City of Walnut Creek’s Post

Embracing the winter solstice teaches us a valuable lesson: Change your Perspective to change your Perception. In some corners of the globe, today is the longest day, a burst of light and energy. Conversely, elsewhere, it's the longest night, a moment of quiet reflection. Business echoes this dichotomy – altering how we view challenges can transform them into opportunities. Like the varying experiences of the winter solstice, shifting our outlook in the business realm can illuminate new pathways to success. 🌍✨ Photo credit to BusinessOutside collaborators Colin O'Brady & Jon Kedrowski in Iceland. 👏👊💥 #PerspectiveShift #BusinessWisdom #BusinessOutside

2024 Goals - Are you ready to pivot? What I love about the new year is it provides an opportunity to reflect and set goals for the coming year. However, like innovation projects, success usually isn’t achieved on the first try. Expect to fail the first few times. Don’t let this stop you from starting. You have to start before you can finish. The average overnight success is 11 years in the making. So don’t give up a week or a month in. If it was easy you would have done it already. When you realize you are off track or not seeing the progress you want, don’t wait until 2025 to try again, get back on the horse now. Remember that repeatedly doing the same thing over & over and expecting a different outcome is the definition of insanity. If what you are doing isn’t working, try something else. Ask others who achieved similar goals how they did it. What did they learn that could help you? Will power and good decision making are finite resources, so make a conscious choice how to structure your day and environment with this in mind. Biosphere 2 was an audacious project to create an environment cut-off from the earth that could sustain human life. While there were many challenges, it is unfortunate they gave up before achieving the goal. Perhaps their initial steps were too large. We only really fail when we give up trying. When a reporter asked Edison how he persevered after failing 1,800 times trying to invent the light bulb. Edison responded with, “I didn’t fail, I found 1,800 ways not to invent a light bulb. Don’t give up, keep moving forward. https://lnkd.in/gmN4Yjrd

In this black and white landscape, rows of trees line both sides of a dark road, creating a tunnel-like passage. Yet, there's a bright light at the end of this journey. It's a powerful metaphor for life and business. The darkest roads, filled with uncertainty and challenges, often lead to the brightest destinations. As we traverse through these metaphorical tunnels, it's essential to keep moving forward with determination and resilience. Just like the road in this image, the path may be shadowed, but it eventually leads to a place filled with opportunity and brilliance. This photo reminds us that even in the darkest moments, there's light at the end of the tunnel, and it's worth pushing forward to reach it. #businessadvisory #businessstrategy #motivation #postivevibes #positivemindset #overcomingchallenges

I spend a fair amount of time walking in the hills at the weekend. I’ve done it since I was a teenager - it’s a great way to get away from phones and emails, clear your head, and get a different perspective on the world around you. When you're off the beaten track, and away from the popular routes, the tracks you are following can be less distinct, and very often the track can branch and you are presented with a choice of routes. I’ve noticed over the years that inexperienced walkers often choose the route that looks easier, or even choose the route that trends downhill. I’ve learnt to consciously choose the opposite - the route that climbs upwards. It’s usually a better choice. If you want to reach the summit, steady, continuous climbing is more efficient than a route that wanders up and down. We are often presented with choices in business. When we arrive at those forks in the road, we need a clear understanding of what we are trying to achieve, and we need a clear vision of the best route to that goal. The best choice is very often not the one that looks easiest. The best choice can very often be the one that looks harder, but slow and steady climbing will bring us to our goal quicker than a route that wanders up and down. We've go to learn to make that choice - and if we keep making that choice, after a while, our team will learn to make it too! #challenges #choices #decisions #upwards

