Until recently, long road or overseas trips were generally seen as for younger adults before they ‘settled down’, or older adults who had raised their families. The digital nomad experience was 20-something backpackers plugged into their laptops at beach bars. But now things are changing, as a growing demographic of parents choose to travel for extended periods with their children.

Digital nomads

The anywhere worker is a new breed of digital nomad who tends to have a stable knowledge-work job that allows them to base themselves wherever they want. Out of 1,400 people surveyed, 54% identified as anywhere workers, and 70% of those were parents who took their children with them on their travels. Two key changes have made it possible since the pandemic: More people can work flexibly now, and many parents understand how homeschooling or remote learning could function.

The emergence of the anywhere worker

Parents who embrace a travel-filled lifestyle believe their children have much real-life learning to gain, such as exposure to new languages and cultures, skills like resilience and adaptability, or simply an appetite for adventure. It's about helping children realise how many opportunities are out there. It also makes you realise that learning never stops. Yet, experts are concerned that children might lose out on community and continuity that comes with growing up in one place.

A travel-filled lifestyle can benefit children

Experts point out that digital nomad parents need to be aware of possible downsides. A lack of routine and wider support networks can be detrimental to children as young children crave a sense of familiarity. School-age children will require at least one parent to dedicate themselves full-time to their education or to work with a travelling teacher. Anywhere workers say children can still have a semblance or ritual and routine. Because a whole network also works remotely, friends often travel together and maintain a sense of community.

Finding friends and structure

Digital nomads used to be 20-somethings in beach bars. But now some families are taking the plunge, working and learning as they explore new places.

remotework

Remote Work

career

Career

travel

Travel

The rise of digital nomad families

The digital nomad trend of being location independent has become increasingly popular over the last few years, which is why it’s no surprise that many people are seeking remote working opportunities. Besides having endless possibilities for travel, digital nomads can also live a more affordable and flexible lifestyle compared to the typical in-office employee.

Digital Nomads Trend

<ul><li>There are over 10.9 million digital nomads. 33% of digital nomads own their own business. </li><li>Digital nomads who spend at least six months abroad can save between $2,500 and $4,000 a year due to reduced lifestyle costs for food, child or pet care, and transportation. </li><li>Only 7% of employees worked at home before the pandemic. But in July 2020, this number rose to 42%. </li><li>Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and inability to travel internationally, 76% of American digital nomads prefer to work from the U.S.  </li><li>81% of digital nomads report being highly satisfied with their work and lifestyle arrangements.</li></ul>

U.S. Report ON Digital Nomads: The Stats

<ul><li>4% of digital nomads can fully support themselves by working less than 10 hours a week. </li><li>The majority (70%) still work an average of 40 hours a week. </li><li>Digital nomadism has increased employee productivity by 35% for companies and businesses. </li><li>Many workers are relatively new to the digital nomad lifestyle. </li><li>The majority (53%) of digital nomads plan to work remotely for two years. </li><li>69% of people between the age of 25 and 40 would choose the ability to work remotely over any other company benefit.</li></ul>

The New Lifestyle Of Choice

<ul><li>The gender split between digital nomads is almost even (50.19% are female, and 49.81% are male). </li><li>The majority of digital nomads in the U.S. are white (70%). </li><li>83% of digital nomads are generally college-educated, while 2% don’t have a high school degree. </li><li>Digital nomadism is a very popular lifestyle for Millennials. </li><li>42% of all digital nomads are between the ages of 25 and 40. </li><li>Gen X fills 22% of the remote workforce, while Gen Z and Baby Boomers are closely tied at 19% and 17%, respectively.</li></ul>

The Demographics

<ul><li>The average salary of a digital nomad is $51,116 per year. </li><li>The average digital nomad hourly rate is between $10 and $30. </li><li>Men make slightly more compared to women ($55,744 compared to $46,488 annually). </li><li>Only 18% of remote workers make more than they would if they held an in-office position. </li><li>Most digital nomads (46%) report that they make less.</li></ul>

Income Statistics for Digital Nomads

<ul><li>9% of independent professionals find it difficult to stay motivated and free of distractions. </li><li>The biggest challenge of having location independence is finding fast and reliable internet speed. </li><li>Other difficulties include loneliness (33%), being overworked (33%), career progressions (25%), and communicating with coworkers in different time zones (20%). </li><li>However, loneliness is the #1 reason why most remote workers living abroad return home.</li></ul>

The Problems

54% of digital nomads only visit 1 or 2 countries a year. In 2021, Taiwan was reported to be the best country for digital nomads based on personal satisfaction. This is followed by Mexico, Costa Rica, Malaysia, and Portugal. Italy, Kuwait, and South Africa have the lowest approval rating in terms of providing a positive nomadic lifestyle. Digital nomads are also flocking to exotic locations to work. Southeast Asia (especially Bali and Thailand), Costa Rica, and the Caribbean are just some of the most popular destinations.

