You have to be able to think for yourself or be replaced by the robots which are coming.

The Robots Are Coming

If it hasn’t already happened to you, it’s coming. In the future, a good chunk of the labor force will lose their jobs due to robots, automation and digitization.  

I agree that technology can increase productivity and improve our lives. But what happens to the people who work the jobs that are getting replaced? And since you know the inevitable is coming, what can you do to make sure you don’t get get wiped out?

Think For Yourself

I don’t claim to know how fast the robots will come and what industries they will disrupt the quickest. Some will argue that it’s already started and it’s only a matter of time before people are sitting at home complaining how the robots took the jobs. Well since you do have time, it’s important to do something about it. One way to hedge against all of this is to think for yourself.

Mind Control

Due to the Internet and social media, how do you even know how to think for yourself? So many of our ideas are shaped based on what’s trending. It’s very important that we understand how to disconnect from time to time and build up our self-awareness. Until you become fully aware of self, you won’t know if you are thinking for yourself or others are thinking for you.

The Internet and social media isn’t all bad. I’m sure it’s content that crosses your timeline that you would of never thought of. It’s important to take the new information and form your own opinions and viewpoints. My approach to any and everything is to always ask myself ‘why’ and work back from there.

Instant Results

Society is filled with a bunch of robots. People want to be told what to do and how to do it. They want to be able to Google how to go viral, how to get rich quick, easy ways to be more productive and quotes to get motivated immediately. Folks want the easy solution and they want it instantaneously.

Embrace the Process

But where is the process of figuring things out on your own? That’s why reading is important, taking risks, as well as making mistakes. You learn as you go and the more you do that, the more you know grows. People don’t apply critical thinking and therefore it creates a society of robots who can’t reason or figure out things on their own.

Get Good Grades

Parents send their kids to schools where the school defines what success is. We praise straight A’s but what does that mean? It could mean a person can follow a system very well. It is common knowledge that mistakes are the best teachers, but we’re so overprotective that we don’t allow our kids to make them. We praise following a system, but don’t encourage or support the ability for them to analyze and evaluate information to reach informed conclusions.

Too Much TV

We sit our kids in front of the television, not realizing that this hinders their creativity and imagination. When I cut off the TV, I realized how more brain power my kids use to explore and experience life. People sit in front of the tube and instead of figuring out how to think, their thoughts get shaped by the devices that controls a good amount of their time.

Reading is Fundamental

We don’t read enough to disconnect as much as needed. We rather watch Youtube videos and scroll through Facebook feeds than read. And we become paralyzed by whatever pops up on our phones. We don’t ask questions and get the entail to help us to make decisions. The distractions are real and the first step to thinking independently is to accept that we are being distracted.

Back to the Future

Thinking for yourself does require a lot of effort. It takes a good deal of time and energy to understand what’s happening in the world. Instead of coming up with our own ideas, it makes more sense to just accept the ideas of the ‘thought leaders.’ With all the information that’s out there, people get overwhelmed and just give up. I was on Facebook recently and saw an article that Michael J. Fox announced that Back to the Future IV was coming out. It was obviously a fake, but had thousands of reactions and comments. This could of been avoided if people would have did a 2 second Google search and realized the Fox page wasn’t verified.

Losing Control

Once you stop thinking for yourself, you’ve lost any control of your life. There is a lot to be learned and gained from thought leaders, but understand that many have motives that benefits them. And even if what they say isn’t done with ill intentions, the dependence on others to think for you comes with side effects. What happens if that person is no longer around? You hurt yourself in making decisions on what’s best for you and your situation.

Information is Not Knowledge

If information is unavailable, people start to make stuff up. We need information, but more information is dangerous if you can not formulate your own ideas, thoughts and conclusions. Information leads to power which can be used as a weapon against you. With knowledge and understanding, you can control your future, family, career, and money.

The most important thing we can do is own our personal brands and our content. We are all different, and we need to show our audience why. And honestly we have to. The divide of the have and have not’s is getting wider because technology is making it possible. So we have to be in control of your brand and create our own opportunities.  

Who’s the Boss?

It makes more sense for companies to hire robots than to hire you. It’s more cost effective and robots can be more efficient. Understand that life is a business, and you are your own boss. Create a gameplan for yourself and be the one to implement and execute the strategy. Being able to control your own destiny will lead you to get whatever you want out of life.  

Society wants us to believe that we are either leaders or followers. I believe we can be both. Well I think we must follow first in order to learn how to lead. And we must lead in our respective lives by being able to apply things for ourselves. Blind conformity is dangerous and you are setting yourself up for failure. Take ownership of your thoughts and actions so you are not one of the ones who are replaced by the machines.