Do you control your mobile phone?

Do you control your mobile phone and MP3 player or do they control you?

I was reading Jeff Davidson’s blog a couple of weeks ago and he shared a New York Times article on how people could no longer appreciate each other’s company and even at a wedding dinner, were texting constantly instead of enjoying the meal, the wine and chatting with the other guests.

On the plane last month from MPLS to Tokyo, I sat next to a top Amway leader who told me her son went to a ‘silent rave’. I asked her what it was. She said, “They all gather for a party to dance but there is no music. Each person listens to their own iPod music and they dance by themselves in a group.” No partners. No music in common. No FEELING the pulse of the music as a group. No cheering and clapping at the end of an awesome song. Just the need to gather but doing it all alone. Sorry… I find that bizarre!

As studies have shown how cellphone use impairs driving the same as having 2.5 drinks of alcohol. Bluetooth does not make a difference. Governments need to impose fines equal to drink driving for cellphone use in cars.  This would make the roads safer.

Companies sell ‘cellbusters’ which block the signals of cellphones for up to 50 meters which should be installed in theaters and fine dining restaurants but laws and cellbusters don’t stop people’s bad habits, they just make it easier for the FEW of us who prefer the silence or going to a movie and watching the screen instead of a hundred tiny glowing squares in front of us.

A big shift: RARELY now do people talk on their phones in my seminars. But many start texting. Mentally, they have left to another world. They are mentally going back to the office and lose connection with the seminar. What a waste.

Are your electronic devices controlling you and your life? Have you lost the ability to start a conversation with a stranger, maintain an interesting dialogue with your friends or sit and chat with your family for a full day WITHOUT feeling the need to text or call someone else?

10% of those under the age of 25 have electronic addition according to recent studies.

I do own a cellphone but do not even know the number. I cannot get email on it. I pay $18 for a SIM card with a fixed 18 minutes and it lasts me for 3 months or more. Some days (maybe 3 in a row?) I don’t even turn it on. Have lunch with me or attend a 2-day seminar by me and you have my undivided attention as does my wife and our children when I’m with them.  I might lose $50k worth of business a year (estimate) because of this approach to my business and my life but I believe the life and lifestyle is worth it. Can YOU say the same or are you ADDICTED to your phone and MP3 player?

SUGGESTION: Switch off mobile phones and MP3 players for one full day a week. Benefit: You will improve relationships and get more done. If you miss it too much and NEED it… maybe you are already addicted!

Got comments or questions?  Just leave your comments here.

Smile Maker for the week: You KNOW the food at a restaurant is bad when…
Customer:  Waiter… this food tastes awful. I want to talk to the manager.
Waiter:  Sorry sir… he’s out to lunch.