Insights With Trent Munday

We usually think of branding as a way for someone who wants your product to be able to differentiate it from your competitors. But today, as I saw a car with one of those roof top storage boxes on top and tried to think of what those things are called, I realised that this is a prime opportunity for a brand to win a place in my mind. As the car drove by and I continued to search my mind for the answer, I saw a brand on the box - TAKA. So now, instead of searching google for 'Car Roof Top Storage Box', I will add the word TAKA to the start of that search. And thus, this brand is now firmly cemented in my mind...and I'm not even looking to buy one. Because I didn't understand what it was and TAKA branded it, they've won the coveted place in the mind of this consumer. #branding #brandrecall #brandrecognition

We've all seen lots of people complaining about the challenges of working from home. The crappy internet. No quiet space. The kids. The dog. But consider this perspective... If you're working from home it means #1 you still have a job & #2 you still have a home. Many people have lost both as a result of this crisis. Consider yourself lucky...doubly so. #perspective #workfromhome #grateful

By locking people down we are denying them their basic human need for contact and connection. By social distancing we are doing the same. By forcing these so-called 'Non-Essential' businesses like Spas to close, we do the same. In some countries, like here in Malaysia, even Chiropractors and Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioners are considered non-essential and so needed to close when we went into full lockdown. But all of these activities are part of people's overall Wellness and Wellbeing. So, when we lock all these services down, along with that...Wellness Is On Lockdown! PS: This is not a statement about the merits of lockdowns. Rather, an observation about the impact. NB: Credit to Angela Smith for the quote. #wellness #wellbeing #lockdown

With the right perspective, this can be a very empowering statement. It's not your fault that things are this way. It's not my fault either. And so with that, all you can do is go ahead and make the most of the situation. Just do your best. And you're now accountable.  There's no point complaining about how unfair it all is. It is what it is. So just get on with it. You don't have to change the world. You can try to if you really want to. But regardless...The World Is As It Is. To me, that's kinda nice to know. #quotestoliveby #accountability #empowering

There's no point waiting until summertime when it's hot and you need shade to start thinking about planting a tree. You have to plant your tree well before so that it has time to grow and then, when you need it, it can provide you with that shade. The same applies to your career. If you're uncertain about the stability of your job or even if you're just not particularly happy in your current job, start looking around now. Check out the job boards. See what jobs are out there. Start looking into the companies that have job in your area of interest. Work out what skillset might be required for your future job. Start networking and building relationships with those in the space you're interested in. You don't have to apply for any jobs yet if you're not ready to. But at least start planting your trees...career-wise. #careermove #careerchange #careermanagement

With so many skilled, experienced & talented people currently out of work as a result of the COVID-19 crisis, this is the perfect time for a Global Mentor Marketplace. These people with all this wealth of knowledge and information are now ready, willing and able to share their expertise...in return for a bit of money. And on the mentee side, well, there's always a ready supply of people seeking expert opinions, advice and guidance. So, Linkedin...what are you waiting for? You have the ideal platform to add this feature to. Just let me tick a box that says 'Yes, I'm available to be a mentor.' And 'My hourly rate is...' The platform can take a 20% fee. The mentors can take 80%. The mentees can get the valuable advice they need. Surely this is a no-brainer!?! #mentoring #mentee #marketplaces

A few years back when we had a major financial crisis, governments did what they could to prop up their banks and financial institutions because they were deemed to be Too Big To Fail. The logic went that if these companies collapsed then the entire economy of these countries would implode. Now, consider this. In many countries SMEs - Small & Medium Enterprises - represent 30%, 40%, 50%+ of the national GDP and oftentimes more than 50% of the country's workforce. So actually it is Small Business that is Too Big To Fail. Be sure to support your local businesses whenever you can. And be mindful that government efforts to prop up small business in general is not just good for those businesses, it might be the key to he survival of the entire economy. #SMEs #smallbusiness #SMBs 

Since I've lost a bit of weight in recent months I number of people have said to me, 'You Must feel so much better now?' Logically, I want to say yes. However, the truth is I never felt that bad before and I'm not sure that I do necessarily feel any better today than I did back then. But it doesn't matter. I know that losing a bit of weight, doing a bit more exercise is ultimately good for me. And that's all I need to know. The 'Vanity Metric', to borrow a term from social media, of people saying I look better, doesn't really matter. Just like those social media vanity metrics of Likes, Shares, Comments, etc don't really matter either. Do what you know is better. #vanitymetrics #lookgoodfeelgood #bebetter

A Cash Flow forecast for any business is super critical and especially so for a small business. But in times of uncertainty like we're going through right now, it's easy to let your Cash Flow statement lull you into a false sense of security. So be careful. The reality is, in times of uncertainty, you simply can not be certain of when your cash will come in or when your business will pick up again, requiring more cash flowing out for stock and supplies. At times like this, businesses will often just take their current month's figures and then extrapolate that over a period of 6 or 12 months. The problem comes is your current month's figures represent a peak period - which, by the way, you may not even know yet - then extrapolating these figures might leave you short of cash inflows in a few months as the business drops off again. So, YES, please do a Cash Flow. And review it every month. But just be aware that we're living in uncertain times and so your position may change at any time. #cashflow #fore

This is the time of year when everyone's talking about their New Years Resolutions. 9-10 months from now, most of them will be sitting back wondering why they didn't manage to achieve them. The answer, of course, is pretty simple. They simply didn't do they work to make the changes they needed to make. They didn't create the good habits. As my Lockdown Yard Time buddy @realtalkwithd asked yesterday... 'How many people are figuring out resolutions aren't nearly as meaningful as habits?' Get it. Create good habits. Do the work. Job done! BTW - here's a link to Ep. 396 where I shared Tim Ferriss' Past Year Assessment idea - https://bit.ly/35bFYuL #newyearsresolution #successfulhabits #makethechange

