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My 5 Predictions for 2018 by David Guerra

As with every new year come the inevitable predictions for what people believe will happen in that new year. So why not me? I have a voice, a platform, and a soap box. I have as much right as the next guy to be wrong.  I also have the same right as the next guy to correct in making my predictions for 2018.

Here are my top 5 Predictions for 2018.

#1 PERSONAL GROWTH

 
All throughout my life I have heard people say, “Ad nauseam”, how they are doing things for themselves and for the better yet never actually work on it. When they see that others have caught them not delivering on those words they wait a while (usually until the heat (of being caught) dies down) and then come back swinging with the same old and very tired line.
 
I believe that 2018 will be the defining moment for many to step up to a new plane of thinking, believing, living and behaving. They will finally realize that by just saying the words nothing magical will happen. The only magic is the magic they make for themselves.
 
Making magic always has been and always will be through hard work. The kind of hard work that comes from thinking you are doing hard work only to realize you could do more. It is like believing you are giving 100% but come to find out you have another 10% to give. There is no such thing as giving 110%! There is the realization that you are shortchanging everyone by only giving 90% but claiming something more.
 
This is a long shot but I do believe that in 2018 people will start to measure their life on what they are DOING and not on their past.

#2 VIRTUAL REALITY / AUGMENTED REALITY

A new world awaits all of us. Imagine putting on a headset and instantly you are standing in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. You are looking up then you look to your left and next to you is an old long lost flame. Someone you had no seen in years. You say hello and that long lost love looks at you and smiles. You catch up on your respective lives since breaking up so long ago. You do so feeling safe the two of you are not in Paris, physically you are at home, and your old flame is at home a couple of thousand miles away.

Next you are instantly transported to the great pyramid of Cheops. Now you are standing next to your significant other who also happens to be in the very next room and virtually you go off exploring one of the seven wonders of the world.

While we are not there yet, in 2018 Virtual Reality and/or Augmented Reality technology will take significant leaps and bound to make the previous two paragraphs a near reality. In 2017, the price of VR headsets dropped to a level that now any kid that mows a couple of lawns can afford her own journey to the foot of the Eiffel Tower or a train ride from England to France in the “Chunnel” (look it up). By Christmas time, we will start to see software packages that promise to take us on the tour of the Gobi Desert or we will swim through the reefs of the South Pacific Ocean. While we might not be completely convinced we are there but you just wait and see.

Oh, yes rest assured we are living in the future. A future where the line between science fiction and science fact become blurred with each passing day.

3. PERSONAL EXPERIENCES

In 2018, people will focus more on making and participating in experiences. Fun, Travel, Adventure will rule the day in 2018. This will not be limited to millennials and the younger generations but everyone Gen X, Gen Y, Baby Boomers. These experiences will not be limited to traveling halfway across the planet but down the street, the next town over and so on.

Additionally, the experiences will not just be solo adventures but as a collective. Friends, Strangers and Family members. Shared experiences creates a common bond. Soon strangers are friends. Family bonds are strengthen and friends become family. Yes, it works that way.

The change from hearing about it to doing will take a huge surge in 2018 and I do expect it to carry over to 2019 and beyond.

4. TECHNOLOGY: PREDICTIVE AI (ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE)

We already have Siri, Alexa, Google Home. Soon Microsoft will join the voice based artificial intelligence battlefield. Battlefield? In 2018, you smart phone, tablet, and voice device will become more intuitive and predictive. Imagine your smart phone telling you thinks like, “I see you are the grocery store, it has been two weeks since you purchased red wine, it might be time for a new bottle of Lambrusco” or recommending it is time for an oil change and presenting you the top three deals in your geographic area. That sounds pretty simple but as AI technology continues to advance so will the predictive capabilities of the system.

What I see is AI technology not only reminding us of upcoming anniversaries and birthdays but working with us to tell us the conditions exist that our automobile is facing a unique stress as gas mileage is low and then telling us that our diet is seriously low in potassium and a leg cramp is coming. Then things will only get better. However, at what cost?

