Happy New Year! To Your Mental Health in 2025!
Adam Bloom
Show Host & Author - The Generative Executive Officer Expert in software and AI commercialization adambloom.me
To My Friends, Colleagues, and Acquaintances - My Beloved Digital Network!
For 20+ years (holy cow), I have sent out an annual New Years' letter to all - it is a wish or prayer for others.
Looking back at this year, as I write this letter, I also consider the themes from two plus decades of doing this. It is crazy to see the common themes over that timeframe. The intentions have always come from a deep and heartfelt place.
With these letters, I always publish on NYE or NYD.
Typically...I post it to whatever blog I used most that year...and socialize it. For me...it's like...I just want to let the message fly into the universe...even if it helps just one person...I am happy.
Of course, it is centered on gratitude, which I wrote a book on last year called The Grateful Organization and have a bit of an archive on.
Moving on...these annual prayers or reflections, messages, and stories become blog posts - usually several printed pages. Why long form? Truly, I take time for this "reflection and renewal milestone" in a deep way, in a spiritual way (for example, the one from 2022). I believe, even if only one person reads it, it was worth it. It was a chapter of my life, and I wanted to share what I learned to provide a perspective. In my head, I just think of this story of "The Star Thrower" - about a little boy who saved starfish - which I will share below. It's a wonderful story, just wait, very uplifting.
To move on to the letter, let me just say...
New Years is my favorite holiday and gets my spiritual energy flowing. But, keep in mind, at the same time as I write this, I typically make collard greens, black eyed peas, and cornbread, which is what we do down in Atlanta, GA for NYD. >>>AND>>> I'll be listening to my New Year's Playlists cause they are DOPE, wait no DOpE, no doPe! Try those out on NYD! :)
The letter below is my message, wish, and prayer for you in 2025...
Wait a second, press pause! : )
For certain, 2025 will be a very interesting, unique, special, crazy, and eye-opening year. Change is big this coming year, massive change. People are talking about it from geo-politics to astrologists to AI in every industry and beyond. Energy is shifting in the world - spiritually, literally, and figuratively. More than we have every experienced in our lifetimes. Many people will face major career and life shifts due to AI, which is why my colleague and I created this show earlier in the year - to help others on the journey.
OK, press play.
So. Now. This message is my wish, toast, and prayer for your life, career, loved ones, prosperity, and health in 2025!!! <3, ab
[Dear Universe - based on my life's experiences this year, help me send a message to help others enter 2025 and grow with health and harmony.]
For 2025, I wish you the wisdom of mental health management!
Yes, this is the year for a new transition into what mental health means and how it affects us.
Since 2010, my personal and professional journey has unfolded from a) software and AI sectors INTO b) a neuropsychology, mental healthcare, and wellness industry path.
In 2010, 15 years ago, I didn't want to be on Earth anymore - I endured hell on Earth. This is a mental health problem.
When I decided to stay, literally, I committed to studying neuropsychology, which led me to ongoing studies of gratitude and meditation. I had to know, to help others, what was happening inside my head. Put it this way, I understood exactly what Robin Williams went through. Proudly, I have not stopped studying this for 15 years. I have applied it to all aspects of my personal and business life, in some way, since then. To help others.
Back to the point. It was truly hell on Earth in 2010 - in every sense of the word.
But, somehow, starting in 2011, I began a 5-year journey at a world-wide AI and data science startup unicorn and market leader. How did I get that job with my head in that mental state? A miracle. In any event, this AI work forever changed the course of my life.
Since then, I've never existed apart from AI. My career sectors have all been AI-centric. And, I've always looked at business through the lens of behavioral analytics. I've somehow amassed a solid background in healthcare/wellness and IoT. But, now I get to steer towards neuro-psychology, nutraceuticals, and digital therapeutics combined with software and AI! And, holy cow, I am considered an expert on Generative AI Strategy by VCs, PEs, and CxOs? What is happening?
I feel blessed beyond belief!
