How will 2010 be different?

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How will 2010 be different?

by Paul Davis on January 14th, 2010
42 Comments

How will 2010 be different?

Any fool can be busy. Just as it takes no special talent to run around like a headless chicken, it takes no special talent to be consumed by other people’s deadlines.

I have no problem showing up for appointments that have been arranged with others. If I say I will be there, then 99% of the time I will indeed be present. Occasionally I will be let down by my own planning or technology or traffic; but those are rare instances and I cringe with embarrassment at the very recollection of such occasions.

But isn’t it amazing that I can still shrug off a development priority (whether personal or business) with hardly a murmur?

Whether it’s planning, team-development, writing an article, or improving the website; these priorities are easily replaced by the next deadline or the last email.

If we are not vigilant, delivery will always override development. This simple phenomenon accounts for more stress, overwhelm, endless feast-famine revenue cycles, exhaustion, frustration and broken resolutions than just about every other aspect of business life put together.

Recognising the truth of this changes nothing. Signing up for another development programme, reading another book, buying a franchise, embarking on an MBA: none of this helps… if we are not prepared to defend our development time and be accountable to somebody else.

It’s fair to say that if we don’t, nobody will complain. We may not even complain ourselves; we may instead justify the decision in terms of fees earned, people satisfied or goals achieved.

Over the past few years, I’ve got pretty good at defending professional development time. Now I would like to be equally vigilant with my personal development time. Specifically this means one hour every day, and a half day every weekend. I’m counting on you and a few thousand others to hold me accountable.

How do You want 2010 to be different?

Category: Business expansion

Tags: business, business development, business plan, business planning, small business, small business owners, strategic planning, suceeding in business, talking about business

The Author: Paul Davis

Paul Davis is a business growth specialist and set up Davis Business Consultants in 2001 to help business owners solve their biggest concerns: how to get more business, profits, focus and time; break through the barriers and reach the next level of growth. Having trained as a Management Accountant and become a Certified Management Consultant, Paul worked across a wide-range of industry sectors, including: consultancy, construction, high- and low-tech manufacturing, service, and nationwide retail. Paul soon became disillusioned with the lack of practical resources available to help business owners develop their business and so established his own consultancy. Paul has turned every loss making business he worked with into profit and is known for being a classic lateral thinker, his strong commercial acumen, and his down to earth approach in dealing with the constraints of a business, whatever they may be. For your FREE copy of his special report "The 7 Big Mistakes..." then visit www.davisbusinessconsultants.com http://www.davisbusinessconsultants.com

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http://www.channelship.ie/blog/ fred

Good post Paul. Welcome to Bloggertone! I like this: “If we are not vigilant, delivery will always override development”. I spend a lot of time doing research and delivering. It feels good to deliver but it's absolutely true that the next task will take over and over. I guess I also have to be vigilant with my development time. Maybe plan 5 hours a week and stick to it.
http://www.channelship.ie/blog/ fred

Good post Paul. Welcome to Bloggertone! I like this: “If we are not vigilant, delivery will always override development”. I spend a lot of time doing research and delivering. It feels good to deliver but it’s absolutely true that the next task will take over and over. I guess I also have to be vigilant with my development time. Maybe plan 5 hours a week and stick to it.
http://www.btbtraining.com/blog Niall Devitt

Hi Paul, Delighted to have you on board. I think you are absolutely right in terms of the need to maintain and defend development time. Unfortunately our mental wealth or indeed health are not something that employers often consider. The simple act taking some time to access and think about tasks is in itself frowned upon. Excellent post and thank you for starting a very important conversation.Regards, NIall
http://www.btbtraining.com/blog Niall Devitt

Hi Paul, Delighted to have you on board. I think you are absolutely right in terms of the need to maintain and defend development time. Unfortunately our mental wealth or indeed health are not something that employers often consider. The simple act taking some time to access and think about tasks is in itself frowned upon. Excellent post and thank you for starting a very important conversation.Regards, Niall
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barneyausten

Hi Paul. Welcome to the world of Bloggertoners. Nice piece. Agree with you 100%. There is always something else to do when you try to do “stuff” for personal and/or business development. I think that putting time aside is a start – but this often falls away if that development time is not spend doing something that is achievable either quickly or has milestones along the way that you can say “yup – I did that and I'm making progress”. Without this, you will quickly fall out of the habit of making the time and end up back where you started!
http://blog.myprojecttracker.com Barney Austen

