Tag: passion

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Bal's Friday Thought

Bal’s 2021 Thought…

It’s Friday. Usually I have Bal’s Friday Thought on a Friday. But today, it’s a 2021 thought. That’s right – I’m thinking about the year that’s just gone.

What a year. Let’s be honest. A alot happened, right? Whilst a lot happened, we were still restricted and a lot didn’t happen. Covid still lingers in the air. Mutations of the virus are with us – and we are still having to be careful. Flights, holidays, etc… not the ‘normal’ as we expected. But the main thing is, if you’re reading this, you’re alive.

Unfortunately, in 2021 – I attended more funerals than I actually wanted to. Sad times – and a few tears shed. Some were unexpected – in fact, most were unexpected. And that’s why I’m grateful, to be able to continue to do what I enjoy.

Now, whilst I don’t have a tech review of the year – what I do have, is a great review from Inc.com who share their ‘biggest business moments’ from 2021 – https://www.inc.com/steven-i-weiss/biggest-business-moments-2021.html

NFT art in Hong Kong, China. Getty Images

Whilst we all learnt a lot in 2021, and technology (and business) grew more advanced – with some super rich people going into space (the billionaire space race)… I took some time to reflect locally.

For me, I was on BBC Radio quite often, to share my thoughts on technology (and other topics when on BBC Asian Network). And it’s something I’ll continue into 2022. We often do an exercise at the end of a project – what went well – and what we need to improve. A lessons learnt type of exercise. So we can improve and get better. The interesting thing here is, I’m doing something similar for myself. What is it that I should continue… and what should I improve on.

One thing for this blog, which I’ve been doing for a few years, is to improve what I talk about. I’ve mainly shared articles on technology, motivational elements and how we can improve (as people). I will continue to do that. But improve with more videos, and providing more information. I do need some help though. It’d be great if you could ask questions, share your thoughts… help with building more content. Recently, I was asked about Christmas presents. Which I shared a blog post. Then I was asked for ‘lower cost’ presents. Which I did. And the great thing there was, it helped a few people. I know this. From the replies I received. Thank you.

In general – there’s a number of things I’ll continue as-is… but there’ll be things I want to improve. As I make my list… it’d be great for you to share via the comments section below, what you want to improve on. Could it be health? Could it be to train and learn a particular skill? or could it be, you want to follow your passion? Speaking recently to a family member, they’re a teacher… but love to clean cars. I mean, really clean cars. Like, detail them. And they’re seriously considering, quitting their job, and clean… sorry, detail… cars for a living. I personally, think it’s a great idea! Follow your passion – if your finances allow you to, great! If they don’t, make a plan… and when the time does come that you’re financially able to follow your passion – do it. Because, you never know – when your time will come and you end up in a box and that’s it. So whilst you’re on this planet – enjoy your life and do something that brings a smile to your face… just like this family member who got a small vacuum cleaner (with liquids and water, and all sorts) to be used in cars for christmas and was absolutely in love with it! (Honestly… not seen a grown man, talk so passionately about a vacuum cleaner.. in fact, whilst he was showing me, is stayed in between us the whole evening! (that is the sign of true love!).

And if you don’t know what your passion is, try different things. Experiment. Talk. Understand. Watch youtube videos. Just do something – and try. You’ll find it. And on that journey, you’ll pick up lots of other skills.

So with that, I hope you have fun seeing what you want to continue into 2022, what you want to improve on in 2022… and wish you, an awesome New Year. Thank you so much for supporting me and reading my blogs in 2021.

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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…

It’s crazy when you look around, and the passionate ones are quiet or not as vocal as they used to be.

It happens. It’s worrying. I’ve seen it happen.

The passionate ones – lose the interest. Lose the motivation. Lose the will. Lose their mojo. They’ll apply their passion elsewhere. How’s your passion holding up for what you do?

More importantly… what you doing to keep hold of those passionate ones?

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Monday Motivation

I always suggest – if you have a passion, you should follow it!

Sometimes, at the start it might not work out – or success might not come that soon or as quick as you wish…. but keep going. Don’t give up. Keep learning…

Today’s Motivation comes from a footballer…

Imagine – having to pay to play!

How many of you would pay to follow a passion? May would expect to be paid!!

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Got an Idea… but not the brains!

Recently, on Twitter… someone was saying, how they want/need more money… so I replied, I’ve got a few ideas, could make them work.

…Don’t have the brains. Fair enough, you may not have the knowledge right now, but to make a business or startup work, you need passion.

That’s where success comes from. Passion.

Brains… well, you can learn as you go along. You can learn on the job. You can learn from others. What the heck… you can even learn from various YouTube videos that are available!!

The ‘I don’t have the brains’ bit… I don’t believe. Not picking on Claire… there could be a whole host of other things that are preventing her from starting her own little business… but I do hear this a lot from other folk.

The usual comment is…

I don’t know how.

Do you think Bill Gates knew everything to get Microsoft going?

Do you think Steve Jobs knew everything to get Apple going?

