Merry Christmas 2017

So here we are eh, about 700 words from the end of 2017.

It seems hard to believe the most popular Moowsletter of the year, Why Starting Beautiful Doesn’t Work, was written eleven months ago! It only feels like last week that my inbox got swamped with responses. It obviously touched a few people.

For those who weren’t subscribers back then, the basic thrust of the message was everyone has the same fear, that being, “Am I enough?”

I used the example of a friend of mine who whips herself into a frenzy every Wednesday morning, tidying her house for the cleaner. She constantly worries about what the cleaner will think of her mess!

Clients have the same fear when they come to see us, “Am I enough?”

Meanwhile, the adviser just wants to know, “Can we be honest with each other and work together?”

Bottom line is, we all want the same things, and have the same fears.

Speaking of our humanness, consider this juxtaposition.

What if Santa was a Robot?
Right now, the world is navigating its way through the most fascinating intersection of our time.

Bitcoin is now the biggest bubble in history. It has produced a bigger bubble than the tulip mania of 1634-1637.

Interestingly, bitcoin is just one of 1,700 crypto currencies so why haven’t all the other crypto’s grown at the same exponential rate? The answer is of course, attention. Where focus goes energy grows. It creates momentum.

So, will it last? Me think not. Just have a look at its price chart. It’s vertical! No asset or market with a chart that steep ever lasts. If you don’t believe me, try running up a hill that runs almost perpendicular to your starting point and see how long you last! It hurts just thinking about it.

On the other side of the digital intersection is the road to Artificial Intelligence (AI). Whether you like it or not, AI, algorithms, and robo (robot) will become as much of our vernacular as salt and pepper.

Currently, AI has the world divided. Some believe robots will replace our jobs and lead to mass unemployment while others have the opposite view.

Personally, I’d love a robot in my office to do all the menial rubbish that no one else wants to touch. And that’s the bit that scares the daylights out of people.

What will happen to our jobs?

I am definitely of the view that robots will replace tasks, but not jobs, that robots will ‘reposition’ people, but not replace them. People will be forced to focus on skill sets rather than job descriptions and this will ultimately give them greater job security.

The fear is, where will all this lead to?

I think it will bring everything (and one) back to one fundamental truth…be efficient with things but effective with people.

Efficiencies will continue to grow at an exponentially, but people will still want to connect with each other more than ever before. Gen Y are feeling this right now. They’re the most connected generation of our time thanks to social media, but also the loneliest.

So maybe they’re not really connected at all? Or maybe connection has become a noun instead of a verb? A thing instead of an action.

Your Most Cherished Memories
To demonstrate my point, I want you to think about your two most cherished memories.

You got them?

Ok, now watch this. I’ll bet you one of Santa’s reindeer’s that both of those memories included at least one other person! True?

Now try this one on. Suppose you were going to give someone a book for Christmas. Who would it be and what book would you give them?

You got it?

Ok, now watch this. Ten bucks the book you just chose was not an ebook! Yeah?

You might have bought it online but you’re not going to give it to them online, possibbly. i.e. people still want to connect but they want the connection to have some depth.

So, if you’re wondering what 2018, 28, 38 and every other year will look like, stuff will change, but our needs will remain the same.

So there you have it Moowsers, party over for 2017.

To that end, I want to say a massive thank you and a very happy Christmas to all Moowsletter subscribers for their readership throughout the year and all the best for 2018.

Have a wonderful Christmas!

Adam