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Take A Bite Tuesday 4: Have A Plan

ree

Take a bite...


If you have a plan, take an honest look at it and rate your goals against SMART. Are the specific in nature? What is the date you’ve set for completion? Are they achievable (e.g. do you have enough resources to do them)? Can they realistically be done? How will you measure what you have achieved should an objective be completed? This last one (the M) is the one that most people forget about- but it’s the one that lets you know how well you’re doing outside the wider objective, and gives you the juice to move on to the next goal or phase etc. If you haven’t got a plan, start now!!!

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darreninform
darreninform
yesterday

As promised. See, a plan does not need to be complex. I have one overarching plan, with several modular plans include 30 and 90 Day Sprints, and other goal plans.

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Comment Here for ThinkWORKS 93 Have a Plan!

Episode lands 8am Monday 5th January.
Episode lands 8am Monday 5th January.

Most people don’t fail because they lack motivation — they fail because they never turn intent into a plan. In this episode of ThinkWORKS, I unpack Chapter 4 of You 2.0: Build Yourself BetterHave a Plan — and explore why plans aren’t about rigidity or control, but about creating momentum, choice, and resilience in a messy world. We look at why vague goals keep us stuck, how simple planning sharpens thinking without killing creativity, and why a good plan should guide you rather than trap you. If you’ve ever felt busy but not progressing, inspired but unfocused, or capable but stalled, this episode is for you. Join in the discussion below or do the 'Take A Bite Tuesday exercise which lands in the You 2.0 chatroom every Tuesday.

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Take A Bite Tuesday 3: Create A Vision.

ree

The Take a Bite section from Chapter 3 of 'You 2.0: Build Yourself Better' is as follows:


Take a bite...

If your current company vision doesn’t make you feel like getting up on a morning, scrap it and start again. If you haven’t got a vision, take a stab at one. Then ask people what they think. Refine it. If you have people working for you, email to them all and explain that you don’t think it’s right either. Run workshops and get your employees involved, including temporary staff and your cleaning staff. Above all keep the language simple but emotive. Make the whole process an event! And follow up on the outcomes on a regular basis.


My attempt at this exercise is below. Add yours too.

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darreninform
darreninform
30 dic 2025

My most recent vision and mission statement was as follows:

“To break down silos and challenge the status quo so that we can see a better way, and to have fun doing it.”

With an additional Mission Statement:

"I'm dedicated to empowering individuals to leverage their unique skills and experiences to drive meaningful change. Through impactful mastermind groups, dynamic courses, and personalised coaching, my goal is to transform passion into purpose and create lasting impact."


This is my current working vision. It’s not perfect — and that’s deliberate.


I’d love your reactions:


• What excites you?

• What feels unclear?

• What would you change — and why?”


I'm working on improving it with the AI assistant I have created, called Max (Max was an amazing PA that once worked for me on a secondment, so I was only ever going to call the agent Max). I'll attach the results in a few days.



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WE WILL SOON BE MOVING OUR WEBSITE TO A NEW HOST.


Well, we tried to be patient with WIX. We explained why their new so called community engagement platform was not community focused, and not an engagement tool, but they went ahead and not only forced it on us anyway, but deleted all our old community engagement material in the process.


So I am moving all my sites completely of WIX- both the ones I own, and the ones I manage on behalf of others.


To that end, the Revolution Radio Online site will be migrated by the end of January 2026 and this site, darreninform, will be migrated by the end of February 2026. Yes, I have already found a new web host who have community engagement at the heart of everything they do.


As for @WIX #WIXARECRAP I leave you with this message: Over the last two years you have succeeded in turning a raging fan of WIX, into…


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Comment Here For ThinkWORKS 92 Suspend Your Disbelief!

ree

Episode lands from 8am Monday 29th December.


Suspend Your Disbelief – Why Belief Comes Before Change


Ever notice how fear quietly talks us out of trying, long before we fail?


 In this episode, I explore why self-belief isn’t fluff — it’s the foundation of every meaningful change.


 We look at how the brain avoids pain, clings to old stories, and convinces us we’re “not that good anyway.”


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Take A Bite Tuesday 2: Become Your Own Expert

ree

Every chapter of my book 'You 2.0: Build Yourself Better' has a little exercise to not only help embed the ideas in that chapter within you, but to help cultivate a sense of progress in the reader's life. Each week, until all 33 exercises are done, I will provide my own answers to those exercises so readers can have an idea of how they work.


This is from Chapter 2: Become Your Own Expert


Take A Bite

I want you to write down five times in the past that you have had experts tell you what you should do. Then note if they were right or wrong.


Then write down five times when you did your own research before making a decision. As before, note if you were right or wrong.


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darreninform
darreninform
23 dic 2025

Things experts told me.


  1. I wouldn't walk again without aid (after an accident playing rugby). WRONG.

  2. I wouldn't make it going from a big company to a small one. WRONG.

  3. I had too vague a name for my business (original name): Correct, hence why now darreninform is the brand.

  4. I was crap at maths and shouldn't get a job that involves maths. WRONG and incredibly damaging to a 13 year old mind. I wasn't crap at maths, it was the way it was being taught.

  5. and of course the whole 10 year journey getting a diagnosis of my FND, despite telling every doctor, nurse and consultant- 'my brain and my body aren't communicating'. So wrong wrong wrong.


