The Next Big Thing
TALKING POLITICS
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Speaker 3
Here we go. What is your favorite part about Christmas and the new year?
Speaker 1
It's got to be the nod. And wrong. It is gifts. It is receiving gifts. Come on, Blake. You're right. You're right. You're right. It's about getting gifts. It's the season of getting. That's what they say, right? It's the season
Speaker 2
of getting. Unto
Speaker 1
us, a child is born. Unto Blake, a gift is given. Well,
Speaker 3
technically, yes. When it comes to gifts, it would be the giving of and the receiving of, because it truly is better to give
Speaker 1
than
Speaker 3
to receive.
Speaker 1
So what we should do in this episode to celebrate is let's give each other some gifts. And I know what you're thinking, Blake, I hope you didn't overdo it. You stuck to the budget. I did. All of these gifts I spent zero dollars on because some of the best gifts are intangible. And I know that makes me sound cheap, but for the sake of an audio medium podcast, I think we should unwrap some gifts together. Okay. We're going to unwrap gifts of goal setting. I know. Maybe it wasn't on your Christmas list. Let me finish. But goal setting comes with it a lot of gifts. There are plenty of benefits, things that we don't, we overlook, you know, and we default to just a New Year's resolution. When you set a goal, it's even better. There's gifts to be unwrapped. So gather around, bring your eggnog, bring your hot cocoa, bring your frankincense and myrrh, and let's unwrap some gifts together.
Speaker 3
Welcome to another episode of Focus on This, the most productive podcast on the internet. So you can banish distractions, get the right stuff done, and finally start loving Mondays. I'm Verbs, here with Courtney Baker and Blake Stratton. Merry Christmas to you all. Merry Christmas to you, good sir.
Speaker 1
Wow, I love this. Ooh, warm and cozy here. So toasty. Okay, so we're doing gifties, you guys, nifty gifties of the intangible kind. We're talking about goal setting because, you know, in the busyness of the holiday season, you don't want this fresh start moment to slip by. So we brought some gifts to you, the listeners, and to each other, to one another, to remind each other of the gifts, many gifts of goal setting. So, who wants to give the first gift? I'll
Speaker 3
go first. Okay, Verbs. So, Blake, I went ahead and got you something. I don't know if this was on your Christmas list or not, but here you go, my bud. Okay, let's see. Feel free to open. Verbs, you,
Speaker 2
how
Speaker 1
did you know? Verbs has given me the gift of possibility, and wouldn't you know it, it's just my size. Thank you, Verbs. It is, it is, yes. Now, what made you think of this gift? What made you think of this gift from impossibility? Well,
Speaker 3
I know that it's easy to get stuck in the emotions. I'm sorry. It's easy to get stuck in the emotions.
Speaker 2
That is the best Freudian slip I've ever heard in my life right there. It
Speaker 3
is
Speaker 1
easy to get stuck in the emotions. I seriously read emotions. It's easy for me to get stuck in the emotions. I think that's what you were thinking. That's why you gave it
Speaker 3
to me. I know it's easy to get stuck in the motions just going through the demands of every day. But setting goals really gives us a reason to stop and think not about what is, but also about what could be. So we enter into a place of possibility thinking where we imagine a better world. And so when I thought of that, Blake, I thought of you. Setting goals is truly an invitation to pause and be hopeful about our futures.
Speaker 1
I know. I love that. That's one of my favorite things about this time of year is you get to slow down and pause and start getting excited about something different, something new, something exciting, something about your future that you would like to change or influence. And when you create a goal, you get to do exactly that. So thank you, Burbs. I appreciate the gift of possibility. Well, Courtney, I, Santa over here, I picked this out for you. Now, full disclosure, it was on sale, so I am always looking for a bargain. But no, I'm just kidding. I paid full price for this. So here you go. You can shake it around and see if you can guess what it is. It
Speaker 2
sounds like jewelry. Is it jewelry?
Speaker 1
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. You're on the right track.
Speaker 2
Yes. Okay. All right. Yeah. got me the gift of clarity yes
Speaker 1
very similar to jewelry right you need that exactly diamond to be shimmering and whatnot well here's you know i thought of you Courtney, because sometimes, you know, we have a vague idea about what we want. You know, you want more time with family. You know, you want to, you know, maybe you listening, you're looking for a better job. I know Courtney has really reached the apex of any career we could hope to have as the chief marketing officer of Michael Hyatt and company. But, you know, maybe you've got other things that you want. You're excited about possibility and maybe you've gotten some possibility. I don't know if Verb's got that for you too, but you don't stop there. It's just, at that point, it's just an aspiration. And so, a goal can actually create clarity. You know, that's why we have this smarter framework we talk about all the time. Because it's not just setting a goal or having an aspiration. It's about making it specific, about making it measurable. And that will ensure that, you know, you know exactly what you're trying to accomplish and clarity, you know, I know we're kind of joking around here with the whole gift thing, but clarity is a gift. I mean, if you've got clarity, you can go fast, which I know you like to go fast and you can empower others. You can connect them to your vision and you're great at connecting. You have maybe the biggest, do you have the biggest team at Michael Hyatt and company? I think you do. I think so. It's close. I think the training team
Speaker 2
is catching up, but yes.
