The power of solitude

Are you wasting away your life? Are you being distracted by activities that do not add value to your success goals? Or are you engaged in the process of growth and development? These are crucial questions we need to address.

A recent tour I took to the campuses of Facebook, LinkedIn and Google in Silicon Valley opened up my eyes to what technology is doing to the world. There is just one word I can use to describe it. And that word is “Disruption!”

Government regulations are too slow to catch up with the speed of technological advancements introducing new products that are not yet regulated.

Driverless cars. There is a great uproar and debate between government agencies and Uber as to the legitimacy of having the same cars run in many metropolitan cities. As of the time of this writing, the debate has not abated it has even increased.

Drone-delivered packages. Pretty soon you will see a lot more drones populating the skies with deliveries and not just the ones being used by media companies of wedding organizers taking aerial shots for their clients. The question here is this: “If a boy or some crazy half-witted moron used an air-rifle shoots one of them down and get the package, what would the legal implications be? Next question, would they not pose as a threat to air travel and air traffic?

I was able to converse with many brilliant and young Filipino leaders working in Silicon Valley and as I listen to their stories and what it took for them to be working in their companies; I could hardly catch up with just trying to understand what they are doing and how their technology is changing the world.

Suddenly I looked at my study routine, personal development plans and after so many years of self-discipline and study process, I realize I need to accelerate my learning process and try to at least understand what the future lies in store for us.

And yet here we are the familiar sight of young people doing video games, posting stuff in their FB pages totally distracted and using up time on activities that do not add value to their success goals. That is to say if they have any goals to speak of in the first place.

Many people miss out the good in life because they choose entertainment over education. Entertainment platforms today are ubiquitous. You can watch movies and TV programs anywhere. Just pop those recently introduced wireless blue tooth ear-buds and nobody would know that kids are not studying and older kids are not working.

Here is the key. Entertainment distracts but education engages. And they are “Always On” all the time. Feeding themselves with newsfeeds, posts and constantly being bombarded with endless angry cyber opinions many people today no longer understand solitude.

Solitude (in its many forms) is required for effective education to take place.

Education requires thinking and processing thoughts and information. While ideas are generated in the workplace through face-to-face conversations, self-education, growth and development takes place in moments of solitude.

Personal ideas and creativity does not come from brainstorming, group thinking or crowd thinking. Many experts in the field of psychology would attest that the best creative ideas come in solitude.

Today, people may seem to be alone but they never truly are because they are connected with their cellphones every time. People tell me that they get their best ideas and creativity in weird moments and strange places like when they are in the bathroom doing the Rodin stance and thinking or while they are taking a shower.

Perhaps the best moments for thought processing are in moments of real relaxation but the main reason here is that they are disconnected with their phones. They are in solitude. Do not underestimate the power of solitude.

I have learned to be alone with all my devices off except the one I am banging my keys on. I am comfortable spending the choice early hours of the day doing quiet time and trust me; those are precious moments that would prepare me to do what I need to do on that day and in many occasions creatively and innovatively.

Taking care of my loved ones and communicating love requires moments of “aloneness” with them and enjoying each other’s company disconnected from the world through the phones because love cannot be outsourced. Artificial intelligence could not do that for me.

You and I are not made up of algorithms. We have a soul and that soul would always search for the deeper things in life. As Thomas Aquinas would say, “The soul is always restless until it finds its rest in God.” Plugged deeply into the Creator then we share the attributes of being creative. This is why the most productive and meaningful day you and I will ever have is the day when we are most creative.

Learn to live with solitude and derive the benefits of being alone because at the end of the day, we are not really alone are we?

(Connect with Francis Kong in www.facebook.com/franciskong2 or listen to “Business Matters” Monday to Friday 8:00 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. over 98.7 dzFE-FM ‘The Master’s Touch’, the classical music station.)