For true PREDICTIVE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE to work we have to give something up. We have to give up a bit more of our unique privacy. We have to allow the “machines” to go deeper into our lives. Are we prepared to give up more than we already have to have the unique “customized” experience that the future promises to bring?

5. People Will Evolve: (Because Change Said So)

No matter how difficult it is for people to want to change, they will change. Whether they like it or not, people will change. They have to change and 2018 will be no exception. However, what will be different this year, I see people will want to actively and purposefully seek out change. Why the active need to change?

We are well into the 21st Century and times are changing. Whether for better or worse, these times they are changing and attitudes are changing. When it comes to changing attitudes, the only way to do so is to get up and do it. As the world changes, it is those that refuse to change that will get left behind. Being left behind is not a good thing especially when

As we move faster and further into the 21st Century the only thing that will remain the same is change. 2018 and beyond will be nothing but change, for everyone. Now is the time to get to work because if you do come along for the great ride that 2018 is already promising to give all of use. I cannot wait to see what happens at the end of the year and witness, firsthand, how far or how close we get to the future.

 

As always, if you questions please feel free to reach out and contact me.

by David G. Guerra, MBA
Author of “The Walking Leader” and “Great To Follow”
twitter: @DaveGuerra
instagram: dave_guerra

 

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My 2018 Wish For Everyone by David G. Guerra

Happy New Year!

Here we are, the calendar is calling us to notice a new year has arrived and it is here to stay. I am taking a few minutes today to write a small call-to-action, a micro-manifesto, a wish for everyone in 2018.

Hey, it is 2018. We made it! For the most part, we made it in one piece. Now ahead of us are choices and changes.

Choices we make are our own. While it may be easy to blame others the choices we make in response to the actions of others are strictly our own to make.

Changes are here. Changes are coming. For those living in the past, changes happened back then as well. Guess what, changes we will adore and other changes we will hate. However, how we react to those changes is our own choice.

Make the decision to have a GREAT & POSITIVE 2018. As I have put myself in the situation I am in now, YOU have put yourself in your own unique situation. Good or bad, you cannot only oblige yourself to make it better every day.

I know I cannot change the past, why bother even trying to re-write history. What is done can never be undone. However, I do know I can write what has not been written: my future. I do know that my future will be full of downs and ups but you have to be realistic and optimistic to know the downs are there to make us appreciate the ups.

Standing before all of us on this first day of the new calendar is the FUTURE. The unwritten, untainted, undisturbed future. It is a blank page. It is like newly fallen snow. So serene and full of possibilities. You must choose what you want to do with 2018, as I will choose what to do with my future. Remember, if others see you as weak or a failure or put in a place of misery you are there because you have given power to others. In 2018, reclaim your power by failing to allow the misery of others to become the definition of who you are today.

I know you are stronger than that. Sure, it is easy to blame others and it hurts to admit that you are still living in the past. Yet, the calendar keeps changing and the more things around you change why not change alongside them? Hold your head up, as I choose to do, refuse to allow the past and the symbols of the past (i.e., the results of failed relationships, refusing to recognize and have trust in what you have created) to dominate your current existence. While the past is a very comfortable place, it is not the reality of the present. The past with all its tainted warmth and comfort makes it difficult to trust the future. However, the future has been given to each and every one of us to create something better than what we had yesterday.

Do not get me wrong, as I do understand there is also pain associated with the past. Yet, reliving that pain day in and day out is not fair to yourself and those around you. Remaining entrenched in your past creates no future for you and those around you. Join those that have accepted the past for what and where it is. Join them in choosing to move forward.

The wonder and magic of the future is to be celebrated and shared. However, being around someone who is firmly anchored in the past is a recipe creating more pain, misery, distrust, anger, and ultimately hate. It also creates resentment and the roots of alienation begin because of the refusal to choose to let go of the past and accept that change is what will make us better people. Better human beings. Better family. Better friends. Better Life.