The Communities

People are becoming increasingly more interested in digital nomad life. The term “digital nomad” saw a 247% increase on Google Search from January 2019 to April 2021. Sixty-four million Americans would like to join the digital nomad community, while 19 million plan to actually do so in the next three years. By 2035, it is expected that the number of people living the digital nomad lifestyle will reach over 1 billion.

The Future

Although costs will depend on your accommodation and lifestyle, Goa, India, and Pokhara, Nepal is considered to be two of the cheapest destinations for digital nomads. The average cost of living in both places is around $650 a month.

The Cheapest Country To Go And Work

Many countries require that you obtain a digital nomad visa if you plan on working or staying for extended periods of time. For example, American digital nomads should apply for a working tourist visa if they plan on staying in Portugal, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, the Bahamas, etc despite having visa-free entry as a non-working tourist.

The Digital Nomad Visa

First and foremost, digital nomads need a laptop or computer and a reliable internet connection. To be a successful digital nomad, it’s also important to have an area where you can be productive. For some, that could be a separate room in their house, a coworking space, or even a quiet coffee shop. Digital nomadism is an enticing lifestyle for many freelancers, business owners, and employees. With more and more people joining the digital nomad movement, we can anticipate this major lifestyle shift to become a more mainstream way of working

The Bottom Line

Dreaming of working from anywhere? Here are the key things you need to know about starting your digital nomad journey

books

Books

mentalhealth

Mental Health

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

How To Become A Digital Nomad

Learn why remote work is becoming more and more common for companies and freelancers with these digital nomad stats.

artsandculture

Society, Arts & Culture

Amazing Digital Nomad Stats, Trends and Facts 2022

Traveling the world while working online from your laptop has been a dream for millions of self-proclaimed digital nomads.However working from foreign countries while traveling on a tourist visa is technically illegal in most places.Tourist visas also usually expire after 30-90 days, and it’s not always easy to renew them. What if you want to stay longer?That doesn’t stop digital nomads from working while traveling, but it can make things complicated, and with travel restrictions due to COVID-19, it’s much more difficult to work & travel internationally.

The Premise

Some countries have recognized the need for so-called “digital nomad visas”, “remote work visas”, or “freelancer visas” specifically to entice foreigners to come work & contribute to their economies.Many of these destinations are hoping the remote work visas will generate income to help make-up for lost tourism revenue due to the pandemic.

Countries Creating Visas For Remote Work Tourists

Digital nomads are basically remote workers who travel to different locations on a regular basis. They use modern technology to work from coffee shops, hotels, co-working spaces, or libraries with a WiFi connected laptop or smartphone from anywhere in the world.Freelancers are self-employed, working for themselves or other companies as independent contractors. Freelancers can travel while they work, or just work from home while living in one place on a long-term basis.

Digital Nomads vs Freelancers

The Caribbean island nation of Antigua & Barbuda has announced a digital nomad visa called the Nomad Digital Residence (NDR). It’s for remote workers who can show the means to support themselves and any family members joining them.This visa is good for 2-years, and visitors will be required to maintain their own health insurance plan while staying within the country and enjoying its 365 different beaches.

Antigua & Barbuda

The beautiful island of Bali, Indonesia has long been a popular location for remote workers to base themselves. And while there are no formal details just yet, Bali has just announced they are looking to implement a brand new digital nomad visa sometime later this year.The Bali remote work visa would be good for up to 5-years, and holders of the visa would NOT have to pay taxes on any income earned outside Bali.

Bali

Barbados has also opened its borders to digital nomads and remote workers who are looking to escape the pandemic while basing themselves in a beautiful island destination.The “Barbados Welcome Stamp” is a special 12-month visa for remote workers, which can also be renewed for even longer. Why not live next to the beach and work from home in Barbados!

Barbados

Bermuda joined the remote work visa club! Their recently released “Work From Bermuda” digital nomad visa is just an expansion of an older residency program, which allows digital nomads and remote workers to stay in the country for up to a year.Aimed at professionals who normally work from home, they hope the new visa will attract long-term travelers who want to base themselves from an island destination.

