A fantastic and candid TED talk from Halla Tomasdottir, a financial services entrepreneur in Iceland, who managed to take her company through the recent financial storm by applying the 'feminine' values of Risk Awareness, Straight Talking, Emotional Capital and Profit with Principles.

Like Halla, I am positive that in the future, with more women at the forefront of business, we will see a new way, a more feminine way, of doing business that will change the world.

Enjoy!

Having worked as a solo entrepreneur for four years, I recently have come to a radical conclusion:

I can't do it all by myself.

Believe me, I've tried. For years I was happy to work independently, trusting that I would make my own decisions and solve my own problems, without input from others. Being part of the School for Social Entrepreneurs this year has played a big part in shattering those illusions. A combination of sharing challenges and ideas with my action learning set, mentor and tutor, as well as my classmates, has allowed me to open up a little more and start to ask for help.

In the past I would almost be dismissive of those who actively looked for external support but now I realise it's essential. As solo entrepreneurs we work so much in our head, chewing over the same concepts and issues, when sharing them and getting some objective feedback might be enough to really move forward.

2010 has been an interesting year for me - one of change and experiment - both professionally and personally. I look back to where I was in January and my whole world has changed. Some well known bloggers including the lovely Gwen Bell have set up a project for the month of December called Reverb 10. A daily prompt for each of the 31 days of December asks us to reflect on what has gone before and manifest for the coming year. The very first prompt (from Gwen) was about One Word. Looking back over 2010, what was the one word that encapsulated the year. And, this time next year, in December 2011, what one word would you like the year to represent.

My word for 2010 was Experiment. My word for 2011? Establish. Really establish myself as a thought leader around digital well-being and help people work towards leading a more balanced working life.

I have ambitious plans for 2011 including speaking at conferences, developing new services and going into new markets, but I have realised that surrounding myself with support mechanisms is crucial to my success. This is why I invited 5 amazing women - friends, colleagues and peers - to breakfast this morning to look at how we can support one another to make 2011 our best year yet. Over coffee and pastries, we came up with a format for monthly meetings that will support, but also challenge each other and our ideas and plans. The group will be a way of bringing problems to the table but also a way of motivating ourselves and being accountable to our goals - a good kick up the a**e when needed!

How can you make 2011 your 'best year yet'?

What external support can you build around you - a peer mentoring group, a mentor or coach, or even just a regular coffee with a friend who can tell you how it is, in order to make sure that this happens?

A entire year can slip away so fast. Make 2011 the year where you make significant progress in your life and work plans. And remember, you don't have to do it alone.

[Image with thanks to lululemonathletica via Creative Commons]

Last Thursday, I travelled with my partner Alex to a far flung corner of Wales to the Do Lectures. The brain child of Howie’s founders David and Clare Hieatt, the Do invites 26 ‘Doers’ to come and speak about their journey to a small number of attendees.

Part camping holiday, part ‘the best conference you’ve ever been to’, part making new friends, the Do is all about inspiring people (speakers and attendees alike) to Do something. The motto of the Do is:

Ideas + Energy = Change.

The four days we spent at fforest (home of the Do) was exciting, enlightening and life changing. As well as being very cold! If you visit fforest (and I recommend you do, book one of the domes - they rock!)

I enjoyed the talks from all the speakers and videos of the 26 talks will be ready soon for all to view for free on the Do website but in the meantime, I wanted to share with you over the next few blog posts some of my thoughts and takeaways.

The youngest speaker at the event was 23 year old Maggie Doyne. After a privileged North American upbringing, Maggie, like many of her contemporaries, postponed university and set out to travel the world. After a stint volunteering in India she met a Nepalese girl who had been forced to leave her country due to the civil war. When the border to Nepal finally opened up, Maggie and her new friend went in search of her home village. Once in Nepal Maggie was struck by the poverty of the children that she met. Determined to make a change, she took $5,000 of her own savings and started to build Kopila Valley Children’s Home. Today Maggie and the community look after 30 children at the home and have built a school to educate 200 more.

Maggie was an inspiring and heartfelt speaker and even the grown men in the tent were in tears at her story. Maggie’s message that we can all learn from is:

Do not wait if there is something that you really want to do.

Whether it is starting your own business or learning a language or travelling the world or making a difference in your community, don’t wait until you have enough money, are settled enough or are less ‘busy’. You will always find excuses why not to do something.

Sometimes starting a project is the hardest step. A goal can seem too large, too impenetrable to start. The old saying asks “how do you eat an elephant?” and answers “one bite at a time” and this is the way to tackle what we call BHAG – Big Hairy Audacious Goals. Blogger Michael Nobbs recommends setting aside 20 minutes each day to work on a big goal – a strategy I used to write my ebook From Apps to Zen and would recommend.

So don’t wait.

Think of a BHAG that you want to achieve and get started today.

Some thoughts for the new year by some of the world’s most influential bloggers and thinkers including Seth Godin.

I love the tagline ‘things to think about (and do) this year’. Take five minutes out of your day to absorb the messages in this presentation and start 2010 afresh. Thanks to Social Media Monday for the link.

Happy New Year from me!