Now you ask, “Why start if others refuse to accept change and make a positive choice in life? The answer is simple; why are you worried about others? You cannot force someone to do what they do not want to do, especially if it means accepting that their version of life is one anchored in the past. A life that is moored to failed relationships, tied to bad decisions, and full of despair of not doing something about it. You can only do for yourself. Be the example, even if they do not want to pay attention, by accepting change and work at making those positive choices that will deliver the positive outcomes.

Yet, if they continue to work to bring you down understand and know that you are your own person and the only obligation you have is to yourself. Thus, if you choose to follow them down that rabbit hole, then you do so on your own. On the other side of the same coin, you are right and just in leaving those that are living in the past in the past and moving forward.

Yet you ask, “Won’t that make me an insensitive piece of human waste?” NO! Why would you want to remain miserable knowing by stepping away will bring you joy and happiness? Do not think you are wrong for walking away from the misery others refuse to leave. Sticking around is not being merciful.

What mercy is there when one human being savors in dragging others down into their pit of despair? It is not right and it is not just, yet many people do it because they simply can. Again, your time to move away from the negative and into the positive is now. All you have to do is want it. When you accept that change then do it, it is the only way to get started on writing your own future.

Change has now taken residence right in front of me, in front of you, in front of all of us and it will be here from this moment on until our last day. Accepting Change and Choice in 2018 is just for you!

Today, I will raise a glass and toast everyone (Family, Friends, New Friends, Old Friends, and those friends yet undiscovered)! I wish you nothing but positive, health, happiness and good for 2018 and all the years that follow.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

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Why I Empower All My Customers And You Should To!

Some say empowering your customers is the greatest gift you can give your customers. I agree.

I wholeheartedly agree when it comes to making your customers, your clients better. By empowering them, you also make them better clients and customers. Having better clients and customers you have greater success as a business and as a leader. However, what about your best customers? Don’t start segregating the best from the good from the mediocre from the bad.

Don’t Do It!

All your customers turn to you because you are the best.

All of them are your best customers/clients.

Whether they spend $10 a year or $10,000 a quarter, each and every customer is worth your best. Some businesses focus on the top tier $$$ based customers. Some focus solely on the top and mid tier customers. Too few focus on ALL customers from all tiers or levels of money spent on the company’s product or service. Unfortunate for those businesses that refuse to look beyond the top tier as they will never realize the power the mid and lower tiers bring.

Sure most people and organizations have every right to believe that the top 20% bring 80% of the wealth. However, at any moment any of the 80% that bring the 20% can suddenly jump into the top 20% and if your organization is not doing anything to empower that customer/client then rest assured that individual or group will go someplace else. Guaranteed!

If you can’t find time for them, then don’t be surprised when they don’t go looking for you. Do not be surprised when they give their money to someone else.

This is why empowering all your customers is best! That is why I empower ALL my customers and clients. It is not that I expect something in return. I empower them to make the right decisions based on the knowledge, wisdom and skills I share with them. That means I am not only make my customers smarter, I am giving them the tools to use my products or services to the best of their ability. I share with them all that I know about my products and services.

I do this in hopes that they can understand what I bring to their organization and with that understand they can communicate back to me about any ideas, changes, concerns, or questions that serve to ultimately make the products and services better.

You bring them into the fold. You bring the customer behind the counter. You make the client part of the team, part of the creative team. They are now empowered to be innovators of the next version of the product or service.

Being members of the team, your customers/clients are now a valuable component of the organization. This is a component that pays you. They pay you by buying the product or service. Then they continue to pay you by providing the feedback. While feedback is not guaranteed, it is something to expect from some or more of all your customers. Those that provide that feedback will provide feedback that will be most valuable to your and your organization.

Now be careful when you empower them by bringing them into the fold. Too much, too soon may be intimidating and cause the client/customer to withdraw. The same applies for the opposite: too little, too slow. When things move too slow you run the risk of the customer or client losing interest in what you are doing or trying to do.

It will be difficult but if you truly want ALL your customers and clients to be the best they can be then go ahead and empower them. The return on that investment may astound you.

As always, if you questions please feel free to reach out and contact me.

by David G. Guerra, MBA
Author of the Walking Leader and Great To Follow
twitter: @DaveGuerra
instagram: dave_guerra