Speaker 1
Just in terms of sheer numbers, you're great at mobilizing a team. And I thought, you know, what would be perfect for Courtney this year is some extra clarity.
Speaker 2
Well, I actually I think this is really the perfect gift because I feel like in a season like we've all been in, you know, we said this last year with 2020. But again, with 2021, in addition, you know, I now have a one year old. I know both of you have experienced the first year of having a baby in the house. But, you know, there's a lot of things that, you know, are more challenging. You know, your focus kind of hones in quite a bit, you know, on what is possible. And I think this gift of clarity on really what I want and what I'm, you know, what taking aspirations for the future and turning them into goals, getting clarity on that is actually really timely for me in my life stage. So, Blake, thank you for that gift.
Speaker 1
Hey, don't mention it. All
Speaker 2
right, verbs, it's my turn. And here's the gift that I gave you. Now, specifically, I would like for before you open this gift for you to know my true intention with this gift, which is I want some, you know, some verse laid down. Is that the way you would say that?
Speaker 1
Some what laid down?
Speaker 2
Some verses laid down. Some verses. What do the bars little about music i can't even say what i want what are you trying to say what this gift i would really like it to to specifically be a gift for your music making specifically so here it is okay
Speaker 3
let me see Wow. Wow. This is truly something I've been longing for all year round. Courtney, you went above and beyond. Thank you for the gift of motivation.
Speaker 1
Motivation. Some mo.
Speaker 3
Some mo. Give me some mo.
Speaker 2
limiting belief around making music. And so I thought this gift would be perfect for you, because as we talk about goals, they really are gifts because they are exciting. Again, the way that we've framed the smarter framework is not like, oh, I've just got to do this thing because I have to do it. Really, goal setting framework is to make goals exciting. And when a goal is exciting, you know, you naturally are going to have motivation. You know, you're naturally going to have a sense of purpose and meaning. If you don't, it's probably not a goal in the first place. And you need to kind of go back in time and maybe rework through those. When you have that excitement and you get that motivation, it kind of compounds on itself. It's like the more goal progress you make, the more achievement you're making, the more satisfaction you're getting. It's like it compounds because it gives you more motivation. You know, you getting across that finish line, it becomes easier and easier over time. And then the end result, you know, I think this is true with all goals. It's not just the end result that is satisfying, but that whole process become that journey to get there is part of the satisfaction. No,
Speaker 3
that's great, Courtney.
David talks to John Naughton about what’s coming next in the tech revolution and where it’s taking us. From quantum computing to cryptocurrency, from AI to the Internet of Things: what’s hype, what’s for real and how will it shape our politics. Plus we discuss what China understands about technology that the rest of the world might have missed.
Talking Points:
The metaverse is the next big thing in Silicon Valley. It feels like the logical conclusion of prevailing trends.
- This is not actually a radical break.
- The gaming industry is developing the metaverse. And big tech is investing heavily in gaming.
- The metaverse bypasses many elements of the real world that people like Zuckerberg are keen on, such as government regulation.
What will be the next big technological shift? Are we in a kind of lull?
- The internet of things has not gone away.
- Blockchain, which enables crypto, is still a significant technology.
- Proponents of Web3 want to disrupt centralized control of the Internet.
Does the Chinese system show us that there is another choice on technology?
- The general view of autocracy is that it can’t be done. The problem is imperfect information.
- Has technology made it possible to escape the autocrat’s trap?
Technology has undeniably changed our lives, but the liberatory promise does not seem to have been realized.
- When will technology give us control over our own time?
- The kind of capitalism that drives the tech industry is unstable unless it grows.
- The relentlessness of consumer society is antithetical to a particular kind of creativity and a particular kind of politics.
Mentioned in this Episode:
- John’s column for the Observer
- Neal Stephennson, Snow Crash
- John on TP talking about Libra
- Keynes’ essay, ‘Economic possibilities for our grandchildren’
- History of Ideas, Hannah Arendt on Action
- The Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy
Further Learning:
And as ever, recommended reading curated by our friends at the LRB can be found here: lrb.co.uk/talking
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