Hi Paul. Welcome to the world of Bloggertoners. Nice piece. Agree with you 100%. There is always something else to do when you try to do “stuff” for personal and/or business development. I think that putting time aside is a start – but this often falls away if that development time is not spend doing something that is achievable either quickly or has milestones along the way that you can say “yup – I did that and I’m making progress”. Without this, you will quickly fall out of the habit of making the time and end up back where you started!
http://twitter.com/aileen456 aileen456

could not agree with you more. however knowing it and fighting against it are two entirely different things.it is truly the downfall of many of us potential billionaires.i do find it gets easier to defend your development time after 20 years of self employment. i would like to find a way to help new entrepreneurs switch it on from the start. any suggestions?
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http://twitter.com/aileen456 aileen456

could not agree with you more. however knowing it and fighting against it are two entirely different things.
it is truly the downfall of many of us potential billionaires.

i do find it gets easier to defend your development time after 20 years of self employment. i would like to find a way to help new entrepreneurs switch it on from the start. any suggestions?
LewisEvans

Nice post. You sound like a busy man. I guess that for those who are out of work, they have nothing but personal development time. Without the money, I wonder how they use that time as profitably as those who are in work can, who have the financial cushion, and still get good results. I think there are a lot of very well-developed people out there who probably are not getting a look in. What do you think, and do you see good ways to overcome this problem?
Anonymous

Nice post. You sound like a busy man. I guess that for those who are out of work, they have nothing but personal development time. Without the money, I wonder how they use that time as profitably as those who are in work can, who have the financial cushion, and still get good results. I think there are a lot of very well-developed people out there who probably are not getting a look in. What do you think, and do you see good ways to overcome this problem?
http://www.davisbusinessconsultants.com/ Paul

Thanks Fred. The key is to set aside at least a few hours each week and stick to it. In this way you're one step closer to removing yourself from the feast and famine revenue cycle that so many find themselves in.
pauldavisdublin

Thanks Niall. It is something however that will become a thing of the norm in businesses of the future (I think, excuse the pun!). The best way of bringing it into businesses is to have structured development meetings.
pauldavisdublin

Your exactly right Barney. The best way that I've dealt with it is to have somebody that holds me accountable (my mentor) not only for business but also for personal.
pauldavisdublin

It's all down to habit. The unfortunate thing is that there are no proper business growth programmes out there for new or would be budding entrepreneurs, or even for existing businesses that can teach them what's important (apart from my own!). It will definitely have to change for the future.
pauldavisdublin

You're right Lewis. The thing is to start looking for opportunities which there are plenty of and which don't need a lot of money or even any to get started. While it's a difficult position to be in, it also makes it more difficult to spot the opportunities. You can't think creatively or see opportunities however unless you get out and about and away from what potentially could be a negative situation for many people. Opportunities show up everywhere it's just that many people aren't looking. They're not obvious to everybody but they're all around us every day. I posted a few articles on this subject some time ago which might be still on my website news section somewhere. The main thing to do is to start looking at what you're good at, your strengths, your talents and your gifts. For anybody that has been displaced from a job, for the majority of people that deal with it correctly, nine times out of ten, it turns out to be a really positive experience in time to come because it was exactly what they needed at the time to get them going on what they really needed to do. Start looking at only positive things and keep asking the question – what else can I do? Take at least one action each day that will bring you a step closer. You'll start to see things differently. To explain – have you ever bought a car only to see the same make and model and colour car nearly every journey you take in that new car. Question – were all those cars already there before you bought the new car? Of course they were. Opportunities are everywhere, you just have to look for them differently. Here's to Your success.
LewisEvans

Excellent thoughts and advice Paul. Thanks for replying. These are all areas that Olga Sheean and I help people with. If you can get into people's negative subconscious programming and change it, it's amazing what can happen. A lot of people don't know they have the power to do that, and many more think that they cannot change a situation because they feel they have no power over it. But, as you know, there are ways….Good to meet you Paul, and I look forward to hearing more!
http://www.davisbusinessconsultants.com/ Paul

Thanks Fred. The key is to set aside at least a few hours each week and stick to it. In this way you’re one step closer to removing yourself from the feast and famine revenue cycle that so many find themselves in.
http://www.davisbusinessconsultants.com/ Paul Davis

Thanks Niall. It is something however that will become a thing of the norm in businesses of the future (I think, excuse the pun!). The best way of bringing it into businesses is to have structured development meetings.
http://www.davisbusinessconsultants.com/ Paul Davis

Your exactly right Barney. The best way that I’ve dealt with it is to have somebody that holds me accountable (my mentor) not only for business but also for personal.
http://www.davisbusinessconsultants.com/ Paul Davis

It’s all down to habit. The unfortunate thing is that there are no proper business growth programmes out there for new or would be budding entrepreneurs, or even for existing businesses that can teach them what’s important (apart from my own!). It will definitely have to change for the future.
http://www.davisbusinessconsultants.com/ Paul Davis

