in all honesty… that’s ok. And I started this before I read the book, Atomic Habits – which is a great book!
    • Data is important to make improvements. As the saying goes, what you can’t measure, you can’t improve. So I’ve invested in some health gadgets which help me monitor various aspects of my health.
    • My iWatch captures steps and calories burned. I’m regularly checking my heart pressure and had more blood tests in 2024 to get data on a number of my organs/body/health etc… like my HbA1c.
  3. Me, Myself and I
    • I’ve invested more time in me. And by that, I mean I’ve been reading alot more, I’ve been spending time by myself to gather my thoughts and in 2024, I started writing more (down on paper) that helps me remember and build.
    • I also spent time reflecting. In my day to day job, spent time just understanding what needs to be done to make the organisation more successful. Asking myself questions like, have I got the right people, are we working on the right things, which items need to be prioritised, how can we grow and be more successful. All of this led to new processes, new items and setting ourselves up for success.
    • Back to point 1 – went on more holidays/vacations than before. Even weekends away. Even just having brunch with the family. This has all helped. We can discuss a number of things together.
    • What is even more fascinating is that, I read a book about the digital detox… and it was great. It was about how much time we spend on our devices. How much time we are on social media. And I reflected on this. Whilst it’s great, there needs to be a limit or some sort of control. So consciously, I’ve reduced the time I spend on my phone and other devices. So much so, I don’t think I’ve used my iPad as much this year as previous years!

So there you go… a quick review of my 2024 in a few bullet points.

It’s been a good year. I’ve read alot of books, sat in the sun, sipped on some cold drinks and enjoyed the moment.

I’ll reflect what I have planned for 2025 soon… in fact, I might not reflect, might just start doing it and sharing the progress.

And one of the things for 2025 is my blog.

Again, I’m conscious I’ve not blogged as much as I should. And when I have, it’s quite generic, or it’s about particular topics such as the new iPhone… so in 2025, I’m going to change that. In fact, I’m changing it now… It’s going to get personal!

That’s right… it’s going to focus on me with a sprinkle of tech. Or should I say, it’s going to be tech related but more personal. For example, all the travelling I do, I’ve bought some great travelling gagdets, wouldn’t it be good for me to share more personal reviews of what helps and what doesn’t!

So before I go…what was your best moment of 2024?

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Bal's Friday Thought

Bal’s Friday Thought…

Today’s thought is from an accomplished football manager. And it’s something I learnt recently with my Under 13’s football team.

You see, we’d won like 10 games in a row.. and won them well. Unfortunately, we got to a stage that the team walked onto the pitch thinking we’ve got this and we can win easily. However, that’s not always the case.

We lost. And heavily. They destroyed us.

But you know what. We learnt so much from that one defeat. We learnt about our positioning, we learnt that we shouldn’t take particular risks when the opposition have certain qualities. Every team is different however, we shouldn’t become complacent.

I suppose, this is a life lesson. When you make a mistake, or when something doesn’t work out… you learn so much! And that is what makes you better.

Carlo says it very well…

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Bal's Friday Thought

Bal’s Friday Thought…

We are always faced with so many choices.

Do you be… or do you go and do?

It’s a continuous loop of being, learning and understanding before you can go and do, share and be understood.

The Yin & Yang of Creativity…

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Bal's Friday Thought

Bal’s Friday Thought…

I’ll share more in an up and coming blog post, but last week I was in Atlanta at a Leadership meeting. And at the meeting the boss put up a slide, and at the bottom of the slide he shared the books he recommends.

Personally – I loved that. Because, I always want to read new books which are recommended by intelligent people.

Which got me thinking… about smart people I know.

There’s a fair few of them. And then I began to notice a trend. A pattern, amongst them. They read books was number one. But they had much more in common…

To become smart… here’s what I found;

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Bal's Friday Thought

Bal’s Friday Thought…

We are often faced with difficult situations where we have to learn a new way of working, a new method or a new process.

We hear that AI is going to take over our jobs.

Who knows?! But what we do know is that we should continuously learn new skills. Might seem hard at first…

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Bal's Friday Thought

Bal’s Friday Thought…

So recently, I was on holiday and took the opportunity to read a book.

The book I read this summer was called, Never split the difference.

It was a great ready! Thoroughly recommend it.

The reason why I like it so much was because Chris gave some wonderful examples, he shared stories of successes but also failures! (you don’t have many people do that.. and then finally, it really did teach me something about empathy!)

So today’s thought is… make sure you’re equipped with the skills needed to negotiate.

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Bal's Friday Thought

Bal’s Friday Thought…

Yesterday, I was talking to my team member about some work we are doing and I made the comment.. ‘slowly but surely’.

Now, for those who know me, I love the old Brian Clough quote, “Rome wasn’t built in a day, but I wasn’t on that particular job”. That’s very much me… but then on the other hand, there’s only so much you can do with what you have control over. It’s all about control.

So today’s thought is centred around doing what you can do, little by little, with the control you do have.