No. But they learnt. They had a passion to get started and then they learnt. They ‘collaborated’. They worked with others. Microsoft and Apple both had co-founders. You could argue, they were the brains behind the company!

Bal… what happens if you’re not really passionate about anything?

Then find a hobby. Choose something that interests you. Something that’ll keep you occupied. Something that you’ll look forward to. Try different things…. You’ll find something you enjoy, and then you can become passionate about it.

We are living in an ever changing world…. it’s becoming easier to get a start-up going. Easy to talk and collaborate with others… local universities have days/evenings where you can pop along and meet others. There’s also meetup… app/website where you can find other like-minded people, who may be meeting up… and meet up… and talk…. and share ideas… and learn from them.

So there you go… want to earn some more money? Become passionate… Learn and use those skills. Because we all know… skills pay bills.

 

 

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Didn’t they do well….

Let’s be honest.. hasn’t it been a great Summer so far, especially with the FIFA World Cup!

All the surprises… who would have thought Germany would’ve gone out during the group stages… or that Croatia would’ve made it to the Finals?

Or how’s about, England making it to the Semi Finals? I know… although there was a moment we all thought that the finals were ours… we did very well in Russia this summer.

But most in particular for me, it came down to one thing. Leadership.

That’s right… the leader, the manager, the person in charge. Mr. Southgate.

Couple of things that really stood out for me….. (that made it a bit magical).

1. The Passion.

A normally quiet kind of guy… composed and not necessarily always full of emotions… however, the passion was there.

When we won, there was a moment when Gareth would walk over to the fans and really encourage them… Thank them…. show the passion!

And this filtered down to the players. They played with passion. They stepped up and that’s one of the reasons why the England team did well.

2. The Experience

We know he’s been there. He’s experienced heart ache. He’s got the scars and the stories.

You have to have been through those times, those difficult times…. where either things haven’t gone right and/or you know what could’ve made it better.

And it’s that…that helps you learn. Make things better for the future. With experience…. comes that knowledge.

3. Humanity

There were several other words I could’ve used. Compassion. Kindness. Sympathy…..

After the Semi Final game…. Gareth, hugged each devasted player. Hugged the staff.

After the majority had gone home. Hugged his wife. It’s this quality that shows he cares. Deep down… he cares. It matters to him. A lot.

Even at the press conference, thanked the players, the staff, the fans – especially those who travelled over… thanked Russia for hosting such a wonderful World Cup, thanked everyone.

Thank you Gareth. You exceeded expectations.

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A Leader Leads by Example…

Last week I was in lovely Stockholm. At a Leadership Meeting.

At the meeting, we had our Chief Executive share a short presentation – well, in fact, he didn’t have any slides… he just spoke.

There were a few things he said, that really resonated with me, and some phrases he shared that I wrote down.

You could be thinking – Well Bal… Leaders are meant to say things and share things that should resonate and folk write down. That’s why they are leaders.

True. But I’ve seen leaders previously… to whom, i’d listen to. But wouldn’t have the urge to write anything down.

This then got me thinking. In general. About Leaders…. Leadership behaviours, Leadership traits, etc… How should a Leader be?

There’s lots of traits a leader should have… Let’s take Mr Steve Jobs. One of the most well known leaders of recent times… what were the components of his leadership?

That last one… Effective Communication! – That’s the key one in my opinion. One of the most important ones.

I appreciate leaders have a lot going on. Emails, calls, meetings, presentations, etc… then there’s the day job! But what is important is having the ability to communicate.

But it’s not just communicate, but effectively communicate.

For example, I’ve heard one of our leaders previously say….  “that people are important in an organisation“. Yes – agreed, they’re important. He then went on to say, “how we have to value them and treat them fairly. ” Agree. We should. goes without saying, right?… he then shared, “sometimes, you have to make decisions which impact people” – that is true, maybe moving people around the organisation, changing roles, reduced hours, etc… change can happen. “and it’s when looking and making these decisions, we have to ensure, people are treated fairly“.

It’s not always about telling a story, but being clear and concise on the message. Allowing the audience to take away the key take away’s without you having to say, here’s the key take away’s!

And a good leader does this by example.

If he’s treating people fairly, the people below him will treat their people fairly, and so on… If the leaders are doing what they are saying, then the element of trust can build.

You probably know how I like to link sports to business.

In sports, and i’ll focus on football… you have some great leaders. Either on or off the pitch.

On the pitch, they can be visible. With their behaviours. Their attitude. Their style. But most importantly, with their communication.

Don’t forget, communication can be both, verbal and non-verbal.

Actions speak louder than words.

So if you are a leader, or aspiring to be a leader… firstly, take note of the above components – embed them into your day to day activities and long term goals… (you might be wondering, Bal… how do I learn how to communicate… well… there’s courses… and these days, you could probably do what I do, and jump onto YouTube and watch some of Steve Jobs presentations… or watch a video of people sharing top tips on how to communicate) – but remember, it’s also about non-verbal as well. Secondly… watch the video below of Carlos Puyol. His leadership behaviours are a great example to follow…