Seize the day - Carpe Diem - Where are you going into the future?

Well, we are finally counting down the days from 2015 to 2016, less than four days, 96-hours. 5,760-minutes. We are done with the past year, now what? Where do we go from here? Some of us are listing our new year’s resolutions, hoping we keep them this year. This year went by fast, as we get older they pass even quicker.

Over the past month, I have shared with you Events of 2015, some issues, items and events which effected out lives, I know there were many more, but I chose the ones which met with public fanfare, outrage, interest, and public reaction. You would have probably would have chosen other that may have garnered more interest. Well the year is almost over, 365 days, a blip on the radar, time gone by.

My final Event in my series will be on you, the hopes, dreams and progress, or for some the lack of progress in the year. Each of us is on a personal journey to a destination that is already chosen by you. For some, you have achieved your journey, and have developed another adventure. For others, you are stalled, slow in progress, or failed in substance to reach such goal, or journey’s end. Let me say, that the old saying “it’s not the destination, it’s the journey” is as true today, as yesterday. Remember, you are not in a race with anyone other than yourself. Your success, or failure is judged only by you. Other may factor in your emotional review of the events, may have things to say to you, but in the end, it’s your journey.

As I sit here, I remember the days free of cell phones, pagers, iPad, iPhones, tablets, computers, etc. The various segments of life we experience form our person, frame our being, and exhibits who we are. Whether you are from the silent generation, baby boomer, Gen X, Gen Y, or Millennium folks life is life, yet we see it very differently. We have gone from absurdity to a social mecca of information, data, communications – the average teenager today spends 27-hours per day on the internet, including email, chat, text, and other forms of social media.

As well, most of us spend 28% of our time, not including sleep online, or social media on a PC, table to smart device, with the majority of Americans spending 11+ hours per day online, in one form or another. We are a very connected society in a very fragmented, and disconnected in our lives, family, nurturing, and education is being subverted and maximized with social media. Here is what one minute online looks like today - What happened in an Internet Minute?

We use to only have AOL and Netscape in the early days, and since then we have been inundated with an array of services that control our communications, security, investing, transportation, purchasing, social media, photo sharing, and much, much more. You cannot do anything within a day that is not connected to the internet, well almost. Look at what we have created.

What can we expect in 2016?

The Voice of the Consumer will be Heard - Smartphones will become smarter, more data, more information
Marketers will join the conservation (in messaging Apps) - WhatsApp and Facebook messenger reaching 1 Billion active Users
Mobile Payments will take off - Smartphone scanning, changing behavior, increasing mobile wallets
Mobile commerce will move down the funnel - Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and Amazon – mobile shopping leading
Millennials and Centennials will be OK with releasing more Data - More connections, less privacy, more data, more sharing, that’s OK
Facebook will become nearly entirely mobile - More money on mobile, more choices, less privacy, more options.

Reference: eMarketer Report -

From Lolly Daskal, President and CEO, Lead from Within -

The 10-principles of Carpe Diem - Podcast presented to the California National Guard -

It doesn't matter how good your leadership, plan, or team is. Sooner or later, you're bound to run into trouble. When it happens, truly successful leaders are ready to bring everything back into line.

10 Things Successful Leaders Remember When Things Go Wrong

Positivity fuels productivity;
There's no progress without action, and no action without risk;
Change is the only constant;
Keep your eyes wide open;
Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go;
Be the driver;
Failure is necessary;
You can have results or excuses, but not both;
Hold tight to your beliefs and values;
Persistence and determination prevail.

For full article -

I wanted to share with you some personal thoughts on my perspective for making life’s journey. Never give up! Steer a complete course! Failure fuels future success!

Here are a few “seeds” for you to meditate on:

The five “C’s” by Jeff Fortin

Chance – everything in life is a chance, a chance to excel, a chance to change, a chance to focus. All you have to do is take a chance – you will surprise yourself.
Choose – You have to choose to do something, even failing is a choice, so choose wisely.
Create – You have to create your blueprint, your plan, right or wrong, just create – something will happen.
Conquer - You have to conquer your fears, your doubts, your little voice in your head is a guidepost, but you must strive to conquer what holds you back – Remember “Seize the day” – Carpe diem!
Complete – You have to complete the journey, complete the plan, making it happen, success of failure is needing to complete the adventure, misadventure, doing something – is completing the journey.