Bermuda

The Cayman Islands launched a special visa for digital nomads called the Global Citizen Certificate (GCC). It allows travelers to stay in the islands for up to 2 years.The income requirements are much steeper than other countries in this list though: individuals must provide proof of an annual salary of at least $100,000, or $150,000 for couples.

Cayman Islands

There are many digital nomads who choose to base themselves in Costa Rica due to the relaxed lifestyle, great surfing, nice beaches, and diverse landscape of volcanoes, waterfalls, and jungle.Costa Rica has a freelancer visa called the Rentista, allowing foreigners to stay for up to 2-years, with the ability to extend it. Often used by retirees with a fixed income and some entrepreneurs — because you can’t be an employee for another company on the Rentista.

Costa Rica

As of January 2021, Croatia has started issuing <a href="https://www.expatincroatia.com/digital-nomad-visa-croatia/">digital nomad visas</a>. The visa is available for different lengths of time, with a maximum of 12-months. You need to physically be in Croatia to apply for this long-term residence permit, you can’t apply from overseas.

Croatia

Spend your weekends exploring the historical towns and mountains of this Central European country, and work remotely during the week using their fast internet connection! The Czech Republic offers a freelancer visa called the Zivno. It’s valid for one year, and can be extended too. It’s <a href="https://www.wandertooth.com/zivnostensky-list-work-in-prague-not-eu/">a bit more complicated</a> than other visas in this list, but it’s doable.

Czech Republic

The city of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates has just launched their own one-year virtual working program in October allowing digital nomads and remote workers to live and work by the beach from their famous desert oasis mega-city. The new remote work visa gives you the freedom to come to Dubai, bring your family, work remotely all while remaining employed in your home country. Dubai does not levy income tax on individuals. You also get access to all required services, including telecoms, utilities, and schooling options.

Dubai (UAE)

Estonia became the first country to create an e-residency program that allows foreign entrepreneurs to license an EU-based online business. Then, in June 2020, they also opened up a one-year <a href="https://e-resident.gov.ee/nomadvisa/">digital nomad and freelancer visa</a> that allows foreigners to live in the country while working remotely.

Estonia

Partly due to the dramatic drop in tourism because of the Coronavirus pandemic, the country of <a href="https://annaeverywhere.com/tbilisi-georgia/">Georgia</a> is one of the latest to offer a digital nomad visa called “<a href="https://georgia.travel/en_US/article/remotely-from-georgia">Remotely from Georgia</a>” to help stimulate their economy. If you’re a remote worker, why not wait out the pandemic and work from a country known for its low-cost of living, colorful cities, and epic mountain landscapes?

Georgia

Germany has its own special freelance visa called the Aufenthaltserlaubnis für selbständige Tätigkeit (good luck saying that!). It’s a residence permit that allows foreign freelancers and self-employed people live in Germany for 6-months up to 3-years. One downside is that it can take <a href="https://www.bemytravelmuse.com/how-to-get-german-freelance-visa/">3-4 months to get approved</a> for this visa. Plus speaking German, or knowing someone who does, will help a lot.

Germany

The nation of Hungary has long been a favorite stop for digital nomads, especially the capital city of Budapest. Well now they’ve made it even easier to stay long-term, with their new “White Card” – a special 1-year long digital nomad residency program.

Hungary

Iceland has its own <a href="https://utl.is/index.php/en/long-term-visa-for-remote-workers-and-their-family-members">long-term visa</a> for remote workers and digital nomads! There is lots of cool stuff to see in Iceland. Landscapes that look like they were crafted from your wildest dreams.Iceland’s long-term visa is good for only 6-months though, so it’s one of the shortest digital nomad visas available. If you apply while you’re already in the European <a href="https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/schengen-visa-countries-list/">Schengen Area</a>, then it’s only good for 90-days.

Iceland

Malta has created its own <a href="https://residencymalta.gov.mt/overview/">Digital Nomad Residence Permit</a> specifically targeting remote workers from outside the EU. The Mediterranean island of Malta has been attractive to digital nomads for years now, due to its sunny island lifestyle, widely spoken English, and strong internet infrastructure (including nationwide 5G service).It’s also located close to mainland Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East — which means there are many opportunities for travel addicts to get out and explore nearby.

Malta 

Mauritius is another island nation that has just launched their own special visa for remote workers. It’s a stunningly beautiful country, with crystal clear water, thick jungle, and epic mountain peaks to climb.To qualify for their one year long (and completely FREE) Premium Visa, you need to produce proof of your long stay plans and sufficient travel and health insurance during your stay.

