I recently read an article by Alex Vann addressing the “challenges” with the next generation, the “Smart Phone” generation. The bottom line is that you can’t contain or control change but you can leverage it. What this next generation is missing is simple: principled living.
Alex says, “Smart phones aren’t actually making us any smarter. One day we looked up from our smart phones and realized that we weren’t actually an smarter. We had just become buried in a swamp of information and a quagmire of feelings. Emotional maturity and self-awareness died with the advent of social media and photo filters. As we looked around this landscape where everyone else was still looking at their smart phones we realized a glaring absence from the way we live, the way we make decisions and the direction we are moving towards…the absence of principles. They were lost somewhere along the way when we traded honor for convenience, justice for popularity and the sacred for secular. They were lost amidst a deluge of information and the rapidity of technology changing the way we live. We traded principles for speed, for wealth, but mostly for popularity. Public opinion, which changes like the wind, became more important than principled outcomes. The new generation had their opinions which used to be tested by time and trials, elevated instantly to popular status. A generation that had been told everyone was a winner, then had their opinions, pictures and thoughts elevated to proportions that used to take a life time, maybe to achieve. What was thrown out were the principles of the past in favor of popularity and privilege of the present. The previous generations were not only exposed to principles, but had them ingrained along every stop of life. Leadership, life and learning used to be driven by timeless principles. What has been thrown out in the beginning of this 21st century is the importance of principled living and learning.”
“A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both.”
~Dwight D. Eisenhower
In the midst of every challenge lies a great opportunity. If you want to help teach and train the next generation, if you are a part of the next generation, the secret for success will lie in those that practice principled living. Principles are timeless and tested guidelines that contain truth for application in any situation or circumstance that give clarity for action and response. I challenge you to get clear on your principles and values and let those guide you through the era of the smart phone.