This is the last month but one of the year 2021.
I've been seeing a lot of posts along the lines of,
"How will you spend the last X days of the year?"
I don't think it matters unless I have been taking consistent action throughout the year, small though they may be.
Of course, it doesn't mean that I shouldn't start anything new, but I won't start something now just because of some artificially applied external pressure.
Which means that, if I'm starting something, it must have been planned beforehand, and not taken on willy-nilly.
So, the last X days of the year?
I'll be spending them as I had planned.
There will be a couple of new things and the dropping of some old ones.
It's not quite "a new chapter", but it's definitely the next page.
Have You Been In My Classroom? You May Have Been the Subject of an Experiment.
Despite having been an educator for such a long time, I still test out new methods and information whenever I get the opportunity.
Which means that, if you've ever been in my classroom, lecture theatre, webinar, or similar setting, there's a very high probability that I conducted some kind of experiment on you.
Don't worry, you weren't being bombarded with gamma rays or breathing in odourless chemicals I infused into the air.
It was more likely a test to see how you would react to a certain way of delivery, a new activity, or a new way of conducting an established activity.
I approach it the way a stand-up comedian approaches new material that he/she has written - basically, test it until you know whether to keep it or dump it.
And I've dumped a whole lot more material than I've kept.
So, this is to say thank you for allowing me to test them out on you, and for participating (albeit mostly unknowingly - oops!) in my experiments. ;)
A Meeting With Interesting Minds and Intriguing Methods
A couple of days ago, I had a face-to-face meeting with someone I met at a face-to-face networking event.
We discussed an initiative that he first mentioned in passing during that networking event - to bring business education to a number of Asian countries.
That in itself may not sound novel, but the method model with which he wants to do it is.
And I got to briefly meet a couple of his business partners, who have very interesting backgrounds and ways of thinking about things.
So does the person with whom I arranged the meeting.
I'll be doing some hard ideation and connecting in the coming days, to come up with something to contribute to this initiative.
Thinking back, this incident was a stark reminder to me that this is all different, with new ways of thinking, and of doing things.
Just look at my first sentence. 2 years ago, I wouldn't have had to add "face-to-face" to that sentence. Twice.
It's a new world out there. And I'm gearing up to meet it.
First Time, Last Time? Not If You Have an Expert Guide!
It's scary being a first-timer.
Whether it's joining a new workplace, picking up a new hobby, or putting yourself out there on a social platform, it's all pretty daunting.
There are a thousand things to get wrong, and a thousand eyes watching you do it. At least that's what it feels like.
This is precisely when we need the experts, the old hands, the ones who have "been there, done that".
It's not that we can't figure it out for ourselves.
We just want to make fewer mistakes and rub fewer people the wrong way.