Importantly, I want to share what I've learned in 2024 and what I see ahead in 2025 - with regards to Generative AI, Career, & Mental Health
This is one important thing I have learned about stress. Job stress and financial stress are two of the biggest stressors on Earth, and they often lead to relationship stress. And, I've been there and way more than once. Meditation and breathing are absolute requirements to face intense stress.
So, first a strong heads-up! Said with lots of love, but with a velvet hammer!
This is going to be the year that AI takes a lot more jobs.
==>>Your new year needs to start with ===> a commitment to become an expert in generative AI for personal and business purposes!
From a lifetime in CX/CRM/AI and behavioral analytics, I'd say that the call center was the beach-head department and FinTech the early adopters of generative AI. But, this gen AI market is so fast. The job shift will be faster than anything we've seen in history. All white-collar work is impacted. Check out my posts on this from 2024. I'm very serious.
OK. Take a breath.
What to do?
This year, you need to commit to learning how to use generative AI at an expert level.
Do it with your co-workers, do it with your kids, nieces, and nephews...it doesn't matter who...just do it.
>> Definitely do it FOR your kids, without question. <<
Start with asking Google, Bing Chat, Perplexity, or ChatGPT about how "generative AI is impacting your {industry} and {job title}." Keep asking longer and longer questions for about 5 minutes. If you ask the right questions, you will quickly see that you must have AI skills to be employable by the time 5 years has passed.
For those who are interested in the journey to a generative AI driven economy:
What this does is un-imaginable.
You have the best experts in the world, at your fingertips, advising you on your career and financial pathway around generative AI.
It is insane what this does.
And - I consider these prompts and tiny language models just a beta product - the minimum valuable whatever.
Again, I am very serious about this AI thing and careers - it is probably the most somber blessing I've ever sent.
Here is "normal me" story about this topic.
I met a young couple today on the river path I go to, nearby. Yes, I meet people everywhere I go. Curse or superpower, I don't know. :)
Any-who, they had an adorable two-year-old boy in a stroller. After talking a few minutes, I said, "Hey, I have a 11-year-old daughter. I know we are strangers, but make sure you teach this adorable child about artificial intelligence. It is going to be a world we cannot even envision, when he is 22, in 20 years, much less 10 years." He responded as if it was a gift of wisdom, which it was intended to be. I hope he doesn't forget it, for the sake of his son's future. And, I don't think he will. I've spoken to so many parents about AI this year...dozens and dozens...and it is critical the next generation takes hold of this.
Why do I say this?
Because I basically automated myself out of a job this time last year!
The world is changing incredibly, incredibly fast. Facing job loss from AI is existential in every sense of the word, hence the red/blue pill theme of my book. As you see it creep into your roles and responsibilities, it is scary. It is here.
When all the AI productivity lessons learned from 2024 are applied to 2025, the momentum is going to move even quicker.
Literally, governments are betting their economies on AI literacy as we speak.
This is something we all now face in business and in life.
What do we do?
领英推荐
Being Present to the Moment - Not Caught in the Future or Past
Set a goal for learning this new year.
Do it right now.
For certain, in 2025, say, "I will commit to fully utilizing this new tool - to embrace the change in our businesses and our family's futures. I will do it for my own knowledge and especially for finances, health, and family."
Make a simple, achievable goal - right now:
Commit to practicing a "deeper prompt" every day in two areas, for 365 days in a row. By deeper, I mean get better at using AI. Use more words and more precise sentences or questions to get higher quality results. Do it once a day for 365 days. I've been doing it for 2 years now. It is worth it 100%.
My New Year's Parting Wish and Gift:
Learn this breathing technique, as it is the best I have found by far at reducing stress!
This video is by Dr. Andrew Huberman, and it is about breathing for optimal health, mood, and learning performance - the specific time in this link is where to start listening. It is about breathing and heart rate.
This is one of the most important things I've learned this year AND actually since I started studying the area in 2010.
Meditation and breathing are very important for fighting all types of stress, especially mental and virtually every other health condition. Ask AI how many types!
