Humanity Or Technology

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Humanity Or Technology

I am not talking about getting rid of technology, that would be foolish. I am talking about ways to get back humanity while living with technology. We need to learn how to be present during human interaction without the distraction of a hand held device.

I too have a phone. It goes with me everywhere. When I’m away from home I even use it to post to the Michael Edward Fan page on Facebook. I think technology is amazing and I am very grateful for what it allows me to do. As a blind person it has opened up a whole world of information that was for the most part closed to me.

I refuse to react to every whistle, chime or ding it makes. Another tip I should have below. I have special sounds assigned to my sons and parents. Even when the phone is muted I still get their calls or messages. Since we don’t contact each other often, I know to check when I hear those sounds.

1. Never look at your device in the first hour of your day. Those in my coaching course know, take this time to write your priorities both in your work and home.

2. Never look at any screen the last hour of your day. This cranks up neural processors that keep you from having a great sleep. I know, some will say. “I have no trouble getting to sleep after playing with my phone or looking at a screen”. This is probably true. However what you might not know is that you aren’t going in to as deep a sleep for long enough. Just try it. There’s no cost and it can’t hurt you. I am betting you will feel the difference in a couple of weeks.

3. This is a big one. When you are communicating with a human place that human first and don't look at your device. If there's something big going on and you must check your messages, apologize and do so. No reason to check while you are eating a meal. Have you seen where a couple are sitting in a restaurant and ignoring each other? They’re looking at their phones? Probably isn’t their first date. Can you imagine?

4. At least a few days a month, leave the phone at home. Yes, take a break from it completely. If you think you can't, you might want to give this some serious thought. At the very least mute the phone and assign people to an emergency list so they can get hold of you. You must think hard about who is on that list. Not your best friend who sends you texts all day but people who must be able to get hold of you when necessary.

5. Go for a 30 to 60 minute walk every day. Shut off the device and look at life going on around you. Really see it. Make eye contact and smile.

Enjoy, Love and Succeed

Here is the Transcript of the video.

Hey It's Michael Edward creator of How to Crush Your Mental Blocks in 4 Weeks. Which is a course that teaches you how to get out when you are stuck. You know, when you are trying to make some progress to reach your level of success and you're stuck. That course is to help you identify the blocks and how to crush them.

Today we're going to talk about a bit of a different topic today. Today we're going to discuss a little more about human development. As a Personal Development Coach, it is my life's ambition to teach you  the skills and habits and so forth that you need in order to reach your level of success. For different people, level of success is a different thing but it always boils down to the same thing in the end. Example: You may want more money, you may want a nicer home, you may want the spouse of your life or love of your life, you may want a new car, you may want to have more vacations, a rewarding career instead of just a hum drum job. This is why you're here. This is why you're listening to me, this is why you sought me out. It's because there's something in your life that you want to improve. I congratulate you for that, I commend you for that. I think it's a great ambition. I think it's a great goal and I think we should never stop trying to reach for that goal. . There's always more to learn, there's always more to develop, always more skills Etcetera. But what do all these things have in common? They have in common, is to make you a happier person. To make you feel better. To feel good. Really, when you think about it that's our ultimate goal. I think you'll agree with me on that. That everything we do is so that we can have more satisfying and to live happily ever after as the old nursery rhymes would say.
This video here I want to talk about human and technology, humanity or technology. And, what I'm getting at here is this constant battle we're having between technology and human interaction. I've said for years, and, I'm not talking about any studies on this or anything like that but just off the top of my head I've said decades ago, that Television can be a negative thing in the house and help lead to unsatisfactory relationships and so on and so forth. Used to be way way back that that you'd watch TV in the Livingroom, everybody watched the same shows and you only had the one TV. Then we ended up with TV's everywhere, you know, every room in the house even the kitchen for goodness sakes has a television. So people are watching TV and having less human interaction. With less human interaction comes less human stimulation on all levels. Alright? Relationships start to die, you are not paying attention to each other, etc. Well now we have it even worse. We have technology in the palms of our hands.
It is unbelievable, you couldn't have even considered this years ago. How are we dealing with it? I don't think we are doing all that great with it quite frankly. And, I think that we are losing even more of our humanity. I've got 5 points I going to cover today that will help explain what I'm talking about and give you some pointers to try a regain your level of humanity. And no, you can't control what other people do, I realize that but you can control what you do. You have full, full control over what you do. Here are the types of things I want to cover with you. Here's what I want to help you with so you can take better control of your humanity and how you interact with humans.

