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Episode 53: 

Vicki O'Neill, Host of Connect the Dots, 2020 (unusual) Predictions

Show Notes:

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Predictions for the upcoming year traditionally fall into a technology category or marketing category or even a social media platform category. 

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When you look at predictions in these and other categories, you'll find that there aren't any consistencies or updates or reason why those predictions were made. 

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A prediction, after all, is what someone thinks will happen. 

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How do you determine who that someone is? And how do you determine if you want to take action on that prediction or even know the results at the end of the year?

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The 5 predictions I'm making don't fall into any of these categories. You will recognize them and I'm confident you'll agree with me on at least one of them.

 

Why? Because there are MANY people talking about the need to do these things.

 

It's the beginning of a new year. People love creating resolutions. If you're talking about these things then now is the time to act on them. You can make change happen without taking action. 

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To answer a question you may be asking....can these predictions be measured? No, not from a dashboard or from a monetary stand point. You can measure them, however. But you be the judge on how. 

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Prediction #1:  

Get uncomfortable

 

Feeling uncomfortable is the key to personal growth and success. Routines may feel comfy and cozy but they are really just dulling your sensitivities and keeping you from growing. We need to feel vulnerable in order to grow. And no one really enjoys that feeling but you need to feel it to appreciate it and experience it. It's the end of a year and a decade - what are you planning to do differently next year and the next decade? Know that there will be discomfort but you'll be better because of it. Here's a Forbes article with 4 steps with managing discomfort (show notes). 

 

My prediction is that more people will create one goal for their self that know it will create discomfort. And embracing vulnerability because you know next year at this time, you'll look back and say "I'm SO thankful I took that first step and made change happen!" 

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Prediction #2:

Embrace gratitude

 

You don't need to start a gratitude journal or even carve out time in your day to recognize something you're grateful for each day. We do, however, remember something more when we write it down vs type it out. The point of embracing gratitude is to recognize the good and the positive that surrounds us. What we say - out loud or to ourselves - is creating a memory or habit in our brains. So if you repeat and believe negative thoughts that's what you're training your brain to believe. The same is true on positive and good things - if you train your brain to believe and do positive things, that's what it will believe. Gratitude is all based on your habits. All you need to do each day at any point in the day is say out loud or write down (to get in the habit) one thing you're grateful for. It can be as simple as having food to eat or having a roof over your head - to start. The goal is to not repeat any of the items. There will be days you will be challenged to find something but that's the magic in this exercise - you can always find one thing to be grateful for. I posted a video on LinkedIn during my 30 business day video challenge which is a good example. I'll include it in the show notes. 

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My prediction is that more people will try this - and that you will have good intentions but won't want to go beyond the first 2-3 days. I'll challenge you to send me a DM on social media (your choice on platform - check out my website for the ones I'm on) 30 days after listening to this and let me know that you're still doing it - and liking the challenge!

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Prediction #3:

Exude kindness

 

I know this â€‹can be a challenge on normal days and especially on bad days. And we all have bad moments in a day or throughout a day. Even the most successful people in business have bad moments throughout a single day! BUT I encourage and challenge you to inject kindness into your work and interactions. Someone's mean to you or bullying you. Ignore them and forget it. Block them if you need to. Focus on you and being kind. Allowing someone else to take our kindness away even for a moment is giving up; control. You're in a work situation that's going into a downward spiral? You're not the first person to experience it - walk away. Better yet - kill 'em with kindness. It actually feels really good when I do this! 

 

My prediction is that more people will try this - and that it may be a challenge to continue based on your personal situation. This world needs more kindness. So all I ask is that you challenge yourself to find a way to inject kindness into your world. That's where it begins. Challenge yourself. Get uncomfortable. You'll grow as a result of it.

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Prediction #4:

Be helpful 

 

Helping others without expecting anything in return is the greatest gift you can give someone - especially someone just starting a new business or struggling to get their business of the ground. This is particularly helpful (pun intended) when you recognize that someone is struggling and just help without asking if they need it. Often times we're so focused on ourselves, what we need to do, who we need to contact or engage with that we don't pay attention to what's going on around us. 

 

My prediction is that more people will increase their awareness of what's happening around them. Not because it's mentioned here but because helping someone overcome a struggle or a challenging time in their life or career is a way to remind others that we're human - and we need humans to interact act with and see that they care. That's something that no degree of programming can fulfill when it comes to AI, VR, AR, machine learning and all the other robotic type technologies. To be helpful is to be human. 

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Prediction #5:

Focus on customers

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Start with the customer, map their various touch points and identify where the gaps are. Note the gaps could be internal to your team and not necessarily just a gap in content or a missing call to action. When you focus on the customer then develop your internal processes around the customer experience, you're more likely to attract, retain and gain customers and keep your customer acquisition costs low (no on likes to lose customers!)

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My prediction is that more brands will re-evaluate their structure and identify opportunities to better align with the customer. Forget the marketing label or sales label or customer service label - just look at the customer touch points and work backwards. You're reverse engineering the process. Worst case scenario? Nothing changes. But you could uncover a gap in your process that could save you millions of dollars. (It's happened before so keep that in mind.) The customer experience IS THE NEW MARKETING. Here's a link to video I did as part of my 30 business day video challenge - and it includes a link to an article you may be interested in. 

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Which prediction will you challenge yourself with as you start this new year and new decade?

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Better yet - which one do you want to look at a year from now and say "Damn! I nailed that one!!" 

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Let me know on your social media platform of choice! The ones I'm on are indicated in the website footer.

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