Mauritius 

Mexico is a favorite hot-spot for digital nomads, partly due to their long 6-month tourist visa, however they also offer a Temporary Resident Visa that’s good for one year with the ability to renew for another 3 years.You will need to provide documents proving that you had a monthly income of at least $1,620 USD over the last 6-months or a bank account balance of $27,000. Mexico is open to offering temporary residency to remote workers that are financially self-sufficient.

Mexico

Norway has been in the news a lot lately, touted as a Scandinavian paradise with its strong social democratic system, wealth, natural beauty, and progressive population.Lots of foreign digital nomads and remote workers would jump at the chance to move to Norway. And they can, for up to 2-years, with Norway’s Independent Contractor visa.

Norway

Portugal offers both a temporary resident visa (D7 passive income visa) and residence permit for independent workers and entrepreneurs for one year, with the ability to renew for up to 5 years. After 5 years you can apply for permanent residency.As a foreign visa holder and resident, you will be given a residence card, the Título de Residência. This is your official ID in Portugal. The beautiful Portuguese island of Madeira in particular has become a remote worker hub, especially with the launch of their Digital Nomads Village.

Portugal 

Spain has a Non-Lucrative Visa which allows <a href="https://www.wanderingearl.com/non-lucrative-visa-spain-apply-one-week/">foreigners to stay in Spain</a> for at least a year, with the ability to renew. With it’s low-cost of living and mix of beaches, mountains, and relaxed lifestyle, it’s a favorite with many location independent people. However technically you are not allowed to “work” on this visa — they’re looking for people who are “retired” and self-sufficient.

Spain

Finally, the British territory of Anguilla has just launched their own special visa for digital nomads who would like to “work from home” on a beautiful Caribbean island destination. There is an additional fee to pay, $2000 per individual or $3000 per family which covers two (2) tests per person, surveillance and costs associated with the additional public health presence, the cost of extended immigration time/entry and a digital work permit.

Anguilla 

This relatively new phenomenon of countries launching digital nomad visas to attract remote workers was predicted over 20-years ago by Japanese technologist Tsugio Makimoto who wrote that remote working would force nations “to compete for citizens”, and that digital nomad-ism would prompt “declines in materialism and nationalism”.His prophecy is coming true, and hopefully there will be many more nations opening up their borders to these “citizens of the world” who are able to work remotely from their laptops in the years to come.

Living A Nomadic Life Overseas

Remote work is on the rise. Here are the best countries offering long-term visas for digital nomads & freelancers in 2022.

Best Countries With Digital Nomad & Remote Work Visas

"Bleisure," the trend of business travelers adding leisure days to their work-related trips, took on a different meaning around the recent holiday season as workers extended their holiday travel to include working days while visiting family or vacationing.It was an opportunity that wasn't as easily accepted by managers before the pandemic and wasn't really an option in 2020, when travel was considered unsafe.

Bleisure

"The flexibility of hybrid work and the rise of 'digital nomads' are changing the travel landscape as we know it."

Some managers may worry about lost productivity or time zone coordination when employees remain in their holiday spots and continue to work remotely. But as long as the lines of communication are open with employees and they're getting the work done, there should be little difference from traditional 'work from home' situations. Not only do workers avoid some of the headaches of traveling on the busiest days, but it allows for a healthy work-life balance, which can keep employees happy long term.

Losing productivity

"The pandemic has blurred the lines between work and life more than ever before. Employees are taking advantage of increased workplace flexibility to extend their holiday travels. Gone are the days of workers being stuck in the office until the day before a big holiday. The freedom for employees to add a couple of days to their travel with remote work is truly a gift that managers can give their teams."

The prevalence of pandemic-era hybrid work, along with a vaccination-inspired increase in travel, led to a new holiday phenomenon this year: longer working vacations at Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s.

corporateculture

Corporate Culture

Rethinking Holiday Vacations in the Era of Remote and Hybrid Work

You may be aware that your organisation needs change. You may even know what the change should be: a new strategy or reorganisation or a new IT system. However, change comes too slowly, or the implementation has come late and with much frustration. The problem is complacency. We underestimate its power and prevalence. It is even in places where people would deny it. They continue with the past norm and think they know what to do. But in a fast-changing world, complacency can cause disaster.

Producing large-scale change

Managers often think they have found the solution when they see lots of energetic activity, where people run from meeting to meeting, preparing presentations, and an endless list of activities. This false sense of urgency is not driven by a determination to win but by pressures that create anxiety and anger. It can drain people of energy.