Number 1. The first hour of your day, I'm not talking about the first hour of the day when your feet hit the floor and so on. Although this is included. The first productive hour of your day do not ever ever check your emails. Do not check social media. Do not check your texts. Just stay away from all that for the first productive hour of that day and make that hour very very useful. Make it proactive. Because if you go in to your email right away, emails are reactive, right? You read a message you got to respond. Same thing with social media. You go in to social media and so and so said such and such, now you got to respond. Alright? And, the same thing with your text messages. someone sends you a message and you feel obligated to respond. It's all reactive, reactive, reactive. You need to spend the first hour of your day to be proactive and think about what it is that you want to achieve that day. What are your priorities that day? What is going to take you closer to your dreams? What are the absolute things that must be done and who do you need to contact to move something forward? If you're waiting for something from someone to move a project forward or what have you. That's the person you are going to contact first. Do you see what I'm saying? You are going to turn this in to a productive planning session for the rest of your day. Now you go to your emails and you screen your emails by the most important people. For example: if you are waiting for Joe to get back to you, then you sort your emails and you look at Joe. Is Joe there? No? He hasn't responded yet. Who is the next person I needed? check that person. Then you can filter through your emails.
You need to completely stay away from social media I mean really. You need to stay away from stuff in the first hour anyway to be productive.
I know what some people are going to tell me, but geeze Michael this is what I do for a living and if I'm not engaging with my people ... Ok, there are always exceptions but the thing is, is you have to decide for yourself whether it is truly an exception or just an obsession. There's the big one. Is it addiction or really an exception.

Number 2. The last hour of the day. We talked about the first hour of the day now let's talk about the last hour of the day. The last hour of the day you shut off all the electronics. I don't mean the last 10 minutes of the last hour I mean the last HOUR! If you're going to bed around 10 O'clock, shut everything down at 9 O'clock put everything on charge, don't check in any more you're done. The reason is, is because when you are looking at a screen it triggers some neural processes and when you're responding and so forth it drips dopamine which is a drug which is what pumps us up gets us excited and everything. It puts that in your system and it interrupts your sleep. So even if you turn off your device and you say, Michael I'm great, I go to sleep right away. Yeah, but, how restful was the sleep? It's probably not as restful. If you doubt me, just try it. It's  to going to cost you anything. It's not going to hurt you. Just try it. Shut off everything put it on charge and for an hour before you go to bed, this is a great time for some human interaction. Some pet interaction. Write down your goals again. Which you should be doing all the time anyway. Reevaluating your goals because they change and because you accomplished them then you need a new goal. Anyway, use the last hour of the day unwind, to take it easy and enjoy yourself, reflect on the day that you just had, see what you did well what you could improve on tomorrow, etc. etc. That's the last hour of the day.

Number 3. When you are in a human interaction, I mean face to face with a human, arms distance, Yeah, you can probably smell the perfume or cologne or lack thereof. Do not reach for your device. Your phone, your I whatever, or pads or whatever you got. Do not reach for them. A. It's rude. B. You cannot focus on the human in front of you while you are looking at a screen. And yes, I know, a lot of people will say, absolutely I can. I talk to a lot of people their looking at their screen they catch less than half of what I'm saying and I half to repeat to them and it's frustrating, it's annoying and frankly, I don't even want to repeat anything. They weren't paying attention to me, why? It certainly doesn't make me feel important. Certainly don't make me feel needed. Why would I bother! Really! If you can't go through a meal without checking in. Pablo's dogs. right? You got that ding goes a text or whatever and you immediately start salivating and grab the phone to see who texted me. Wow! Look at this! You know. No, no no no. Go through the meals. Shut it off. Mute it. Put it aside. Throw it in a different room whatever. But just don't do it. Don't do it. You know what I'm talking about? You go in a restaurant, you look around and you see a couple there and one of both of them are on their phones. They're not even paying attention to each other. Now I know that there are emergencies, again, you know, people are going to say, Oh Michael, you have no idea what I'm up against and I have to ... Aw come on. man. Exceptions are exceptions. And yes, I have done this. I will be talking to somebody and I have different sounds assigned to different people. So, my parents, I know when they phone me which they barely ever do, that's why they're a priority because if they phone me there's a reason. And, my sons. I have their text sounds separate from everyone else and I know which ones which so that when I hear that sound, I know they probably need something. We don't just text each other just to chat. We get together and we have a meal now and then but we don't chat back and forth. So those are sort of my priorities that I will say to whomever I'm talking with, I won't interrupt a meal mind you but I will say to whoever I'm talking with, can you please excuse me? I think my son just sent me a text and I just want to check in with him and make sure everything's ok. There's nothing wrong with that. If you do it once. but again, ding check, ding excuse me, ding check, you're constantly checking your phone while someone's trying to have a conversation with you. It does not work. Get back to the humanity. Get away from the technology to some degree. Take it in to perspective.

