There are two ways you can respond to unknowns and changes in technology, culture, politics, and society.
The first is to focus and worry about all the possible things these changes could do to the world at large, and fret over all the things you think and hope other people will do to make sure bad stuff doesn’t happen.
The second is to ask yourself what you can do in your own life in light of these potential changes.
The first approach quickly becomes a runaway train of fear and negativity. It’s dangerous because it makes the second approach that much harder. Fear and threat blind us to opportunity and optimism. We’re stuck in reactive mode, which leaves little room for creativity. It puts our energy and attention in a fruitless spin, spent on things we can’t control.
The second approach is amazing. It takes a little time and patience, but when you tune out the stuff that’s beyond your control and stop thinking of hypothetical scenarios involving theoretical people, you can zoom in on your own life, goals, desires, traits, and resources. The world opens up and you see the opportunity in challenges and changes, rather than pure fear of the unknown.
Take a deep breath.
Whether the world is being disrupted and displaced at a frantic pace or not isn’t the relevant question. What about your life? What’s happening there? What do you want to happen there? How can you work with changes in the world to help rather than hinder those goals?
