In recent years, I have watched audiences at conferences become fascinated with messages from futurists. They have challenged our minds with stories of artificial intelligence, driverless cars and drones delivering our Amazon orders. They talk about a new generation that is growing up and has always been able to interact with their device. The studies show they are now dramatically challenged by being disconnected, even for a matter of seconds.
Most audiences today are no longer surprised by these findings. There will be new jobs that do not exist today and many jobs that exist today will be consumed by technology.
The question is no longer, ‘What is going to happen over the next ten years?’ but, ‘In order to survive and stay relevant, how do we have to think differently?’
To increase our results in a world of uncertainty, the answer is practical, pragmatic thinking. More than that, it is a conscious awareness about how the filter in your brain is separating out the information you receive to determine what you see. The filter in your brain is called the Reticular Activating System. It is the most important part of your brain when it comes to success because it decides what you see and pay attention to.
Switch your thinking
Positive thinking doesn’t really work. If you have been in a rut for a period of time, it is not positive thinking that will bring you out. Studies show that often when a person tries to be positive, they are unable to sustain that positivity and consequently feel worse about themselves than when they started.
The question is no longer, ‘What is going to happen over the next ten years?’ but, ‘In order to survive and stay relevant, how do we have to think differently?’
Useful thinking is better. What is the most useful action for you to take? What is the most useful belief system to have? This is a practical and pragmatic view of the situation, rather than an emotional reaction.
This is not to suggest that you can somehow magically will a different life for yourself with useful thinking. Obviously, we all have a reality in our lives that we are accountable for. If you are not going to change it or are unable to change it, you might as well have a Useful Belief about it.
Overall, we are definitely entering a fascinating time in world history. It is useful to believe that it is, in fact the greatest time in the history of the world to be alive. As we enter this time of massive technological change, one of the greatest fears that people have is that of becoming irrelevant.
Today, it is more important than ever to think usefully. The first step in the process is to consciously recognise that our ability to stay relevant is in direct correlation to our ability to open our minds to opportunity, new learning and the future of thinking.