Number 4. Here's a real challenge for you. If you think the last was tough, here's a real tough one for you. Leave the device at home a few days a month. A few days a month! All I'm asking is a few days a month. Leave it at home a few days a month. If you think that you are so vitally important that you can't be disturbed for a day, there's something really wrong. There's something really wrong. You haven't structured things quite correctly. Now what I'm trying to say here that for example, if somebody sends you an email and you give them a response right away, your training them to expect a response right away. I have certain people that I do respond to as close to right away as I can. But sometimes that's not until the next day. It just depends on what I have on my plate. Depends on what I have going. depends on whether I'm avoiding technology that day. Just to get my head back in the game again. So I can get my head in to, what is really important to me? So sometimes it will be a day. I will say, sorry I didn't get back to you right away but hey, You know what? I just wanted to take my time and give you a response you deserve and so on. So, try that at the very least mute your phone so that only the most important people can get a hold of you and that will never be social media, that will never be any of the lesser important things and never be an email, It would only be a phone call. You tell the most important people in your life. If you really need me, if you send me a text and I don't get back to you in, whatever a reasonable time is for you, then call me because I may have my phone muted. Make a deal with people, make them understand that you're not going to be just be right there all the time. But if you are really needed, then they can call you. On my phone I have an emergency override. So even when my phone is muted if this person calls they can get through anyway. And again, I have my parents set up for that. I don't even know if I have anyone else setup for that. I have my parents setup because they never call and if they do it's probably not going to be good. So, I have them setup.

That brings us to number 5. If you can't handle number 4 by leaving the phone home for a few days a month, a few days a month, I'm sure you can handle that. Number 5 is go for a walk. Leave your phone at home or at least turn it off. I mean power that sucker off and go for a walk 30 minutes to 60 minutes. I tell this for so many different reasons, I tell this in various courses that I teach and certainly in in some of the other shows that I do. I talk about the importance of going for a walk. In this case in this humanity or technology, what I'm talking about right now is, I want you to go for a walk and enjoy what you see. Instead of looking down, your head down, You know, running in to people, looking like a moron hitting in to the poles, walking out in to traffic. Look up and look at people, meet their eyes, smile at them, enjoy the walk. See the flowers, see the trees. If you can get in to some sort of a nature type place. If you can get close to water that's wonderful. Walking along a beach. If you can get in to some bush, great. Enjoy it. But even if you’re in the city and there's really nothing around you. Just go for a walk go for a coffee. Grab a book. I tell you, if I could see, I'd be reading books with my hands all the time. I'm talking about the print books with the pages that you physically turn. That's what I'm talking about. And I would be doing that all of the time because to me there's just something really cool about holding a book and having a book in your hand. There's just something about getting away from the screens. I don't have the choice. I'm bound to the screens but at least I can read a book and at least I can let my mind wonder at least I can grow, develop and learn through reading the books just as you can.
Now if you're in a coffee shop or something like that and you're reading your book and you're looking around at the people, just do this. Yes, it's going to feel really weird at first. I know it is because you don't have your phone in your hand and you're addicted to the phone in your hand. you don't hear the Bing Bing Bing going off. But you will get used to it and in fact you will enjoy it. Do this once a week, at least once a week. Go for a walk every day if you can. And leave the phone on your desk. Go for a walk once a day if you can. Go to the coffee shop, read a book once a week or more but once a week, absolute minimum. Just make it part of a Sunday routine. Every Sunday, I'm going to go down to the coffee shop, I'm going to read this book and I'm going to enjoy it. I'm going to enjoy looking at people. And when you are people watching, enjoy how they smile, how they interact, and observe when they are doing what I told you all the way through this video. When they are not interacting because they are looking at their technology and so forth. Observe it, observe it! Wow! they’re not on their first date man. No way. If you’re on your first date, you are not going to be looking at the phone. I know I sure as hell wouldn't but ... Can you imagine? Going on your first date and spending most of it at the coffee shop r first dinner on the phone? Well, why would that be any different then hundredth date. Why would that be different then your thousandth date. Interact, enjoy human interaction, love who you're with. You know my saying. Enjoy every day, love as much as you can and succeed.

Thank you very much. Hope you enjoyed it. Do whatever is appropriate here, subscribe to the channel, follow my Facebook stuff, just hop in there on the blog. Love everything I do because I love everything I do for you.

Enjoy, Love, Succeed