: to make different in some particular : ALTER
: to make radically different : TRANSFORM
: to make a shift from one to another : SWITCH
: to become different
Ahh yes: “Alter, transform and switch, to become different’’.....these words resonate a lot in FIG’s evolution, we’re excited about a little bit of change (and a little apprehensive if we’re being honest!).
In her Wall Street Journal article: Digital Addictions Are Drowning Us in Dopamine, Dr, Lembke, a Stamford University professor and psychiatrist, talks about the scientific biological effects of addictions to our devices. It’s real folks. This is not FIG banging the drum of putting down our phones or any other technological apparatus and talking or connecting with our fellow human beings. No. This is concrete, physiological, measurable, science based fact that continuously interacting with our high-tech electronic leashes, gaming apparatuses and social media actually, physically, alters our brains to crave more of it, thereby de-incentivising us to engage with others on a human level.
Gasp, shock and awe!
Mistakes. We all make them, we’re human beings and by definition 99.9% imperfect (with apologies to those of you who think otherwise), which results in, guess what? Mistakes (we make them hourly at FIG)! That gaffes, miscalculations and oversights are a part of our collective experience on this earth. Why (on earth!) is it so hard to admit to making mistakes, take responsibility for these human aberrations and move on after making a miscalculation or error? Hmmmm?
We all have habits - some serve us well and some get in our way…...Google states: “A habit is a settled or regular tendency or practice, especially one that is hard to give up.” Establishing a habit usually takes about two weeks to become routine and is subsequently supported and reinforced by practicing it daily.
Ever had a “Monday” on any day of the week? Ever had your day perfectly planned, scheduled and organized only to have all your intended “to-do’s”: meetings, calls, oh yeah, actual “work,” utterly blown up by an unexpected interruption, complication, interference? Ever had someone insert themselves into your day with their drama, troubles or lack of planning (real or self-inflicted), requiring you to shelve your carefully laid out day(s) and requiring you to stop whatever you’re doing for their fire drill?
Yeah, us too.
Have you ever experienced 7 day work weeks? Ever used weekends to get a jump start on preparing for the upcoming excitements of the work week ahead? Ever felt like a slacker upon receiving an email, phone call or work text on a weekend? At 6am? At 9pm? “Eeeek! Someone is working and the implied imperative to respond is too great to ignore? A colleague is busy and requires an answer right now!”
Yeah, us too.
“…..and you'll feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you've fed him for a lifetime."
Confucius.
Overstating the obvious, Confucius was a smart guy.
Torturing the fishing metaphor a bit: learning to set a hook, choosing or making bait, the art of casting, reeling, landing, cleaning and filleting a fish all are easy skills to write down, but in practice, take an enormous amount of time, tutelage, patience, practice and more practice. We don’t become mature, capable anglers without first sticking ourselves with an errant hook, get grossed out by baiting a hook with a worm, losing a fish on the line or winding up falling in the water. Right? Then we land our first one! And we replay the experience in our heads: what worked? The bait? The location? Time of day? How can we replicate what worked so we can catch another and another and another to feed ourselves for a lifetime?
