Technology is holding you Back
You may not realise it . . . you may not want to admit it , but it's a plain hard fact that right now, in the latter months of 2015, with supposedly every techno gismo at our disposal, technology around us is actually hampering us more than helping us!
Okay, I hear your cries. - It's not right across the board and not everyone is affected right now . . . but there is a high chance that you're going to be . . . so listen up all you mere techno-mortals that, like me, try and take it in your stride every day.
(This post isn't for the 5% that have everything sussed as soon as it comes on to the market . . . you guys probably don't need to worry!)
Let me go back here a minute to explain:
While I'm writing this, (and I admit, it's part of the reason I am doing so), my smart phone is trying to load a 'new' free sat-nav app. I didn't want this but . . . needs must.
And why?
Because the service provider in their wisdom, had just sent an upgrade notice direct to my smartphone . . you know the ones - where you need to upgrade so that your device still works properly and can deliver all the latest info as required.
Truth be known - I'd been ignoring this for days because my phone was clogged with photos, videos, and apps I don't need - (you know the score, we've all been there.)
So, today I spent thirty minutes uninstalling stuff and uploading pics to google drive so I could free up enough memory to even take the upgrade!
Then I clicked 'Install now' (wish I'd clicked 'maybe later' and I might have had an evening!)
You see . . . this is my point; the upgrade was pants, to put it politely. Once my mobile was ready to run again it was completely different.:
Firstly, all the text for things like emails was smaller and less defined. I have a small but significant problem with my sight, and right away that was a bit of a bummer. Worse still, when I'm writing anything onto the screen I can't see the cursor - they've 'lightened' it - that doesn't help me at all.
While I'm writing this I am looking across to see if the download of a replacement free sat-nav app has completed. My sat-nav app which was brilliant as it was no longer exists in the same format once the upgrade has taken place. I reckon I'm reasonably tech-savy, but I consider 20 minutes trying to get to terms with its replacement is time enough. The thing they've replaced it with is clearly inferior and complicated - I can't get it to work satisfactorily and I need to use it IN THE MORNING . . .Grrrr!
While all this was going on I got booted out of an online seminar because my computer wasn't up to it . . . the memory in the ram just got used up to the point that everything was going so slow they thought I'd lost interest! (It was actually the best hour and a half of the day - so thank you Mark Dawson and Nick Stephenson)
But my point is this:
We are being sold lies:
The next new thing - the time saving techno-gismo that will cost you a lot of money, or the free app that will save you time. The 'investment' that will pay back in droves once you use it . . . I have some news for you . . . it's all crap I'm afraid.
What it depends on one hundred percent is YOU. And you need to ask yourself some hard questions first.
Will it cost you ANY money?
Is it worth your time investment?
Is it likely to leave you in a better place than you were before?
Everything we do requires a decision. We play the percentages game every day. I made one bad decision today when I took that upgrade, but I've made some good ones as well. My better decisions however have not been helped by the implementation of the advanced technology that is constantly bombarding us.
Some of the technology out there being made available to you today will actually send you backwards
Now, it's perfectly true that sometimes we need to take a step backwards to move forwards. Every serious business owner knows that, nothing is totally linear and happens in a constant upward curve.
BUT, you can make some good choices.
You can choose NOT to take everything that is pumped out in front of you, but you can also choose where to spend your time and, your money.
As an author, I find the battle is constantly there between time spent writing and time spent marketing using the technology which more and more seems to hold me back . . . mainly because of the constant seemilngly unnecessary changes. Only last month my website hosting company 'upgraded' their user interface . . . ooh! don't even get me started on that one . . . !
So you see, it's about being savvy and homing in on stuff that works for the long term. If you don't want technology to hold you back then you MUST identify, this year - before 2015 closes, exactly what is likely to work for you and what isn't.
Now here is something I never thought I would be plugging a year or so ago, Facebook has it.
I've never got on particularly well with FB but fair play to them, they are innovative and although constantly changing their algorithms, it isn't too hard to keep up to date.
If you are an author like myself, an entrepreneur, or business owner of any capacity then you might like to keep up to date with the incredible technology they are making available to everyone. It takes some work but anyone can learn it and the results are very encouraging.
There's no link coming here . . . just go take a look at the Facebook power editor and see what it can do for your platform. Sure FB wants your money, but for once, with what they provide there is scope to really drill down and target your market.
Home in on things that you know can work, things that aren't going to go away, or change radically overnight
If you operate some technology on a platform that works, then stick with it and adapt - don't dump and change because some marketing guru says so.
Right now . . . I've got to go . . . my sat nav has finally downloaded the new FREE app . . . which means that hopefully I can get to Mansfield in time in the morning . . . (apparently . . . years ago they had actual physical maps . . . and people (usually the passenger) would unwrap them in the car . . while it was actually going along!
Make good decisions . . . don't let technology hold YOU back
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