82 peaks. 19 days. This is Alpine Connections. Last weekend, Kilian Jornet reached the summit of his greatest challenge yet, ‘Alpine Connections’ - a quest to connect as many 4,000-meter summits in the Alps as possible via human powered means only. He blended passion, pain, and perseverance to embrace the unknown and push the boundaries of human potential. However, this is more than an achievement—it’s the story of a man, the mountains, and the unbreakable connection forged between them. While Kilian has pushed the boundaries of physical endurance, we have, in parallel, explored the limits of nature itself. Alpine Connections has been a remarkable journey not only for Kilian but also for the Kilian Jornet Foundation. It allowed us to witness firsthand the challenges Kilian faced in the Alpine environment. These challenges included not only the physical and mental endurance required to traverse this terrain but also the environmental difficulties that are becoming increasingly pronounced due to climate change. While Kilian’s physical achievement is very inspiring, this journey has also highlighted the urgent need for action to protect these important and fragile ecosystems. Read the final reflection's article here 👉 https://lnkd.in/dyhzQ-RQ Project powered by NNormal.  Credits: @nickmdanielson, @_avisuals and @joelbadiavisuals

Rainy days are nature's way of reminding us to slow down and find inspiration in the little things. We turn these rainy moments into opportunities for groundbreaking innovation and creativity. #SparkSolutions #SoftwareDevelopment #TechTuesday #Rainyday

There's an inherent rhythm to life, just as there is to nature. Mountains rise, valleys dip and the journey continues. It's tempting to see the "highs" as the ultimate goal, clinging desperately to their peaks. But as this quote elegantly reminds us, every ascent is followed by a descent – it's simply the law of physics, and ignoring it only sets us up for a harsher fall. This isn't a cause for despair, but an invitation to reframe our perspective. Valleys, rather than representing failure or stagnation, become strategic opportunities for recalibration and growth. The tail end of 2023 felt like a valley, everything was a little flat, but 2024 started with a gradual climb in Jan, with a great trade show and getting to meet customers. Feb now has the feeling of the excitement of the climb is kicking in, activity is on the rise, fantastic new blood into the business, the excitement around innovation, fantastic sustainability offerings and new eco accreditations to make sure the mountains we do climb are left as close to its natural beauty for those who follow. For those in a valley right now, just remember that any decent is always followed with an ascent it is just the law and the other fundamental law is time never stands still, so it will come, just make sure you take the time to take in the views. #positivemindset #positiveleadership #positiveoutlook #positivepsychology

Red Ocean vs. Blue Ocean: Imagine two oceans: * Red Ocean: This is a crowded, competitive market. Think of it as a shark tank. Everyone's fighting for the same prey. * Blue Ocean: This is a vast, unexplored territory. It's like discovering a new world. There's no competition, just potential. Now, let's break down the strategies: * Red Ocean Strategy: This is like trying to swim faster than the sharks. You're competing directly with others for the same market share. You might offer a slightly better product or lower prices, but you're still playing by the same rules. * Blue Ocean Strategy: This is like building a boat and sailing to a new island. You're creating a completely new market. You're not competing with anyone because there's no one else there yet.

Over the last 10 years I've seen an exciting societal movement towards more nature centric lifestyles. When I started We Are Explorers in 2014 we were focused on the pursuit of adventure; escaping to places near and far for that soul smacking hit of the good stuff. But the modern day explorer is about so much more than the adventure. The explorer mindset is multi-dimensional. As our team observes this, our content naturally evolves with t. What our readers are really looking for is to lead a life in greater harmony with the planet. Sure, exploration is a massive part of this but we're also striving for sustainable lifestyles in our day-to-day which extends to the things we buy, the food we eat, how we commute to work, the causes we fight for, the cars we drive... ....turns out the modern day explorer is far more complex than we initially thought. It's time to delve into this explorer hivemind to build an even clearer picture of the zeitgeist. It's audience survey time! In the words of our very own Tim Ashelford, "we want to know how we can make We Are Explorers the best damn place on the World Wide Web for outdoorsy folks". If you happen to like the fibre of our fabric, we'd love to hear your thoughts (some very tasty gear up for grabs if you do too). #weareexplorers https://lnkd.in/gZtridv7