Stamping Your Digital Passport

People tell me they're too busy. When I dig into what they're doing, especially online, it's a lot of "noise" but not a lot of signal. No one seems happy and everyone seems harried, and yet, people keep adding to their own problems.

Think About Vacations and Passports

Imagine traveling to a different country. Would you land at the airport, stand in line, wait for the immigrations and customs official to stamp your passport, only to turn around again and get back on another plane?

No, you'd want to look around the country. You'd want an experience. You'd want to meet some local people, try some local dishes, shop in the local shops. Right?

Now think about how you're using the digital web.

You load up tweets for Twitter. You find information to share and you stuff it into Facebook. Maybe you pile up all the other information you've created and curated over the week and lob that at someone's inbox.

Have you actually DONE anything? Have you seen anything? Have you interacted and done something to add value?

The Web is Changing

Besides "everything mobile" which has been a growing trend over the last three or four years (and people have been talking about it for over ten), you have to see something:

• We're seeking smaller, simpler communities - a la Snapchat / Instagram / Pinterest.
• We're doing less and less "in the open" - Facebook groups, Messenger apps, Whatsapp, WeChat, SLACK!!!
• The notification screen is the new app - before you've unlocked your phone, your attention is grabbed.
• It's answering machines talking to answering machines - the automation-without-intent wars are on, and you're already losing.

Serve Your Customers

At Owner, I can tell you that we're ahead of a lot of this. We've got private communities (peek at the Secret Team for a free/simple one). Our Insiders have a slack they can use to connect even faster. We educate people all the time to cut down what lands on their notification screen (how to do that in iOS and Android).

But there's more:

• Stop lobbing "content" at people and help them, instead.
• Stop worrying about your Facebook page and create private groups for more intimacy and better sharing.
• Clear up your own notification screen. (And on your computers, turn off email notifications, etc.)
• Consider where YOU spend YOUR time. Are you just stamping your passport? Where can you quit? Hint: if a place isn't helping your business, why are you spending so much time there?

Time to Get More Deliberate

There are more and more "places" to eat up your time and attention coming every day. More and more live video streams to check out, lots and lots of learning to do. And learning FEELS great, but it's noble masturbation. Meaning, it feels good, and it feels like it's a cause, but it's not helping you grow if all you do is learn all the time.

The world will make it easy for you to waste your time. It's your job to stay on your path to your goals.Peek at Owner Insider. It's how I'm helping people find their way to their goals.