Are you the Xmas Scrooge or do you bring joy to everyone around you?
Does going to work mean that you change hats and become a negative, overly opinionated, in-your-face style manager who nags your employees into being so afraid to communicate?
Do you conjure up ways to make others miserable without even knowing it?
Are you too pedantic about detail that you lose sight of the big picture?

December 7 and counting. While most of us have a jam-packed agenda for December with Christmas shopping to be done, parties, last minute things to finish at work, deals to close and family to catchup with, it seems that many small business owners get so caught up in what is going on, that they forget about what the future may hold.

2012 isn't going to be easy. It is predicted that we will see more floods, earthquakes, droughts, heat waves and cold spells as the world's weather patterns show increasing destabilisation but fortunately the world will not end as previously predicted on December 21, 2012.

Today, marketing happens in real time. Anywhere. Anytime.

While one-way communication is almost dead and buried, there seems to be an influx of 'worried' retailers out there who are scurrying to put the latest 'offer' or 'promotion' in everyone's letterboxes.

President Barack Obama's job approval rating is now below former President Jimmy Carter at the equivalent point at the White House. The European Economic Crisis is unfolding as the 'lingua franca' of financial obscurity with their problems a lot like that of the US, but only worse. The Wall Street Journal reports that Mark Zuckerberg and crew could see an IPO value of around $100 billion and us mere mortals are quite frankly, just trying to get on with finishing the year off on a half decent note.

If you are not sure how the above relates to 2012 social media trends, then perhaps you should spend a few minutes searching google and type some of these topics in to see what sort of result you get. Maybe, log into your twitter account and see what people are saying (& trending) about President Barack Obama, the European Economic Crisis or Facebook's IPO.

On Friday, I woke up in Vail, Colorado, to find an email notifying me that hours earlier a good friend of mine had passed away.

His name was Dr Michael Hirshorn. He was one of the founders of Cochlear, an original team member of Resmed and on the Board of Directors for Dynamic Hearing and a whole heap of other companies.

Constantly learning in life is a must. If we don't, we all know what happens.

We fall behind, become less interesting and life doesn't come as easy as it should.

America is such an awesome place for so many reasons. People are passionate no matter where you go whether it is down to the local Walmart store, on the slopes of Vail or in the Streets of New York. Often people the world over put Americans in an unfair box; loud, abnoxious, overly-opinionated, political and entrepreneurial. Other than the latter, I tend to disagree. It doesn't help that there are so many thousands of websites out there trying to "brand" Americans as such.

Life is a long time and staying loyal to certain brands whether it's Heinz Baked Beans, Chanel No. 5 perfume, Nike, Tiffanys, Toyota, Ray Ban or Mokador Coffee - the endurance of brand loyalty can be a long, arduous path.

I am an avid skier. I love spending the day skiing and nights by a log fire talking about life, business and how I am going to change the world. One of my good friends who has kindly agreed to host me in Vail this week for 10 days skiing and a bit of business, suggested that I may like to take a look at his good friend's beautiful ski label before we head up the mountain. On the first mention, I thought 'why not', but then I took a look at their website and the jackets and pants were really nice... BUT... they are not the brand that I have been wearing since the first day I ever went skiing. No matter how nice they are, I just could not imagine wearing a jacket from another brand. I would feel disloyal.

I didn't mean to be that loyal to Spyder and Bogner (My BRANDS ), but somehow, since that first sales person sold a Spyder ski outfit to me, I have been incredibly loyal ever since. I now own every single item that you can possibly own that has the Spyder brand on it. Bogner was a later acquisition (when I had saved enough money!!!!) and is completely non- competing with my love of the Spyder brand. It's European and is more for when I want to look sophisticated and stylish rather than athletic or sporty. Bogner is also considerably more expensive and is something I only bring out for extra special occasions although I do feel totally luxurious when I am wearing it and I always feel that I should be in Val de Sere or St Moritz when I am decked head to toe in Bogner. It quite simply makes me feel beautiful.

Whereas Spyder is for everyday wear. When I put on my Spyder gear, I feel like I am wearing the best, most practical, safest, warmest attire on the slopes and that I won't have to worry about the small things like snow soaking my jacket or feeling cold as the temperature changes. I also feel like the brand is not a 'show off' brand, and more for the sporty person who loves adventure and is not fussed about the small things in life. Even if you are not a good skier, when you have Spyder on, you feel like you are going to be.

Brands are funny things. Some people will only ever drive a Toyota car. Others will only ever wear Nike when they are playing sports. For me, I will only ever wear Spyder or Bogner when I ski, and only ever play golf with Callaway. There may be better out there, but the shift to try it is too great for a brand loyalist like myself.

I AM A BRAND LOYALIST FOR LIFE...SPYDER ... YOU HAVE RUINED ME!