An Epiphany from a Decade Ago

As we enter a new decade with opportunities, gaps, problems, and potential solutions that are starkly different and of a bigger scale than what we had on hand when we entered the 2010s, I ponder upon the increasing need to centring the focus and energy on being human in the age of products.

A decade ago, when the disruption of technology occurred through the medium of apps, a new beautiful hopeful horizon was in sight. These applications and products built through the propellent growth of technology truly put the world map in a digital borderless space. It combined the world to become one global village in capacity and in practice.

Along with the mass scale extent of globalisation arrived the plethora of options and products that today, even though virtual, have become a part of our everyday life. There are so many mediums of engagement available at the touch of the phone that we have truly unknowingly immersed in a reality that has technology imprinted on the fabric of our being.

If I have to tell you the biggest benefit I experienced through the world of technology, is the utilisation of the very platform on which I write this narrative. Since the very beginning of my career, LinkedIn became a medium of visibility, growth and opportunity for my career. I was head-hunted for every job that I have worked in, showcased on my profile, through the optimum utilisation of this platform. It set me up on a growth trajectory with efficient engagement and today I feel empowered by my growing network, inspired by the accomplishments of the highly skilled people in my network and a great hunger to learn and grow through the learning offerings of the platform.

All the modes of social media, the fitness apps, the photo apps, the news apps, the cloud service apps, the project management apps, the ERPs, the CRMs, the digital alarms and the phone banking, everything is a part and parcel of our day. Every day, we are spending more and more waking time on these apps and platforms. To LinkedIn is a way of being, to Google is a way of finding, to Facebook is a way of connecting. These are verbs to us, not nouns anymore.

Descending into this new decade with the opportunity to take a deeper look into the growing expanses of these products and the perpetual effect on human life, it is identified that we are experiencing a change in the definition of being human in the capacity of existence and being. There lay an immense potential of even further technology disruption that will shape the face of this new decade.

As an individual, I hence find a deep sense of purpose in keeping the authenticity and the unique fabric of my being intact by rewinding a decade ago and exploring in my mind palace the things that fulfilled my being.

Going for long walks, reading a book, writing in my journals through the medium of a pen and paper, creating more opportunities for personal meetings and engagement, buying fresh greens and preparing a hand cooked meal, bathing in sunlight, going to beach, etc and so forth, anything where you revitalise your sense of being a unique individual.

Making a conscious choice each day to engage in at least one activity outside of the space of technological engagement, allows going back to the roots of being a non-native-to-technology human. In this space, one can be the self-talk one needs, the inspiration one finds and the leading one can bring to shaping humanity through technology.

As the wise say, "Separate your 'self' from yourself and observe, in that space lies the beauty of potential."

Here is a thought, to harnessing more human potential in a world of products :)