The age of instant...that's where we are. Want a pizza? Use your Grub Hub, Door Dash or UberEATS app. Need groceries...Walmart, Target, Amazon are all online and on your phone. Sharing that perfect pic with family and friends across the globe? In an instant they can share in the moment with the tap of a text message.
There is a lot in our world today that is truly instant. Material goods, knowledge, information sharing, and even content creation can happen with minimal keystrokes. But you know what instant gratification can't give? It cannot provide you with long term job satisfaction nor strengthen relationships. Both of those things require time.
More and more of our younger generations are adopting a mindset of wanting to make an impact for good. And, indeed, that is noble and very needed and of benefit to the collective whole. However, impact does not happen overnight. Diligence in a job requires perseverance through the struggles, challenges, and hurdles. Change takes time. Absolutely we can increase the rate of change but long-lasting, systemic change takes time and commitment. It usually requires a mindset shift, a wrestling with long-held beliefs, a questioning of "this is how it has always been _____" You fill in the blank. There are many reasons people leave jobs, change careers, and pivot. Sometimes you just have to find the right seat on the bus as Jim Collins wrote. And, sometimes you need to find another bus or even another form of transportation. But when you land in the right one, it takes time to develop and find that satisfaction. I'm afraid our age of instant has deluded this reality in many ways.
Relationships are the same. How many meetings have you been in where at least 1 (and perhaps all) of the attendees are trying to divide their attention between the agenda and their cell phone? When you are out to eat at a restaurant, how many people do you see scrolling through their phone, corresponding on the laptop completely disconnected from those sitting with them? And, we wonder why people feel alone in a world where we can easily connect with anyone digitally in seconds. Relationships require time and intentness. Time filled with genuine conversation; undivided attention; authenticity; caring. At your next meeting, close down your tech tools. Use the waiting time to ask a colleague about their kid's soccer game or how that big report is coming along. Go out Friday night with your friends and make it a no-phone event. (I've even heard of some people wagering the entire dinner's bill to be paid by the person who checks their phone!) Talk with your friends, family, and colleagues. Seek to truly listen. Ask questions. Get to know them deeply. Keep doing this over time and I bet you will be surprised at the outcomes.
In a world where we can be more interconnected than ever before, with an ocean of information at our fingertips, we have subtly allowed our advancements to isolate us. The scales have tipped towards one of separation. Rather than technology linking us more closely it has instead insulated us from those connections. It is time a balance be found. One where the advantages of magnanimous instant information is countered against enduring relationships and satisfaction that manifest only with time and deliberate attention. Perhaps more good could unfold in our world today if we simply took the time to actually be present in it.
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