As we are about to welcome the New Year 2019, may we pause for a while and reflect on the year that has gone by, and plan and prepare for the year that is to come.
There are many lessons that we can learn by simply looking back and looking ahead. Today, let me share with you one of the big lessons I learned for the year 2018: Plan for the year but be open to surprises and adjust accordingly.
In December 2017, I laid out my plans for the year 2018. One of my aims was to serve more corporate clients in the areas of leadership and public speaking. It turned out, I gave more leadership trainings, public speaking seminars, and recollections to students, teachers, civic groups, and churches/communities. And many other surprises came.
My year began with a 10-Day Life Skills Training for the out-of-school youth of San Carlos City in Negros Occidental. This was followed by a leadership training with one of my previous employers in Makati City, a couple of public speaking seminars for high school and graduate school students, eight leadership and public speaking talks for students and teachers, two leadership and public speaking seminar for Barangay and SK Officials, four public speaking workshops for employees (including the ones with the Bureau of Customs in Manila, BENECO and the PCR Group of BCPO-PNP), eleven recollections for students, teachers, catechists and churches/communities, and leadership trainings for PWDs, Women’s Group, Youth Group, and in a parish. I also served as a keynote speaker in three occasions, and launched five new public events – including the annual Growth Summit, Speak, and Speak 2.0 (a quarterly public speaking workshop).
In Toastmasters, it was not in my plan to be the Division G Director this year. But after the national competition in Cebu last April, I was approached by the former director and asked me to be his successor. I brushed it off at first and was just laughing along. A week after, I accepted the position. I’m glad to have a team who also accepted the challenge. We were done with the first six months… still more to do in the next six months before we end the term.
On the side, I also served as an interior layout artists for more than 10 books that were published this year. Also not part of my calendar but I was invited to guest in the online show of Mother Ant and serve as a resource speaker in the Overseas Filipinos Summit, an online summit for OFWs organized by Sha Nacino.
One last that I would like to highlight is my fourth book, SPEAK. The idea has been with me for so many years already but only last August that I was able to complete the writing of the book, published it, and finally launched last September. My three other books were sold out and are due for reprinting.
There were many that were planned but were replaced by several other good things that allowed me to serve more people. On the other hand, my plan, although it was not implemented entirely, it guided me in my actions and in my decisions. It served as my reference on which one to push through or forego, which one to accept or reject. My plan for the year helped me to act on what I should do and helped me to adjust on the changes and surprises that came by.
My friend, how about yours? How was your year? Which of your plans pushed through? Which ones did not? What were the surprises? How did you adjust? What did you learn from all these? How will you make the coming year a better one?
(Chris Dao-anis, CPA, DTM is a communication and leadership trainer, inspirational speaker, and author of 4 books. His latest book ‘SPEAK: How to Craft and Deliver a Speech or Presentation’ is available at Mt. Cloud Bookshop, Casa Vallejo, Upper Session Road, Baguio City. You can register to his workshop ‘SPEAK 2.0: Boost Your Confidence in Public Speaking’ at http://bit.ly/SpeakBaguio, or enroll in his Speaker’s Course at http://bit.ly/speakerscourseph and avail of tons of bonuses. For speaking invitations, you may email him at info@chrisdaoanis.com or text 0945-761-6577.)