Focus for 2013

Who's In There by Stuart Dootson

We are on the verge of a new year. The world changes at an increasingly faster rate. Do you have plans to change accordingly?

The beginning of a new year is traditionally a time for setting goals and making resolutions. The difficulty with defining specific goals and resolutions is getting the world to cooperate. I find it more helpful to define areas of focus. Focusing attention on areas for growth and improvement help me be better prepared for the challenges of the upcoming year and beyond.

Here are things that I intend to focus on in 2013:

• Personalized Stationery -While the decline of offset printing continues, the demand for personalized items is growing rapidly. Beautiful printing on thick, deeply textured paper is a hot growth market.
• Additive Manufacturing - I believe additive manufacturing has reached an inflection point where the growth rate is going to exceed almost everyone's expectations and have an unimaginable impact on the future of manufacturing, distribution and marketing.
• Functional Inks - The deposition of conductive inks and other functional materials using aerosol jetting and similar technology is a very promising method for revolutionizing the manufacturing of electronic components.
• Twentieth Century History - Think of how different the world was in 2000 compared to 1900. I want to understand more about the thought processes of the people who caused those changes.
• Film Scores - I have appreciated the music of John Williams since Star Wars, but this year I want to get more familiar with the music of Elmer Bernstein, Jerry Goldsmith, John Barry and some of the other great composers who have contributed to the great films of the last 50 years.

Unless you have been doing nothing in 2012 or have discovered a way to add more hours to the day, your focus list is worthless without a matching not-to-do list.  The only way to make time for a new focus is to spend less time on something else. Are there fields where you have focused enough in the past that the law of diminishing returns has kicked in? There is always more to learn, but is the value of that knowledge worth the time to acquire it?

Time is our most valuable resource.  A little advanced planning can help make sure we use it in the most enjoyable and most productive way.

In what areas do you plan to focus in the upcoming year?


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