One of the changes I made in 2015 was to keep ahead of the Changes. So in that spirit, I started here on December 15, 2015 capturing my 2016 News Years Resolution so I could post them on January 1.
It is now past the first of February 2016 which should indicate to you I had a lot of thinking to do. So, what will I do in 2016 that took me this long to outline? Read on my friend..read on.
Realization
It should not have been a surprise to me, but I just realized the fact that for the past 42 years I have constantly been in the middle of operating businesses.
I started my first business when I was 20 years old. It was a Residential Remodeling business I started to give my, then just retired, father something to do with his time. However, I can trace back my beginnings of operating a business to my early high school days when in every entry level job I got the owners or executives saw quickly my leadership aptitude to solving problems using my my brain which always resulted me put in a leadership position.
Of course this lead me to eventually, at the age of 21, enter the massively complicated world of corporate operations…for which I spent the next 32 years of my life.
16 years ago, I was fortunate to retire, at a very young age, from that long term endeavor and start the adventure of using my background to successfully conquer learning, at the time,this new thing called Social Media..now called Social Search, the leading edge of today’s Digital Marketing.
More to Me Than That
Business operations management comes natural to me and is why, until now, I haven’t realized how long I have been doing what I do.
The questions in my mine started with..Why am I still doing this? How much longer am I going to do all this? and, the one question stopping the seemingly endless questions I ask myself was…
Isn’t there something else I would enjoy doing?
This one question got me to thinking. What are some of the things I really enjoy doing that are not totally related to work?
After spending several weeks of thinking on this question I realized the list of all of the other things I have experienced my entire life was huge. However, there were a few things I enjoy doing I still actively do today which I feel strongly is now time to share with the world.
This is where my 2016 new year resolution start.
Getting Back on the Street
Every since I can remember I have enjoyed my journeys around my Hometown of Dallas, Texas. I remember the many times my parents would load me and my sister up into the backseat of their 1956 Buick Special for what my dad fondly called ‘Taking a Drive”. Yes, unlike today, those were the time when driving around Dallas at anytime of the day or night was a pure pleasure. Little did I know at that time those drives would lead to me carrying on that adventure throughout my life.
What I got out of all these drives around Dallas was knowledge of where everything was in Dallas. Where all of the fun places are located, the best restaurants and event centers. It also offered me knowledge of all of the not so great places to go in Dallas for which many of today’s residences are not aware of where they are located.
It is these memories and knowledge I have about Dallas I want to share with you in 2016.
Subset of My Life
These adventures around Dallas naturally offered me the opportunity to check out where the best Food in Dallas is located. This lead me to taking the opportunity, in the mid 1990’s, to actually go to a Chef Boot Camp. This elevated my interested in Food and gave the the knowledge on the science of food preparation. This allowed me to learn what makes for Good Food and what Does Not.
So, this interest I have in All Things Food I’ll start sharing with you in 2016.
Music Moves Me
Ever since I can remember, I have had a ear for music. My mother told me that before I was born I use to give her a kick every time my grandfather fired up his guitar or fiddle. In my early pre-teen days I wanted so much to be a Beatle which pushed me to learn how to play the guitar. Then when I got into my mid-teens I was busting eardrums around the neighborhood with the music my garage band (Real garage..and Real band) churned out on a daily basis.
Of course once I could legally go to bars I hit the music scene of Dallas and followed around a few blues bands in the local bar scene. Even today, I pull out my Les Paul or fire up my grandson’s Telecaster to rip off a few licks ending with a power chord…or two.
Music is in my blood and now will be something I will share with you more in 2016.
Breaking It Down Moving Forward
There still is a lot I have not told you on all of what I have done and been exposed to over my lifetime. In my blogs I’ve talked enough about the things that I learned or was exposed to that was not pleasant. It obviously time again to make a Change. The change in how I present my interest to you will allow me to document my history. Something I suggest you might think of doing.
However, somethings never change. I’ll always be here to talk golf and of course, answering the tough questions about business is something I enjoying doing.
To keep things moving forward in 2016 I am determined to make things much more simple. I realize my ScotDuke.com blog makes it sometimes not clear on exactly what my I do. In the beginning the site was to bring to you my experiences in hopes what I have to offer answers the questions you may have on something I have expertise.
I now realize from reviewing my web-site like I review our client’s site’s that a fog has set in on my site clouding my purpose. I plan on solving that.
Getting After The CHANGE
This year..starting in the next week or so, I am going to break things down on my site so it makes it clear what I do and have to offer you. The looks and layout of ScotDuke.com will naturally change in order to clean things up. Yes, it will be a lot of work..which has already started.
So, Stay tuned. I’ll be back shortly to talk more about ‘The Change’.
Meanwhile, let me know how I can help.