You’re right Lewis. The thing is to start looking for opportunities which there are plenty of and which don’t need a lot of money or even any to get started. While it’s a difficult position to be in, it also makes it more difficult to spot the opportunities. You can’t think creatively or see opportunities however unless you get out and about and away from what potentially could be a negative situation for many people. Opportunities show up everywhere it’s just that many people aren’t looking. They’re not obvious to everybody but they’re all around us every day. I posted a few articles on this subject some time ago which might be still on my website news section somewhere. The main thing to do is to start looking at what you’re good at, your strengths, your talents and your gifts. For anybody that has been displaced from a job, for the majority of people that deal with it correctly, nine times out of ten, it turns out to be a really positive experience in time to come because it was exactly what they needed at the time to get them going on what they really needed to do. Start looking at only positive things and keep asking the question – what else can I do? Take at least one action each day that will bring you a step closer. You’ll start to see things differently. To explain – have you ever bought a car only to see the same make and model and colour car nearly every journey you take in that new car. Question – were all those cars already there before you bought the new car? Of course they were. Opportunities are everywhere, you just have to look for them differently. Here’s to Your success.
Anonymous

Excellent thoughts and advice Paul. Thanks for replying. These are all areas that Olga Sheean and I help people with. If you can get into people’s negative subconscious programming and change it, it’s amazing what can happen. A lot of people don’t know they have the power to do that, and many more think that they cannot change a situation because they feel they have no power over it. But, as you know, there are ways….

Good to meet you Paul, and I look forward to hearing more!
http://www.davisbusinessconsultants.com/ Paul

Thanks Fred. The key is to set aside at least a few hours each week and stick to it. In this way you're one step closer to removing yourself from the feast and famine revenue cycle that so many find themselves in.
http://www.davisbusinessconsultants.com/ Paul Davis

Thanks Niall. It is something however that will become a thing of the norm in businesses of the future (I think, excuse the pun!). The best way of bringing it into businesses is to have structured development meetings.
http://www.davisbusinessconsultants.com/ Paul Davis

Your exactly right Barney. The best way that I've dealt with it is to have somebody that holds me accountable (my mentor) not only for business but also for personal.
http://www.davisbusinessconsultants.com/ Paul Davis

It's all down to habit. The unfortunate thing is that there are no proper business growth programmes out there for new or would be budding entrepreneurs, or even for existing businesses that can teach them what's important (apart from my own!). It will definitely have to change for the future.
http://www.davisbusinessconsultants.com/ Paul Davis

You're right Lewis. The thing is to start looking for opportunities which there are plenty of and which don't need a lot of money or even any to get started. While it's a difficult position to be in, it also makes it more difficult to spot the opportunities. You can't think creatively or see opportunities however unless you get out and about and away from what potentially could be a negative situation for many people. Opportunities show up everywhere it's just that many people aren't looking. They're not obvious to everybody but they're all around us every day. I posted a few articles on this subject some time ago which might be still on my website news section somewhere. The main thing to do is to start looking at what you're good at, your strengths, your talents and your gifts. For anybody that has been displaced from a job, for the majority of people that deal with it correctly, nine times out of ten, it turns out to be a really positive experience in time to come because it was exactly what they needed at the time to get them going on what they really needed to do. Start looking at only positive things and keep asking the question – what else can I do? Take at least one action each day that will bring you a step closer. You'll start to see things differently. To explain – have you ever bought a car only to see the same make and model and colour car nearly every journey you take in that new car. Question – were all those cars already there before you bought the new car? Of course they were. Opportunities are everywhere, you just have to look for them differently. Here's to Your success.
LewisEvans

Excellent thoughts and advice Paul. Thanks for replying. These are all areas that Olga Sheean and I help people with. If you can get into people's negative subconscious programming and change it, it's amazing what can happen. A lot of people don't know they have the power to do that, and many more think that they cannot change a situation because they feel they have no power over it. But, as you know, there are ways….Good to meet you Paul, and I look forward to hearing more!
http://www.btbtraining.com/blog Niall Devitt

Hi Brian, really interesting read! thanks for sharing your social media knowledge on Bloggertone. I think the most astounding thing in relation to SM is the numbers of people and the speed at which people are engaging. I think it’s becoming increasingly hard to define social media as the tools and more importantly the way in which people are using them is constantly evolving. Cheers, Niall
Anonymous

Thanks for the fascinating article on social media. Interesting that the first failed networks we focused on adding to off line networks. I saw one of the earlier Twitter promo videos lately which gave me a great laugh. Wow we have come along way since 1997.
http://twitter.com/drofsocialmedia Brian Prenderville