It is the best possible breathing method I have learned about for immediate deployment and impact for stress reduction at the point of stimulus.
Immediately, I taught my daughter the above technique to help her get to sleep more easily and to calm herself under stress. There are many wonderful techniques, but I like this one for the purposes of reducing stress at speed and without heavy lifting.
Yes, this is the year for a new transition into what mental health means and how it affects us.
It is also a year for us to embrace technology and how it can impact our lives, careers, health, wellness, and knowledge.
This is going to sound funny, but if you want to get spiritual about considerable change and personal growth, go read about death. It sounds crazy, right? Here is what Sadhguru, Marcus Aurelius, and others have said about death:
There is a fundamental truth to all of this, and it helps greatly with mental health!
Happy New Year! To Your Mental Health in 2025!
In closing, it is a blessing to be able to help others enter the new year with vigor!
Gratefully,
Adam
(If you want to dive into business details behind this message, here it is: AI-Mental Health is Coming: Are You Ready? from PsychologyToday.com on 12/30/2024.
Oh! Yea@ Finally! What is the story of the Star Thrower?
The Star Thrower
(Adapted from Loren Eiseley's essay)
Early one morning, after a fierce storm, an old man was walking along a beach. The sun was rising, and in its golden light, he could see thousands of starfish scattered across the sand as far as the eye could see. The storm had washed them up, and as the tide receded, they were left stranded.
In the distance, he noticed a small figure moving. Drawing closer, he saw it was a young boy, repeatedly bending down, picking something up, and throwing it into the water. As he approached, the old man realized the boy was throwing the stranded starfish back into the ocean, one by one.
"Young man," the old man called out, "what are you doing?"
"I'm saving these starfish," the boy replied without stopping. "If they stay on the beach when the sun gets high, they'll die."
The old man looked at the endless stretch of beach, covered with countless starfish. "But there must be thousands of starfish on this beach. You can't possibly make a difference!"
The boy paused thoughtfully, then bent down to pick up another starfish. With a gentle toss, he sent it sailing back into the waves. Turning to the old man, he smiled and said, "It made a difference to that one."
The old man stood silent for a moment, moved by the boy's simple wisdom. Then, to the boy's surprise, he too bent down, picked up a starfish, and threw it into the sea. Soon, others walking the beach joined in, and together they saved many more starfish that morning.
This version of the story, originally written by Loren Eiseley in his 1969 essay "The Star Thrower," tells of a powerful encounter on a beach [7]. After a major storm, thousands of starfish were washed up on the shore, stretching as far as the eye could see in both directions [2].
## The Encounter
An old man, who regularly visited the beach for his morning writing, noticed a young boy in the distance. As he drew closer, he saw the boy repeatedly bending down, picking up starfish, and throwing them into the ocean [5].
When the old man asked what he was doing, the boy explained that he was saving the starfish. He knew that when the sun rose higher, the stranded starfish would die unless they were returned to the water [2].
## The Challenge
The old man pointed out what seemed obvious - there were thousands of starfish on the beach, stretching for miles. He questioned how the boy's efforts could possibly make any real difference [3].
## The Response
Without hesitation, the boy picked up another starfish, threw it into the ocean, and delivered his memorable reply: "It made a difference to that one!" [2][3]
In some versions of the story, the old man was so moved by the boy's response that he joined in the effort, and eventually others followed suit, leading to all the starfish being saved [4].
The tale has become a beloved parable about the value of taking action, no matter how small, and the significance of helping even when faced with overwhelming circumstances [9].
Citations:
Leadership Coach & Consultant/ Speaker, Author/ President, Belief System Institute
1 个月All the best to you my friend!
Author: 'The Declaration of Peace Millennium'
1 个月You're amazing Adam Bloom
Licensed Realtor at Servus Realty Group
1 个月I've always loved the starfish story. Care enough to make a difference in someone else's life. Take your eyes off yourself and see how your mental health can change for the better. Thank you for sharing Adam. Now in to learning about this AI concept for 2025 and beyond. Love