The false solution

A real solution does not involve running from meeting to meeting or creating a huge list of trivial activities. True urgency focuses on critical issues driven by a deep determination to win. There are four tactics we can use to counter complacency and instil a culture with a true sense of urgency. <ol><li>Make external problems and opportunities visible</li><li>Behave with urgency every day</li><li>Find opportunities in crisis</li><li>Deal with the No-Nos</li></ol>

The real solution is a true sense of urgency


When organisations don't attend to external threats, they will eventually become complacent and blind towards them. As a first step, leaders should be proactive in collecting information.<ul><li>Lower-level personnel are often the closest to the customer and will know what is happening on the outside, so listen closely when you interact with them.</li><li>Collect data. Evaluate the competition. Talk to the customers.</li><li>Bring outsiders in. Invite consultants, vendors, and customers to share their knowledge of your organisation. </li></ul>

Make external threats and opportunities visible

Collecting information is insufficient to spark a sense of urgency. Therefore, it is vital to share the information. <ul><li>Tell a compelling story. Dry facts may appeal to the mind but are not enough to appeal to the hearts of the people in your organisation. A good way to spread outside information is with the power of video and storytelling.</li><li>The visuals your employees see can produce a certain message. Ensure you create a message of outside awareness and urgency. Show your position within the market, what your competition is doing, and the progress of your ongoing projects.</li></ul>

Share your information

Acting with urgency has to do with clarity and purpose. Be specific with everything you do.  Create an action that is alert, externally oriented, and aimed at winning. Make some progress every day, and continually purge low value-added activities. Cancel projects that have become distractions.

Behave with urgency every day

Great leaders know that a crisis has the opportunity to create an atmosphere of a true sense of urgency. With good leadership, a crisis can be used to wake people up out of their passive routines. Make the crisis visible, specific, and big enough to require creative action. Carefully watch how your organisation reacts, what plans are being developed and how quickly they are implemented.

Find opportunities in crisis

The NoNo is someone who is armed with reasons why the current situation is fine, why the problems others see don't exist, and why you need more data before moving into action. A NoNo is not the same as a sceptic. A sceptic is essential to show out poor ideas but can become a huge supporter if convinced that they are wrong. Mistakes when dealing with NoNos: <ul><li>Don't attempt to co-opt them, as it is impossible to convert a NoNo.</li><li>Don't ignore a NoNo. They may organize and active resistance against your initiative.</li></ul> How to deal with NoNos:<ul><li>Distract them</li><li>Eliminate them</li><li>Call them out on their behaviour.</li></ul>

Deal with the No-Nos

John Kotter shows in his book what is missing in nearly all organisations today: a sense or urgency - that attitude that leads people to use opportunities and avoid pitfalls - they purge low-priority activities and move faster and smarter in a rapidly evolving economy.

In his international bestseller "Leading Change," Kotter provided an action plan for implementing successful transformations. Now, he shines the spotlight on the crucial first step in his framework: creating a sense of urgency by getting people to actually see and feel the need for change.

problemsolving

Problem Solving

leadershipandmanagement

Leadership & Management

Most organizational change initiatives fail spectacularly (at worst) or deliver lukewarm results (at best). In his international bestseller Leading Change, John Kotter revealed why change is so hard, and provided an actionable, eight-step process for implementing successful transformations. The book became the change bible for managers worldwide. Now, in A Sense of Urgency, Kotter shines the spotlight on the crucial first step in his framework: creating a sense of urgency by getting people to actually see and feel the need for change. Why focus on urgency? Without it, any change effort is doomed. Kotter reveals the insidious nature of complacency in all its forms and guises. In this exciting new book, Kotter explains: · How to go beyond "the business case" for change to overcome the fear and anger that can suppress urgency · Ways to ensure that your actions and behaviors -- not just your words -- communicate the need for change · How to keep fanning the flames of urgency even after your transformation effort has scored some early successes Written in Kotter's signature no-nonsense style, this concise and authoritative guide helps you set the stage for leading a successful transformation in your company.

John P. Kotter

A Sense of Urgency

Nothing is more motivating than belonging to a team of people who know the goal and are determined to get there.

A leader can influence two key things when it comes to producing results:<ul><li>The strategy</li><li>The ability to execute that strategy.</li></ul> If a strategy is clear and you as the leader are driving it, your team won’t naturally engage to achieve it. However, a set of disciplines can enable you to produce exceptional results.

