Technology—the Secret Killer of Our Untapped Potential

What can we do to save our lives

It’s not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it. -Seneca

Technology is almost accessible to nearly half of the world’s population today. Now, there is quick access to information like never seen before in history. If you want to know just about anything, you can get it at the touch of your fingertips. Technology has changed the world by storm with its ability to simplify our lives. It also has the ability to bring people closer together and as a collective human race, we have gotten smarter because of it. Technology, however, is also secretly destroying our daily lives.

Here are some reasons to be mindful about using technology and Tips on what to do with Technology

Technology Puts Us in the State of Autopilot

It is easy to binge watch one Netflix show after another until the season’s end. There is no difficultly with a click of a button that brings so much reward. There is also no significant consequences scrolling to the next Tik-Tok video or Facebook feed. At the click of the button, technology gives you an unlimited source of dopamine (happiness hormone) and massive information without any real cost to you. Yet, there is no reading a 300-page book, communicating and talking to your friends that can get you the same amount of happiness. There is also no risk for trial and error of cooking or becoming a better chef as you can just watch another person cook.

In order to achieve your goals or anything you want in life, the first step is taking action and immersing yourself in what you want in life. Most movies have a character who has life going for them, experiences a problem, and overcomes the struggles that they face. They have a plan set in place in order to achieve their goals step by step.

Action is the foundational key to all success. — Pablo Picasso

Technology takes away our Creative Power

Technology has the ability to get us hooked on things that interest us such as Netflix, Youtube, Instagram and other forms of social media. Today’s society is all about catering to our needs and satisfying our happiness. The algorithm is tuned into what we want to see to keep us interested and involved. We are afraid of being left out catching the latest news, videos, and trends. Especially, watching videos has taken away a lot of our creative potential. Instead of imagining of how to do things yourself, you only see how others do it from their perspective, rather than experiencing the whole process. Our minds are our greatest assets and what we imagine is who we are, and what we become. Our minds are built to create.

As children, we had no problem making up stories, tales, and sometimes even outrageous ideas. There was no writer's block or the inability to think for ourselves. As children, we read countless books and used the power of imagination to create and produce. There was nothing given to us to that caused us to form a predisposed image what the image should be. We imagined ourselves as the main character of a novel and it made us feel good about our own selves.

Technology takes away Our Time

There is an endless amount of social media posts and viral videos online. There is never any end to rabbit-hole of YouTube, TikTok, or any form of technology for our personal enjoyment. The algorithm caters to our needs and always has something in store every second to keep us interested. One Facebook cooking video leads to another, wasting a precious 15 mins, 20 mins 30 minutes of our time and later, 1 hour passes by in a blink of an eye. Our time is very precious in this world and is the only thing that we can’t get back. With time, money is made, relationships are formed, champions are forged, and new discoveries are founded. Imagine now, instead of looking at videos or being on our tech gadgets, we use that precious time to invest in a skill or even reading a life-enriching book. In an entire year, this equates to over 2,000,000 words read and new knowledge acquired. Let’s not let technology take away what is truly ours, “TIME”.

Technology Makes Us Less Human

What we experience out there in our lives is real. What we see and read from the news and weather is distracting and changes variably. Every social media and informational outlet has someone’s opinion on a particular idea to convince you to believe what they say. I do not need a weather meteorologist to tell me if it is raining outside nor the news talking about what is going on in the world currently. Even magazines have distracting headlines to keep you distracted and from focusing on the real you. We as humans learn best through personal experiences. We should not be distracted by every little thing that we encounter in our daily lives because that is often just nonsense. Your beliefs are formed 1 of 2 ways. One, either your beliefs come from life experiences or second, believing what another individual is telling you to be true. Follow the ladder and experience things for yourself by taking action.

How to Overcome this Silent Killer?

Be proactive in your own life. Life has two ways to be lived, either a person takes control of what is his or her life or lets others take control of what he or she has. You own your life and do not let others take that away from you. In life, there will be hardships and failures, but do not let those situations make you stop what you are achieving by taking action. These are the times when the most progress is made and often the most rewarding times in life.

Don’t binge on technology and set limits on what you want to do with it. Our brains are wired for habitual patterns and routines. Take it slowly step by step each day to set new habits, later it is easier to adjust to difficult work. If we are doing something easy and makes us feel good at the moment, it is harder to change that habit. Set a limit to what you are doing.

Is it more fun to partake in doing things or just watching another individual do it? Trial and error is the fastest way to learn the ropes of what you want in life with the help of having a clear goal in mind; and what can be achieved with proper guidance. Like a baby taking their first steps to walk, standing on your own also takes trial and error. Making the decision to walk was how a baby is able to stand on two legs rather than crawl all over. Take ACTION!