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Time for a mid-year review!

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As I write this we are at the end of the first 6 months of 2021. It’s the end of June 2021. We are now half way through the year! Time to pause and reflect on what we have achieved and look ahead to the next six months up to January 2022. This is a great opportunity to step back and reflect on your key goals. Have you gotten closer to achieving your key goals over the past six months? Or perhaps you have achieved what you have set out to do? If so, congratulations and well done! Perhaps life got in the way such as COVID-19 and threw your goals off track? I think the quote below has a lot of wisdom – we need to keep making progress towards our goals no matter how small. The biggest mistake is to take no action.

“Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still”. Chinese Proverb.

Reflection questions

Let’s take an action research approach. Action research is a Plan – Act – Reflect cycle and I have written about action research before on this website. There are three key reflection questions we need to ask ourselves:

1. What do I have to do/want to achieve in the coming six months to the end of 2021?

2. Looking back at the first 6 months of 2021 what did I do right? What am I doing wrong that needs to be fixed?

3. What new actions am I going to take over the coming days, weeks and months to take my life in the direction that I want to go?

Don’t forget that your personal review should be a regular thing. If you can make it habitual then you’re well on your way to achieving your goals. We can do the same reflection process on a weekly basis asking the same key questions.

Best wishes with your plans for the rest of the year!

Tom

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Goal Setting 2021: Set & Achieve Big, Hairy, Audacious Goals – Mid Year Sale price $9.99

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Future Skills 2030-Prepare for the 4th Industrial Revolution – Mid Year Sale price – $9.99

Sale Offer expires 07/04/2021 06:07 AM PDT (GMT -7)






Future Jobs Post Covid-19

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For the past number of weeks I have been updating my online course Future Skills 2030-Prepare for the 4th Industrial Revolution. As a part of this updating process I have been thinking and reading a lot about the future of jobs post the Covid-19 pandemic. In this article I want to share with you the key things that I have learned.

Covid-19 and the future of work

The first thing that I want to say is that technological change is relentless with or without the pandemic. In the online course I cover the major areas of technological change occurring in the world. I discuss technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics, quantum computing, nanotechnology and biotechnology. In fact I cover 17 key areas of technological change. I also look at how technological change combines with other major changes such as climate change, globalisation and population growth. In 2020 we have an additional unprecedented driver of global change – the corona virus pandemic.

Change

Before the pandemic came along change was happening anyway in the world and at a rapid pace. A future of work largely defined by an increased prevalence of Artificial Intelligence (AI), automation and digital adoption was always anticipated. In March 2020, more than a third of humanity was in lock-down to prevent the spread of the virus. According to the United Nations the COVID-19 pandemic has created the largest disruption of education systems in history, affecting nearly 1.6 billion learners in more than 190 countries and all continents. From the start of the pandemic, it was clear that digital businesses and organisations would be among the few winners. And so it has proved. Lockdowns have encouraged a remarkable acceleration in digitalisation across many sectors. These include online retail and digital finance, online entertainment, telehealth, remote working and distance learning.

Lifelong learning

Skills and lifelong learning are crucial for long-term and sustainable growth, productivity and innovation and therefore a key factor for the competitiveness of individuals and businesses of all sizes. In particular the twin green and  digital transitions are reshaping the way we live, work and interact. Covid-19 is an accelerator of change. We live in a time of transitions. The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Survey data 2020* shows that nearly half of all workers will need reskilling by 2025. Therefore we all need to reskill and upskill on an ongoing basis to remain relevant.

Taking action

We cannot reply on our employers to provide the reskilling and upkilling that we need. This may or may not happen, therefore we need to take charge of our own learning. Right now I am working to upgrade my own skills for the future. I am undertaking the Cyber Security Specialisation on Coursera which is taught by the New York University. One thing that I have learned is that cyber security is a key cross-cutting issue in our digital world. In the coming years more and more people and things will be connected to the internet of everything. As this happens cyber security will become ever more important and this is an area I am interested in. How about you? How will you re-skill and upskill to prepare for the future of jobs post-covid? A future of work that is now accelerating faster towards us due to the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic.

Best wishes,

Tom

PS. If you would like to learn more about the future of work , the technologies and forces driving change in our world and how to reskill and upskill, please check out my online course for the sale price of only $13.99 (90% off): Future Skills 2030-Prepare for the 4th Industrial Revolution. The course has been updated for 2021. The course is also curated as part of the Udemy for Business programme which includes top business courses selected from Udemy.com

As you prepare for 2021 you might be interested in my Goal Setting course for only $12.99 (82% off) : Goal Setting 101: How to Set and Achieve Goals 2021. Make sure and set yourself a learning goal for 2021.

Please note that the above course offers expire on 15/1/2021.

*World Economic Forum – The Future of Jobs Report 2020