A team won't naturally engage with a strategy

When it comes to setting goals, focus all your attention on one wildly important goal at a time. In doing so, you will execute better than if you spread yourself too thinly.  Choosing the right WIG:<ul><li>Brainstorm possible WIGs.</li><li>Rank them by the impact on the organisation.</li><li>Test the top ideas to see if they are measurable and aligned with your overall WIG.</li><li>Define the WIG. Use the formula: X & Y by Z. Focus on what, not how.</li></ul>

Discipline 1: Focus on a wildly important goal (WIG)

You should apply most of your energy, time and resources only to the tasks and actions that drive your lead measure (the tasks directly related to achieving the goal.)  Lead measures will inform you of the likelihood of reaching the goal. If you’re unlikely to reach it, you can do something about it. For example, a car breaking down is out of your control (a lag measure). However, you can maintain your car regularly to lessen a breakdown (a lead measure). If the lead measure changes, the lag measure will also change.

Discipline 2: Act on the lead measures

A visible scoreboard ensures that everyone knows whether they are on the right track. It keeps the team motivated. The scoreboard needs to clearly and simply outline the data. <ul><li>Only have necessary data on display so that everyone can understand it at a glance.</li><li>Ensure it is visible to everyone.</li><li>Show lead and lag measures.</li><li>It can tell at a glance if you’re winning or losing.</li></ul>

Discipline 3: Keep A Compelling Scoreboard

It is important to create a consistent cycle of accounting for past performance and plan for the future. This can be done with weekly WIG sessions. There are three parts to a WIG section:<ol><li>Account: Report on commitments. Identify the commitments reached during the week in review.</li><li>Review the scoreboard: Learn from successes and failures. Identify all the things you’ve been able to achieve so far regarding the lead and lag measures. Celebrate your successes.</li><li>Plan: Clear the path and make commitments for the next week.</li></ol>

Discipline 4: Create A Cadence Of Accountability

BUSINESS STRATEGY. "The 4 Disciplines of Execution "offers the what but also how effective execution is achieved. They share numerous examples of companies that have done just that, not once, but over and over again. This is a book that every leader should read! (Clayton Christensen, Professor, Harvard Business School, and author of "The Innovator s Dilemma)." Do you remember the last major initiative you watched die in your organization? Did it go down with a loud crash? Or was it slowly and quietly suffocated by other competing priorities? By the time it finally disappeared, it s likely no one even noticed. What happened? The whirlwind of urgent activity required to keep things running day-to-day devoured all the time and energy you needed to invest in executing your strategy for tomorrow. "The 4 Disciplines of Execution" can change all that forever.

strategy

Strategy

“The 4 Disciplines of Execution is a book every leader should read.” —Clayton Christensen, Professor, Harvard Business School, and author of The Innovator’s Dilemma For fans of Good to Great and The First 90 Days, The Four Disciplines of Execution is the foundational text for creating lasting organizational change. A #1 Wall Street Journal bestseller with more than 500,000 copies sold, The Four Disciplines of Execution will radically change your business. Do you remember the last major initiative you watched die in your organization? Did it go down with a loud crash? Or was it slowly and quietly suffocated by other competing priorities? By the time it finally disappeared, it’s likely no one even noticed. What happened? Often, the answer is that the “whirlwind” of urgent activity required to keep things running day-to-day devoured all the time and energy you needed to invest in executing your strategy for tomorrow. The 4 Disciplines of Execution can change that forever. The 4 Disciplines of Execution (4DX) is a simple, repeatable, and proven formula for executing your most important strategic priorities in the midst of the whirlwind. By following the 4 Disciplines—Focus on the Wildly Important; Act on Lead Measures; Keep a Compelling Scoreboard; Create a Cadence of Accountability—leaders can produce breakthrough results, even when executing the strategy requires a significant change in behavior from their teams. 4DX is not theory. It is a proven set of practices that have been tested and refined by hundreds of organizations and thousands of teams over many years. When a company or an individual adheres to these disciplines, they achieve superb results, regardless of the goal. 4DX represents a new way to think and work that is essential to thriving in today’s competitive climate. The 4 Disciplines of Execution is one book that no business leader can afford to miss.

Sean Covey was the starting quarterback for Brigham Young University during the 1987 and 1988 seasons. He was benched due to an ankle sprain. Following his college football career wrote a book called The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens. It is a book based on the principles of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, which was written by his father, Stephen R. Covey, but directed towards the life of a teen. A more recent book he has written is The 6 Most Important Decisions You Will Ever Make. The book directs the six big choices teenagers will make in their teenage years. The six decisions are: School, Friends, Parents, Dating and Sex, Addictions, and Self Worth.

