When working or growing with others, I’d say communication is the number one key to success. As a culture, I feel we are being stripped of this trait as it is starting to fade away. Almost as if our culture is going through some sort of “natural selection” that’s aiming to push away our fundamentals of communication by relying on screens. Text messaging, e-mailing and social media all play a gigantic role in this issue.
While riding BART (Bay Area rapid transport) the other day, I remember looking around on this jam packed train car as it was dead silent. About about 85% of these pedestrians had their heads angled straight down, eyes glued to their unique gadget. There would be legit couples holding each-others hands while using the other hand to cruise through social media. I did not see one of them look at each other after about 8 stops. Briefly, I’m want to break this down into detail, but mainly discuss how this could be negatively influencing our culture going forth.
Generation Z
These are the folks who were raised during the booming age of social media and text messaging. it has almost become a norm to be savvy with gadgets or you’ll get “left behind”. Its shouldn’t feel uncomfortable sitting on a train and not looking down at a phone or a piece of technology.
It’s so strange, because when we come face to face with whoever it is we’re communication with over the screen, all of a sudden we don’t know how to communicate anymore. We’ve gotten comfortable as a society by relying on other gadgets to do our basic work.
Here’s an incredible TED talk by Dr. Cal Newport who is man who lives his life without social media and is considered successful to many:
The need to be right
The need to be 100% right has destroyed relationships for me, personally. Through conscious practice and time, Ive gained strategies that helped bump the ego and to find a middle ground between myself and the issue. If we aim to get to a point where we work TOGETHER to solve an issue, I feel we will grow as a culture on many levels. Also, trying not to make assumptions when working out issues is key. The mind likes to play tricks on us in just about every situation.
Maybe instead, acknowledge the problem and no matter how cliche it sounds, put thyself in their shoes and try to see it from that side. Make sure both parties are on the same page. If both don’t agree that a conflict has occurred in the first place, then the problem almost becomes impossible to resolve. Both parties need to be willing and ready to solve the issue together.
Self-love & honest beliefs
The whole concept of staying true to oneself is deeper than it sounds. its recognizing raw intuition and feelings. No mater how awful the truth can be, the more authentic and TRUE one is to thyself, the more the more happiness, peace, and freedom will come through. If one is being anything other than true, they are not living a fulfilled life.
I’ve found that having intimacy for one another, and even ourselves is what’s missing in many relationships today. In order to be intimate and vulnerable, we have to be in touch with our feelings. For some reason at this point in human evolution, our thinking mind becomes our center focus. I challenge us to get more in touch with our feeling side and embrace the feelings that rush through us daily more than ever. Wear it proudly on your sleeve.
Sharing feelings can be seen as “being soft” or “feminine” these days. Especially with men. In reality, it’s the complete opposite. The absolute best thing in the world is having an intimate conversation with another through expressing how one truly does feel. This will change the dynamic for that relationship for the better, more importantly making that connection way more authentic.
The new age
I personally think deep down that every human wants to be free. Whether it be financially free, having the freedom of speech, freedom to express oneself, freedom to be alive! The feeling of not being tied down and truly living the way we want to live may be the overall goal I feel.
When going forth, please do not try to set others free. Instead, lead by example and expressing our true feelings at all times. This will naturally rub off on others. Once they see how “free” and in open you are with yourself and others around, they’ll see how authentic your interactions are and will hopefully strive to be vulnerable as well.
I’ve always strived to push the culture forward in a positive way. Getting back to the fundamentals and knowing how to communicate efficiently will make the future much more productive on so many levels. The new age is through communication.
Pro Tip
Get around people that you can trust with your feelings. Connecting with others on an authentic, engaging level is truly life changing. We have to be honest with ourselves before we can truly be honest with others.
