Needing to stay current

You need to keep learning. If you do not keep up with new technologies and ideas, you will be taken over by the tide of technology and time. This wave could quickly push you to the backwaters of change. If you do not continue to keep up with those changes, you might find yourself wondering why people are not writing to you. Today, regular mail is texting.  It is why you now have a phone that is with you all the time. And why everything is happening so fast these days.

I know many people, even some who do read and play with technology who permanently plant themselves in the mindset of 1965. Then they wonder why everybody else is so different and ask the question, “What is wrong with the world.” They are confused because they think everyone else is out of sync and needs to come back to conform to older and outdated ideals.

There’s nothing wrong with the world learning and growing, and expanding its abilities to communicate and collaborate. In the last hundred some years, look at the diseases that have been cured, life expectancies that have been extended, and the abilities we now have because of better communications and shorter travel times. These are great things. And sometimes, newer technology and values will trump older thoughts and patterns.

I almost believe that some of our older ways of dress, communications, entertainment, and philosophies on work are holdovers from the mass marketing done in those earlier eras when the messages were meant to drive both consumerism and the 8 to 5 office and factory mindset.

As we move forward, we might act differently, dress differently, and hold different mores compared to former eras.  It is mainly because of the changes we now have and how fast they happen.

The office is now on a tablet or even an iPhone. Eight to 5 is replaced by the 24/7 as more people work worldwide from a single location. I have personally worked for clients in the United States, Australia, and England all at the same time, from Colorado Springs. To do this, I had to balance schedules with the use of a world clock on my laptop. 

This does not give permission to today’s generation and workforce to write off older generations out of hand.  We need to remember that we would not have the tools, technology, and collaboration of today without those earlier generations leading the way in their era.  We owe everything we can do to those who fought to make our future ready for us to take it through the next 30 years.  We need to hope we can do as much for future generations to come.

Thank you for being with me today.  I hope to be with you again tomorrow.

Author: Mike Balof

A retired Air Force Master Sergeant, Mike used to lay in bed at night and worry about what would happen if his plant closed or found himself without a job. One day his plant closed. Rather than panic and hysteria (OK, maybe a little) Mike found himself carried away on the adventure of his life. Mike started with the best job he ever had working at Home Depot. He spent 8 years working with job seekers at a local workforce center, helping them to find employment. He then started his own company developing courses, writing books and urging others to follow their own paths into the future. Mike holds a Master of Arts in Adult Education and Training and a Bachelor of Business Management, earned through the University of Phoenix and an AAS degree in Electronics Systems Technology from the Community College of the Air Force. Mike is a member of the Delta Mu Delta Business Honor Society. View all posts by Mike Balof