Sean Covey

Chris McChesney

Jim Huling

The 4 Disciplines of Execution

The 4 Disciplines of Execution: Achieving Your Wildly Important Goals

You have to be able to pick your shots. And if success doesn’t earn you the right to say NO, what kind of success is it? If you’re not strong or free enough to pass on things, are you really that strong or free? In fact, really caring about your work is a great reason to need to be able to say NO to stuff.Just because you’re offered something that might be good for your career, that would feel good to your ego, that most people would have said YES to, doesn’t mean you have to listen to your ego and accept the offer. You can say NO. It’s easy to forget that, especially with peer pressure and FOMO, but it’s true. Saying NO is a rich feeling that’s only tangentially related to money.

You have to be able to say NO

Yes to a coffee meeting means saying no to an hour of reading. Yes to a Zoom call means no to getting some exercise. Next time you face a choice, author Ryan Holiday suggests you ask: Which of these will you get more out of? And which will produce the growth you seek?

productivity

Productivity

timemanagement

Time Management

Reminder: Whenever you say “yes” to something, you’re saying “no” to something else

In 2019, near 87% of data science projects did not get into production. However, due to COVID -19, most companies have scaled up their AI adoption and increased their AI investment. In 2020, almost 50 % of enterprises employed an ML model. But to completely harness the power of AI, multiple models need to be created and deployed.

AI adoption

AI model development involves multiple stages that interconnect to each other. <ol><li>Identify the business problem. Instead of asking how to improve your artificial intelligence, ask how to improve your business.</li><li>Identify and collect data. Identifying the correct data is vital to ensure model accuracy and relevance.</li><li>Preparing the data.</li><li>Model building and training.</li><li>Model testing. The model is trained and tuned using the training and validation data sets.</li><li>Model deployment. Once the model is tested with different datasets, you will have to validate model performance using the parameters from Step 1.</li></ol>

The AI Model development lifecycle

Define the business problem you are trying to solve.<ul><li>What results are you expecting from the process?</li><li>What processes are used to solve this problem?</li><li>Do you see AI improving the current process?</li><li>What are the key performance indicators (KPIs) that will help track progress?</li><li>What resources will be needed?</li><li>Consider how to break down the problem into iterative sprints.</li></ul> Once you have answers, then identify how you can solve the problem using AI.

Identify the business problem

Ask questions, such as.<ul><li>What data is needed to solve the business problem?</li><li>What quantity of data is required?</li><li>Do you have enough data to build a model?</li><li>Do you need more data to extend the existing data?</li><li>How is the data obtained, and where is it stored?</li><li>Can you use pre-trained data?</li></ul> Consider if your model will operate in real-time to determine if you need to create data pipelines to feed the model. Consider what form of data is required:<ul><li>Structured data in the form of rows and columns.</li><li>Unstructured data, such as images.</li><li>Static data, such as previous sales data.</li><li>Streaming data.</li></ul>

Identifying and collecting data

This step is the most time-consuming, with ML engineers spending around 80% of the AI model development time in this stage. A significant amount of time is spent cleaning the data and transforming it into the required format. Things to consider include:<ul><li>Transforming the data into the required format.</li><li>Cleaning the data set of inaccurate and irrelevant data.</li><li>Enhance and augment the data set if the quality is low.</li></ul>

Preparing the data

At this step, all the requirements have been collected for the solution modelling to proceed. ML engineers will define the features of the model, taking the following into account:<ul><li>Use the same features for training and testing the model to avoid inaccurate results.</li><li>Consider working with Subject Matter Experts to direct you on what features would be necessary for the model.</li><li>Be wary of using multiple features that might be irrelevant to the model.</li></ul> Once the features are defined, choose the most suitable algorithm.

Model building and training

While the model is trained and tuned using the training and validation data set, the model will behave differently when used in the real world, which is fine. The main objective is to minimise the change in model behaviour when it is deployed. Three data sets are used when experiments are carried out: training, validation, and testing.<ul><li>If the model performs poorly on the training data, select a better algorithm, increase data quality, or feed more data into the model.</li><li>If the model does not perform well on testing data, the model may not extend the algorithm, and more data needs to be added.</li></ul>

Model testing

Analyse if the KPIs and the business objective of the model are achieved. If the parameters are not met, consider changing the model or improving the quality and quantity of the data. Before deployment:<ul><li>Ensure to measure and monitor the model performance continuously.</li><li>Define a baseline to measure future iterations of the model.</li><li>Keep iterating the model to improve model performance.</li></ul> When all the defined parameters are met, deploy the model into the intended infrastructure.