My pleasure Niall,

I agree, the speed is formidable. I also find rate at which the different demographics are signing up extremely interesting. No longer is it just the home of “screenagers” and college students, for example back in Feb 2009 the fastest growing segment was women over the age of 55 !

http://twitter.com/drofsocialmedia
http://www.socialmediadoctor.eu
http://twitter.com/drofsocialmedia Brian Prenderville

We sure have Gregfry ! thanks for ur comment. Danath and Boyd did the hard work really , I just gave my take on it

http://twitter.com/drofsocialmedia
http://www.socialmediadoctor.eu
http://www.wchingya.com wchingya

It’s fascinating to read about the past and present about social media. I remember the glorious days of ICQ and Friendster in South East Asia back in the old days. Can’t believe how fast the trend shifted and now nearly all generations are getting online! I’m interested to see what will happen in the next decade. Thanks so much for digging up the history, it’s a lesson to learn.

@wchingya
Social/Blogging Tracker
http://twitter.com/drofsocialmedia Brian Prenderville

glad you liked it @wchingya

http://twitter.com/drofsocialmedia
http://www.socialmediadoctor.eu
http://firstpagegoogleresults.com/ video search optimization

We then present one perspective on the history of such sites, discussing key changes and developments
http://richardmclaughlin.biz/ McLaughlin

It’s interesting to see the time line, user count and other info in one place. How one network is The One to be part of only to be replaced by the next big thing.
I never got into MySpace, I had an account but never really used it. I have a FB account, but only use that to play games with my friends. I have an active Twitter account, and a second account that tweets about things that are green (I never really use that second account, it is fed by several RSS feeds). That second account has over 15k followers and people really seem to like it – funny since it is a bot account with no human behind it.
It will be fun to see where SNS take us in 2010 and 2011, now that FB is more popular that Google dot com and at the same time many business people don’t like FB because of people like me that do nothing professional there.

(nb, FB is not really #1, all of their traffic hits the dot com and google has the dot in, cn, de, co.uk and fr in the alexa top 25)
http://twitter.com/drofsocialmedia Brian Prenderville

thanks for the comments McLaughlin.

Your thoughts got me wondering if Facebook worry about the “Next Big Thing” ! Sure will be fun to see where SNS takes us in 2010 and 2011. Good last point also about Facebook not really being number 1

http://twitter.com/drofsocialmedia
http://www.socialmediadoctor.eu
http://www.fortysomethingbride.com/ Colleen Cole

Does anyone else remember the days of BBS? Those were probably the original, original social networking sites, but they targeted a tiny niche – most people didn’t even own a computer back in the day. Social networking sure has come a long way in a very short period of time.
http://www.codegaconsulting.com/ Una Coleman

Brian, llike you I thoroughly recommend the recent BBC Virtual Revolution series. It’s puts a perspective on current trends – patterns of behaviour versus trends, and how things are likely to pan out in the future. For the non “digital natives” among us, getting our heads around sharing personal information and details of our private lives on open fora like Facebook is painful. Virtual Revolution gives some very interesting viewpoints. In the future, no one will care about the silly photos and commentary one posted as an 18 year old. They will not come back to haunt us. It will be acccepted as normal behavour for an 18 year old.
More interesting is the number of businesses that are opening Facebook pages and how companies and businesses are integrating social media marketing into their overall marketing strategy. And no, it’s not just about the conversation. Content and the opportunity to connect may be the definition of internet networking in the future (as opposed to “social” networking).
Anonymous

some great comments Una, thanks

I must say I really enjoyed virtual revolution and great to connect with someone that seems to have found it as interesting as I have.

Great point in relation to whether people will mind in 20 years time what the 18 year olds of generation Y, M or I did as it will be acepted as ” that’s just what they do”

I think if people are worried about what’s going to come back to “haunt” them and as a result don’t engage they will be missing out on the opportunities afforded to them by social media such as connecting with new people and increasing their social capital.

I was at a “virtual enterprise” conference in Glyndwr Wales recently orgainised by Matt Draycott ( see http://www.socialmediadoctor.eu for a post Matt did for me) and I remember cringing as the ” Ethics and Privacy” speaker started talking about privacy issues related to banking on line etc. I suggested to her that if people thought the same way not so long ago we would have no “ATM” or “Bank Link” cards today ! To be fair I respect her area of study and think that we do need such research so as to keep us in check but it does tend to get my back up sometimes; I feel if we listened to all of these people we would stifle innovation and creativity and probably still be buying Black Ford’s !

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