Things I decided to do myself after researching:


  1. Setting up in business. It's been a struggle but not one in vain!

  2. Setting up an investment portfolio to see if I could make money. I did, and used it to seed my business. But I must admit I need to start again now with a new portfolio. I mis-used my free cash which I regret... so a 50/50 split.

  3. Creating AI Agents. Saved myself £2000 minimum and have created three different agents by applying principles I learned/researched. Eternally grateful to Dean Graziosi and the AI Summit people for getting me started though. But yeah, so far so good, seeing incredible benefits ( the image above for example is by Max, my darreninform Business Agent).

  4. Getting on top of my FND. It's been a long road, but I've now got it in check. It's not getting better, but for the last year I've stopped it from getting worse. This is through learning about the condition and potential treatments and routines that help- in fact, I had to teach a new GP about the condition who had never heard of it before.

  5. After my spinal injury, finding out what types of exercises could help support my lower back so I could walk etc without a brace that went from my neck to my thighs. I had just turned 16 and looked like Frankenstein's Monster. By the time I was 18 I was free of the thing!


There you go, as you can see, I was right more after finding things out for myself than when I listened to experts. Now, over to you for your list.

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Comment Here for ThinkWORKS 91 Adventures in Comics 3 Comic Quest The Untold Adventures of UK Collectors in the 70s

ree

Episode Lands Monday 22nd December.


Before comic shops. Before collectors. Before anyone thought this stuff mattered.


In this episode of ThinkWORKS we go to issue 3 of our Adventures in Comics mini-series, and head back to 1970s Britain — to newsagents, spinner racks, and the thrill of the hunt.


From The Mighty World of Marvel to DC’s The Shadow, we explore how UK kids discovered comics by chance, not design.


It’s a story of pocket money, persistence, and the moment comics stopped being disposable… and started becoming part of who we are. 


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baggsey
26 dic 2025

Ian Baker here...thanks for the shout-out in the podcast! I'd put off listening to it until I had a spare hour, so a walk by our local creek on Boxing Day (with the family still at home) seemed an ideal time. Really, really enjoyed the discussion between you both. It amazes me that so many of us had a similar exprience in our misspent youth - cycling for miles when the new DCs came in each month, frequently second-hand shops, averting our eyes from saucy magzines...

I grew up in Portsmouth, the UK's only island city, which comprised Southsea (the seaside resort), the naval dockyard, and many local areas with names like Fratton, Buckland, Eastney, Hilsea, etc. . Portsmouth had lots of close, narrow backstreets, and lots of corner newsagents back in the early 1970s. There were 96 newsagents within a radius of 6 miles in 1971, but I reckon only two carried US Marvels, but a large proportion of the rest carried DCs.

At the time I did not appreciate how lucky I was to live in a port, a major city with access to American comics.

All the memories you discussed chimed with me....my turning point for collecting DC's was Batman #234, "Half An Evil". Like Chris, I also had a scrapbook where I pasted favourite comic covers. Plus I had two local pals who were also avid collectors (and also had Carlton Corsa racing bikes and haversacks from the Army Surplus stores, ideal for carrying comics from newsagent to newsagent.

Anyway, a great podcast chaps.

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Take a Bite Tuesday 1: "Suspend Your Disbelief"

ree

Every chapter of my book 'You 2.0: Build Yourself Better' has a little exercise to not only help embed the ideas in that chapter within you, but to help cultivate a sense of progress in the reader's life. Each week, until all 33 exercises are done, I will provide my own answers to those exercises so readers can have an idea of how they work.


This is from Chapter 1: Suspend Your Disbelief.


Take a bite...

Right now, grab a piece of paper and write down a description of at least five times you felt totally self-confident, those times when you just blew away all problems or objections and totally achieved what you wanted; it might be that really awesome business presentation you did, or when you asked out that cute boy/girl who said yes, or even convincing little Johnny to tidy up his bedroom! Capture the details, how you…

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darreninform
darreninform
16 dic 2025

My answer:


  1. Standing in front of 300 of Europe's biggest IT companies after my boss asked me to deliver the presentation to them (that I had written for him) at the very last moment, and nailing it to the point where the organisers asked me to act as moderator on some break out sessions. There was a moment of realisation before I started to speak (I was initially hanging on to the lectern my legs were shaking so much) that actually none of them wanted to be where I was and that I therefore had nothing to lose.

  2. Walking on burning hot coals in my bare feet.

  3. Breaking pieces of wood with my bare hands after 30 minutes tuition.

  4. Every time I host my weekly rock show on Revolution Radio Online- it's the equivalent of sitting on the floor playing records with your mates.

  5. Proudly delivering my father's speech at my daughter's wedding.


For all of these differing memories I was in the moment, feeling at a peak state. True for the first example, I was shaking like a leaf when I first walked on the stage but I was distracted by a familiar face in the audience right before I was due to speak, and it broke my pattern. I chose to frame my 'fear' into 'excitement- after all the symptoms were the same! Heart racing, a bit sweaty, butterflies in stomach etc.


Now over to you, feel free to put your answers on this post!

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© Darren Smithson / ThinkWORKS™. Opinions expressed are those of the host.

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