Model deployment

In 2019, Venturebeat reported that almost 87% of data science projects do not get into production. Redapt, an end-to-end technology solution provider, also re…

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Artificial Intelligence

A Step By Step Guide To AI Model Development

<ul><li>Personal experience</li><li>Experience of people you know </li><li>Experts </li><li>Scientific studies </li><li>Common sense </li><li>Pattern recognition.</li></ul>When seeking truth, your best bet is to look for confirmation on at least two of these dimensions.

The Six Filters for Truth

"Making comics is a process by which you strip out the unnecessary noise from a situation until all that is left is the absurd-yet-true core. A cartoonist has to accomplish that feat with as few as four short sentences."

"Failure always brings something valuable with it. I don’t let it leave until I extract that value."

<ul>
<li>It is hard to tell whether passionate people are passionate because they are successful or they are successful because they are passionate.</li>
<li>Passion sounds more accessible. If you’re dumb, there’s not much you can do about it, but passion is something we think anyone can generate in the right circumstances.</li>
<li>Sometimes passion is simply a byproduct of knowing you will be good at something.</li>
</ul>

Passion Is Bullshit

"Most failures involve bad luck, ignorance, and sometimes ordinary stupidity."

<ul>
<li>If you achieve your goal, you celebrate and feel terrific, but only until you realize you just lost the thing that gave you purpose and direction. Goal-oriented people exist in a state of continuous presuccess failure at best, and permanent failure at worst if things never work out. </li>
<li>Systems people succeed every time they apply their systems, in the sense that they did what they intended to do.</li>
</ul>

Choose Systems Over Goals

“Successful people don’t wish for success; they decide to pursue it. And to pursue it effectively, they need a system. Success always has a price, but the reality is that the price is negotiable. If you pick the right system, the price will be a lot nearer what you are willing to pay.”

The most important form of selfishness involves spending time on your fitness, eating right, pursuing your career, and still spending quality time with your family and friends. .Selfishness is good especially when you are starting your journey to success. You need to be selfish with your time and money. Being selfish is only bad when you become a burden on society

The Selfishness Illusion

Humans want many things. The only way to achieve all of them is by organizing your priorities. To organize your priorities, focus on one main metric: energy.How to maximize your energy:<ul><li>Eat right</li><li>Exercise</li><li>Avoid unnecessary stress</li><li>Get enough sleep</li></ul>When you get your energy metric right, you will be excited to wake up and the quality of your work will be better. You will also be able to complete your work faster.

The Energy Metric

To maximize your energy, you can either be a simplifier or an optimizer:<ul><li>A simplifier chooses the easiest path to a goal</li><li>The optimizer looks for the very best solution despite the increased complexity.</li></ul>

Optimizing  Vs Simplifying

Blasting clichéd career advice, the contrarian pundit and creator of Dilbert recounts the humorous ups and downs of his career, revealing the outsized role of luck in our lives and how best to play the system. Scott Adams has likely failed at more things than anyone you’ve ever met or anyone you’ve even heard of. So how did he go from hapless office worker and serial failure to the creator of Dilbert, one of the world’s most famous syndicated comic strips, in just a few years? In How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big, Adams shares the game plan he’s followed since he was a teen: invite failure in, embrace it, then pick its pocket. No career guide can offer advice that works for everyone. As Adams explains, your best bet is to study the ways of others who made it big and try to glean some tricks and strategies that make sense for you. Adams pulls back the covers on his own unusual life and shares how he turned one failure after another—including his corporate career, his inventions, his investments, and his two restaurants—into something good and lasting. There’s a lot to learn from his personal story, and a lot of entertainment along the way. Adams discovered some unlikely truths that helped to propel him forward. For instance: • Goals are for losers. Systems are for winners. • “Passion” is bull. What you need is personal energy. • A combination of mediocre skills can make you surprisingly valuable. • You can manage your odds in a way that makes you look lucky to others. Adams hopes you can laugh at his failures while discovering some unique and helpful ideas on your own path to personal victory. As he writes: “This is a story of one person’s unlikely success within the context of scores of embarrassing failures. Was my eventual success primarily a result of talent, luck, hard work, or an accidental just-right balance of each? All I know for sure is that I pursued a conscious strategy of managing my opportunities in a way that would make it easier for luck to find me.”

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