We sit here today at a precipice. Our ways of doing things, world view and even values have been thrown into a metaphorical food processor and left for us to decipher and reassess. As we look towards the future, how we want to live our lives, the future of work, the future of relationships, don’t let this moment pass you by. Reflect and be purposeful with your decisions. Because:
Convenience is not a currency worth pursuing and has negative value.
Convenience is debt. What we accrue in convenience, we owe in trust. It is an opportunity cost deal with the devil.
Convenience is not efficiency. What we gain in short term time savings, we pay for tenfold in what is lost in the long term.
Convenience is the opposite of life and unfortunately, it has become coveted. We’ve somehow built many aspects of our society around making things as easy as possible. The problem with everything being so easy is that we lack opportunities for growth. We lack in opportunities to really feel what it is like to use your own hands and brain and feel the reward of accomplishing.
It is the difference between going to a restaurant and meeting the chef, hearing about the process and passion, and getting the same food delivered by Door Dash. The caloric input is the same, but it is reduced simply to 1’s and 0’s. Calories in, calories out. We are so disconnected from our food that in the name of convenience we stop asking questions like, where did this food come from? How was it sourced? Who made it? We are satiating the first level of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs while in doing so, hamstringing our ability to even comprehend the higher levels, let alone ever reach them. No business, no other person and certainly no politician are going to GIVE you true Love and Belonging. They are not going to BUILD your Esteem. They are not going to WILL you to Self-Actualization. Those are things that you need to work and FIGHT for, YOURSELF!
I heard something come out of my mouth a couple of weeks ago that shocked me. “Zoom (technology) has become so convenient. This will always be with us now. Even when things are back to ‘normal,’ why would we go back to doing everything in person? Just think of all of the time saved driving to meet someone!”
What I said was objectively true. Zoom meetings allow us to save a lot of travel time to and from meetings. What I failed to realize until later is the meaning of the first part of the word “meeting.” To meet. In that moment, I had discounted the human experience of truly connecting with another for the sake of short-term time savings.
I slipped into the apathy of convenience at the sake of accruing debt towards actually living a meaningful life. We are more than 1’s and 0’s. We are complex beings, doing more than simply moving on to the next thing at faster and faster breakneck speed. I needed to slow down and recognize what is truly important to me. What is the point of doing anything if not for some greater purpose? If not for the creation of value for others on this planet?
How many of you have said something like, “All I’m doing is Zoom meetings all day and somehow at the end of the day I’m just exhausted.” How many times have you heard this in the last seven months? Have you said it? A version of that sentiment has become fairly common. Perhaps because although we feel like outwardly we are still being productive, internally something big is missing. The convenience of technology is accruing a debt in ourselves which can’t be repaid without the real work of creating trust between other human beings which just CAN’T be done through a screen.
This blog is not written oblivious to the obvious challenges in living through a pandemic, which we are currently in. Zoom and other technology have their place. BUT, everything in moderation. As we (we interconnected human beings, and not just cogs in a wheel) look towards the future, how we want to live our lives, the future of work, the future of relationships, don’t let this moment pass you by. Reflect and be purposeful with your decisions. You only get one life. So, live it.
Don’t just take my word for it, WATCH THIS VIDEO. Simon Sinek seems so prescient because whether its 2011 when this video was shot, or 1945, or 2020, it doesn’t matter what all is changing around us. We still need one another to live fulfilling lives with our relationship accounts in the black. (Also, in my opinion the best Simon Sinek talk of all time)
What do you think? What work are you willing to commit to today that will pay dividends tomorrow? Are you willing to slow down just a little bit today and disperse of the shitty currency of convenience for the reward of what you will build tomorrow? Let me know and let me know if MAC6 can help. We’re here for leaders who are willing to put in the work to build something meaningful in the world. We are here to tell your stories and to Advocate Capitalism as a Force for Good. We are always here for you if you are willing to be here with us.
Kyle