Bruce Poon Tip, founder of travel company G Adventures, recently suggested that the collective travel industry could be considered the largest startup in the world today. Now, you could argue that's a bit of a stretch. Or even an oversimplification. However, it is a perspective worth exploring. Many businesses in and around the travel space have been decimated and effectively brought back to zero as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. So, assuming that the travel industry does recover again at some stage, many of the old legacy players will no longer have their massive moats and barriers to entry. The landscape will indeed be ripe for disruption. Perfect conditions for startups. #travelindustry #startups #opportunity   NB: Thanks to Dennis Schaal for the tweet!

Most of us tend to define our career success purely in terms of output - in terms of quality &/or quantity. But Sam Spurlin reckons the better way to think about career success is in terms of the ratio of Effort (in terms of time, creativity, emotion, etc) to create that Output. As Sam says, this allows more leverage points for thinking and behaving differently. What I like about this perspective is that it's also a great way to hold ourselves more accountable for our own success. Didn't achieve all you'd hope? Take a look at the Effort you put in. Now consider the ration of Effort to Output. #careersuccess #effort #output

Many cities around the world cancelled their New Years Eve fireworks displays due to concerns about COVID-19. A few went ahead with a synchronised drone light show instead. Could these drone displays one day replace the fireworks completely? Maybe. Think about it.  Fireworks are noisey, smokey and certainly not cheap.  Drones are relatively noise free and no other real pollution concerns. And as the technology gets cheaper, I think drones may well be a great alternative to fireworks. Perhaps this year will prove to a tipping point for the end of fireworks displays? #fireworks #drones #tippingpoint

Today is the first day of the new year. This is the day that so many have been waiting for...to start that next thing. The new diet. The new exercise program. The next job search. But why? Why do we wait?  Is today really any better than yesterday was? We tell ourselves that by that future date that we've set, we'll be ready. Better prepared. But is that really true or just the story we tell ourselves? All we really achieve by setting these future start dates is that we rob ourselves of the few extra days of progress we could have made if we started now. So...What Are You Waiting For? #waiting #takeaction #procrastination

There's often a lot of anxiety at this time of year as we reflect and realise we didn't achieve all we'd hoped to this year or that we haven't arrived at the place where we thought we would be by now. What we need to realise though...is that we've still got time. If you're in your 50's and lost your job and worried that you'll have to find another career...that's ok. Why not? It's not too late for your Act 2 or even Act 3. If you're in your 30's and still haven't decided on the right career path for you...again, it's ok. You have plenty of time. For any age group, the advise applies. Just go out, find a job doing anything. Not just to keep money coming in, but also to keep you engaged. No job needs to define you...unless you chose to let it. And there's plenty of time left for your next Act. Happy New Year! #careerchange #uncertainty #nevertoolate

William Shakespeare said, "Expectations are the root of all heartache." That makes sense. People have expectations. They aren't met. They're disappointed. Many of us like to think we know what others are expecting from us. But we can never really be sure. The only chance you have of countering those expectations and avoiding potential disappointment is to communicate. In fact, over communicate. #communicate #expectations #transparency  

Empathy is a big part of what makes us human. The ability to have understanding and compassion for others.  But with the dramatic changes in behaviour during 2020, I wonder what that will mean for our ability to empathise in the years to come. Half of our faces are covered by masks and so much of a person's emotion is hidden from us. We are living our lives through a ZOOM lens. On virtual video calls. can we really understand the world through such a lens? And let's not forget about the survival instincts that kicked in when lockdowns were announced and supermarket shelves were stripped of toilet paper and pasta. These were certainly short-term changes in our ability to be empathetic. But will they have long-term impacts too? And if so...what does that mean for the future of society as we know it? #empathy #COVID19impacts #compassion

Lockdowns and Work From Home has changed many habits and behaviours in 2020. One of those changes for me has been wearing a watch. I have a clock on my wall, on my laptop, on my TV, on my phone, in my car, and now...on my 'Garmin Fitbit' (ie: my activity tracker). Do I really need to wear a watch too? I don't think so. So what of the Apple Watch? Will they rebrand it at some stage? After all, people don't really buy it for the watch? Or, as with the iPhone, will they keep the 'watch' branding? And what about the next generation of kids? Will they grow up wearing a watch? #watches #changinghabits #thefuture

Over the past 6 months or so I've spoken with 5 different teams launching a new business. A digital-first startup. All of them talk about Scale...A LOT! But what not enough of them are talking about is Relevance. And THAT is the real key to success.  If your product or service is not Relevant to your customers, you may never have to worry about Scale. #scalingup #relevance #startups  

I always used to believe that if you're going to donate money or time to a charity that you should do so quietly. If not, it can come across like you want to be recognised and thanked for the effort. But I think I've changed my mind on this one. As long as your intent is pure, I now believe you should be as loud as you want about your charity. Because the more noise you make, the more your cause is amplified and the more chance you have of getting it noticed by other people. That in turn will hopefully lead to more people getting on board to help too. So...with that in mind...here's a link to the Kitojo Empowered Girls School Project in Uganda that we're trying to raise some money for so they can keep helping break the poverty cycle for these kids... https://lnkd.in/gSQPp2E Appreciate your help if you can. #publicity #socialchange #charitablegiving