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Bal's Friday Thought

Bal’s Friday Thought…

Time goes quick.

Tomorrow, in the morning… I’ll be attending the funeral of a young man who passed away.

Then tomorrow evening, have a wedding reception of a close family friend (who recently got married). I’ve known him since he was a little kid.

Got me thinking, how time goes so quickly…. And mostly around wanting to do things which unfortunately stay as wants and aren’t ticked off the list…

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Bal's Friday Thought

Bal’s Friday Thought…

An old colleague recently reached out to me. He said, ‘Bal… I need some advice’.

I was more than happy to share whatever elements of wisdom I had and also provide him with not answers but questions for him to come to the answers.

You see, for me, I love to see people succeeding. It’s not a competition – it’s about everyone getting to where they want to get to and if I can help folks on that journey, then that’s only a good thing, right?

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Bal's Friday Thought

Bal’s Friday Thought…

Summer is here! Well, the weather has been a mixed bag… some days have been awesome lovely sunshine, some cloudy.. but that’s ok.

So Summer is kind of here! and thank you to Koen, who part of this Summer Book Club, always sends me a book for the summer to read. He provides me with a list of great books – and asks me to choose one. I’ll be honest – look forward to the Summer Book Club email… because a) I know I’ll be going on holiday soon, b) I’ll have a book to read and c) it’s nice to be part of the club.

So which book did I go for this summer…. well it was a difficult choice! There were so many great books on the list. But the one I ended up going fo was ‘The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down’. It’s by Haemin Sunim – and I’ve already started reading it! It’s brilliant… my favourite part of the book is my Friday Thought for today. I shared it on my Insta and got plenty of likes… even Gurpreet Singh (aka Sikh Dad) privately messaged me reflecting on this.

Here’s my Friday Thought… a Buddha see’s Buddha, a pig sees pigs… what do you see?

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Bal's Friday Thought

Bal’s Friday Thought…

I’m not going to apologise to the folk I spoke to for the last few days and kept referencing Ted Lasso.

It was the final show on Wednesday – and yes, one was a little emotional.

Absolutely brilliant! The best show ever! And if you haven’t had the opportunity to watch it – honestly, you should! There is so much we can learn from Ted. Like… be a goldfish!

Bal…. what’s your favourite quote or part of the show?

Well, there’s so many to choose from, but if you pinned me down and asked me to say one, it’d be the one below…

I’ve even got the quote saved on my phone.

Have a great weekend folks!

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Bal's Friday Thought

Bal’s Friday Thought…

When was the last time you wanted something and you went for it?

When was the last time you asked for something, and got it?

In life, we have so many opportunities missed. Don’t miss them. Ask the question, go after what you want, do what you want – move forward… life is short. Enjoy it.

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2023 Technology Trends

Happy New Year!

So… what’s big for 2023?

Well… technically, there’s nothing ‘big’ for 2023 – but alot of progress and enhancements of what is already out there.

I thought I’d share my Top Five Big Things for 2023!

