2012 International Year of Resilience – top 10 Tips

In thinking about the year ahead I’ve decided to call it the International Year of Resilience. With everything that appears to be going on in the world there’s unlikely to be any quick fixes and so I provide for you here below, my Top 10 Tips for building more resilience into your lives. If you want to follow and contribute to the Twitter conversation, please use the following tag #2102YearofResilience. Tip 1: Be Productive, not ‘busy’ – you can’t be both.

 

From what I can tell, busy people are RARELY productive.  So stop doing all that stuff that makes no difference or even harms your productivity.

Tip 2: Understand that variations to your times-lines are likely.   This tip reminds us that what we expect might need to change because things might take longer or happen quicker than what we anticipate

Tip 3: If you haven’t thought about a preferred and realistic future outcome, you have no right to complain when you don’t like what you end up with.  Don’t think I need to explain that one further, though I know some people will complain all the same!

Tip 4: Planning is NOT execution.  But without it you might bet better off NOT executing at all.  So think and prepare is the key here because acting without thinking first might put you in a far deeper hole than you really want to be in!

Tip 5: Resilience means to have the ability to bounce back into shape.  From what?  From the ‘impact’ of unexpected outcomes and the occasional surprise.  The more you’ve thought about potential outcomes, the better prepared you are likely to be and the less need for resilience.

Tip 6: Make sure your expectations are realistic – base them on a wide array of information.  If your expectations are realistic you’ll rarely be disappointed but if not…

Tip 7: Your Future is a negotiation with yourself and with others.  It will almost NEVER arrive in a smooth & straight line Remember that there are stops and starts and diversions is every part of your life – that’s what makes your life interesting!

Tip 8: It might be frustrating but it’s probably not really a disaster.  This tip reminds us to take a breath remember tips two and seven, to then think about options and then act

Tip 9: Stuck? You can overcome your current challenges – It may need persistence and it might also require you to come up with a new plan.  Your future is about options.  People who lack resilience have often run out of options or (as is more likely) can’t think of alternatives.  Tip 10 can help here too

Tip 10: Ask for help and then ALLOW people to help you in ways that they know how.  One of the biggest hurdles we face is our belief that we have to do it alone.  For others they ask for help but then insist their ‘helpers’ do things the way they want them done.

So there’s my quick tips for 2012 International year of Resilience.  I’d love to find out your tips too so Twitter in at #rightfuture using the tag #2012YearofResilience

The Future of…

Aug 1, 2012

Most everything. The various papers, presentations, radio interviews, magazine articles, books and newspaper references have been reformatted in alphabetical order for easier access. Click on the ‘Future Of…’ tab and find what you are looking for under the headings listed, with links to each relevant item.   You’ll find the future of Australia, food, technology,…

Read More >

The Continued Rise of ‘Enoughness’

Jul 14, 2012

I came up with the term Enoughness in late 2008, and early 2009 as a result of some research I was assessing looking at emerging consumer behaviour. The manufacturing companies I presented to at the South East Business Networks session on Managing a Diverse Workplace discovered, Enoughness was a very different approach to the idea…

Read More >

Need a Career Change? Here’s some roles to consider

Jul 9, 2012

Business Insider has a story today of 7 jobs you’ve never heard of and why they’re awesome which is delightfully amusing for two reasons: One – ‘Futurist’ makes the list at number 7; and Two – I’ve been employed in full time futures for over a decade (and part time for about ten years before…

Read More >

Our Disappearing World Languages

Jun 25, 2012

In this article on the LifeBoat Foundation’s website, Laurence Baines discusses the loss of languages around the world and the increasing shift toward the major five tongues. From a futures perspective we appreciate that a language often contains within it, a way of knowing that is missing in someone who may have learned to speak…

Read More >

Science Fiction writer Ray Bradbury has died aged 91

Jun 6, 2012

Few books (and a subsequent film) influenced my desire for knowledge in the way that Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 did. The black and white film adaptation still holds much in my memory almost 30 years later. As a youngster I’d sat up late and seen original The War of the Worlds on TV and a few…

Read More >

How Secure is your WiFi Usage?

May 29, 2012

Ah well, you’d be surprised at how easy it is for someone to steal a piece of you! This info-graphic from Veracode explains in more detail some of the actions you can take and things to be aware of when using WiFi   You can go stright to the InfoGraphic and

Read More >

The Future of Money

May 7, 2012

Have just spent a few hours discussing the Future of Money, hosted by James Bibby at Microsoft in Sydney and facilitated by Peter Vander Auwera from SWIFT/Innotribe. I’d like to flag that everyone understood that the session was way too short for such a big topic and everyone would agree that we just scratched the…

Read More >

Six Emerging Trends in Corporate Sustainability

May 1, 2012

Ernst & Young and GreenBiz have completed a survey of business executives looking at the development of Corporate Sustainability around the world. The report shows that there has been a clear rise in awareness; that employees are a core source driving sustainability actions; that reduction of costs is a core appeal and that return on…

Read More >

The Future of War

Apr 23, 2012

On the eve of ANZAC day here in Australia ABC Radio Darwin’s Vicki Kerrigan chats with futurist Marcus Barber on the future of war – what the future triggers of war might be and how war will be fought   Increasing technology or less technology?  Haves versus the have nots?  On a pretty serious topic…

Read More >

The Future of Workplace Design

Apr 17, 2012

In this chat with Vicki Kerrigan on ABC Radio Darwin, we chat about workplace design and the need to create functional workplaces – something the ‘open-plan’ model fails utterly at delivering. Click on the link below   Futurist Marcus Barber on ABC Radio Darwin discussing the future of workplace design and the challenges of dysfunctional workplaces…

Read More >