  1. Artifical Intelligence (AI) Everywhere
    • Spoken about AI before but in 2023, it’s going to take a major leap. Why is that? – because it will become real in organizations. No-code AI, with its easy drag-and-drop interfaces, will enable any business to leverage its power to create more intelligent products and services.
    • AI will also augment nearly every job in every business process across industries. More retailers will use AI to manage and automate the complex inventory management processes that happen behind the scenes, so convenience trends like buy-online-pickup-at-curbside (BOPAC), buy-online-pickup-in-store (BOPIS), and buy-online-return-in-store (BORIS), will become standard.
    • AI will also be the engine behind the newest autonomous delivery initiatives that retailers are piloting and rolling out, and more and more retail workers will need to get used to working alongside machines to do their jobs.
  2. Digital and Physical Worlds coming closer
    • We’re already seeing an emerging bridge between the digital and physical worlds, and this trend will continue in 2023. There are two components of this merger: digital twin technology and 3D printing.
    • Digital twins are virtual simulations of real-world processes, operations, or products that can be used to test new ideas in a safe digital environment. Designers and engineers are using digital twins to recreate physical objects inside virtual worlds, so they can test under every conceivable condition without the high costs of real-life experiments. In 2023, we’ll see even more digital twins, from factories to machinery to cars to precision healthcare.
    • After testing in the virtual world, engineers can tweak and edit components, then create them in the real world using 3D printing technology.
    • For example, Formula 1 teams currently collect data transmitted from sensors during races, as well as race track temperatures and weather conditions, to see how cars change during races. Then they stream the data from the sensors to digital twins of the engines and car components and run scenarios to make design changes on the fly. The teams then 3D print car parts based on the results of their testing.
  3. Green Technology
    • One of the biggest challenges the world is facing right now is putting the brakes on our carbon emissions so we can tackle the climate crisis.
    • In 2023, look for continued progress around green hydrogen, a new clean-burning source of energy that produces close to zero greenhouse gas emissions. Shell and RWE, two major European energy companies, are creating the first major green pipeline from wind plants in the North Sea.
  4. Robots more Human-like
    • In 2023, robots will become even more like humans — in appearance and capability. These types of robots will be used in the real world as event greeters, bartenders, concierges, and companions for older adults. They’ll also perform complex tasks in warehouses and factories as they work alongside humans in manufacturing and logistics.
    • One company is working hard to create a human-like robot that will work in our homes. At Tesla AI Day in September 2022, Elon Musk revealed two Optimus humanoid robot prototypes, and said the company would be ready to take orders within the next 3 to 5 years. The robot can perform simple tasks like lifting items and watering plants — so perhaps soon we’ll be able to have “robot butlers” that help around in the house.
  5. Sustainable Technology
    • Finally, we’ll see a push toward more sustainable technology in 2023. Many (if not most) of us are addicted to technology like our smartphones, tablets, and computers — but where are the components coming from to manufacture our favorite gadgets? People will be thinking more about where rare earth components for things like computer chips originate and how we’re consuming them.
    • And moreso, where can we use/upgrade/renew technology to further it’s life. Even the Head of Sustainability at BMW said we should look at using older cars – and have a mechanism in place to update and renew parts quickly and cost effectively.

So there you go – my Top Five.

Any things you’re thinking that in 2023 will hit us from a Technology perspective?

Off course… I left out some obvious items, such as what Elon is doing over at Twitter and a few other items because they’re more specific and all depends how much some of these billionaires throw at their projects.

For me – Point 5, sustainability is key. That’s the most important one. And in one of my up and coming blogs – I’ll talk about repair cafe’s that are popping up, and ways to be more concious about the environment when it comes to tech.

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Bal's Friday Thought

Bal’s Friday Thought…

One snippet, one moment… is all it takes for someone to form an impression. To form that opinion. To form that picture by which they’ll judge you.

Usually, there’s much more going on. Much much more.

Social Media has made it so easy for us to assume from a persons single post or comment.

Whilst everyone chooses different things to share at different parts of the day, week, month… just remember, what we see isn’t always the full picture.

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Bal's Friday Thought

Bal’s Friday Thought…

There’s a lot of time, people spend, in trying to please others.

I once shared a Friday Thought… if you want to please everybody, buy an ice cream van.

Truth be told… it’s a need to be liked. To be accepted. To be part…. But the real truth is, you lose yourself. Don’t. You are you. You are unique. You are awesome.

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Bal's Friday Thought

Bal’s Friday Thought…

My Friday Thought today is… Efforts reflect interest.

The more you put in, the more you’ll get out.

The more you tend to it, the bigger it’ll grow.

The higher the effort, the larger the gain.

The more you’re interested, the more effort you’ll put in.

Enjoy what you do…

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Bal's Friday Thought

Bal’s Friday Thought…

It’s been a while! For that, I apologise. A lot has been going on… (all good just to add! – just been super busy) but I’m back on it again! (And appreciate the messages from you guys asking me about me blog, the Friday Thought, etc…)

And here we go, with today’s Friday Thought…