We are living in an unprecedented time when finding the truth can be extremely difficult. One major driver of this has been brewing for over a decade as a result of our social media engagement and the algorithms used to hook us. These programs can give us what we want, but they can also be insidious, serving up violent images, false information, and AI generated advertising for products that may or may not be what they say they are. This is the world we live in today. There’s a lot of false information out there, few guardrails in place to regulate the algorithms, and so it comes down to how well tuned our detectors are, a task that’s become increasingly difficult.

For the larger part of my professional life I’ve been focused on human behavior and what makes us tic, as well as methods and tools for creating change, improvements in functionality, and personal growth. I’ve studied brain function, behavioral pattering, family of origin and cultural influences on development and functional thriving to name a few. I’ve devoted my life to understanding us humans, both as a coach and as a writer. Recently, the human growth and development arm of the behavioral sciences has had to contend with a new bully on the block – the unregulated social media algorithm, which is having a catastrophic effect on our lives, an effect requiring a great deal more attention than its received. First step is bringing it into our awareness and then taking the necessary steps to regulate this incredible technology. Currently, our minds and our hearts are being shaped by dopamine inducing apps skillfully developed to grab our attention and harness our brains. Okay, that second part might be a bit Orwellian, but we’re definitely hooked, and for some time now it has been used to manipulate us in the political arena.

Our thinking, and how we interact with the world, has taken a sharp left turn into an often dark place where anger, fear, and hate rule.  One of the results of this is that governments around the world are becoming more authoritarian. According to a Standford University interview entitled “Understanding the Global Rise of Authoritarianism”  (Understanding the Global Rise of Authoritarianism | FSI )(Nov. 8, 2021), Ben Rhodes, former Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications and Speechwriter under former President Barach Obama, discusses his book, “After the Fall: Being American in the World We’ve Made,” with Standford Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies Director Michael McFaul. In their conversation, Ben shares that, “Technology is a big difference maker in the sense that these platforms that at first were connecting people became the perfect vehicles for disinformation and surveillance.”

We can all see, without research or university study, that people are less connected now, with levels of loneliness at record highs. We are more divisive and less tolerant of differences, and we can see how violence is now commonplace in our lives to the point of numbing many of us, though I don’t ever think completely. Times have changed, and in the current moment, it doesn’t feel like for the better especially when it seems almost every evening on the nightly news there’s another violent school shooting. But no, don’t adjust the gun laws, that would be bad. We’d be losing our right to shoot people. I mean that’s basically the logic when you really look at it. Stricker gun laws mean less deaths. That should be enough, but it’s not.

I have found that it’s so easy to lose hope. I’ve said to myself on numerous occasions, “The world is crazy,” and in some ways it really is, but it’s not enough to simply say that. I needed to look more deeply at the why’s, if there were any, and when I dug a bit deeper, I began to uncover an understanding of how we’re operating now as people on this planet via our interaction with social media, ourselves, and one another.

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart introduced me to Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa. She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021 for her commitment to press(journalistic) freedom. She is the author of “How to Stand Up to A Dictator,” and what she shares is chilling, and she’s been sounding this particular alarm since 2016. In a talk she gave at the Athens Democracy Forum, in association with the New York Times, Ressa said, “Without facts you can’t have truth, without truth you can’t have trust, without trust you cannot have democracy.” She goes on to say that we’re living now in what she calls “the deadliest period for journalists in recorded history.” On Jon Stewart’s show, Ressa shares with Jon that “By design these platforms spread lies, social media spreads lies, and by a 2018 MIT study, at least six times faster. So by design, lies spread faster. That’s the incentive. And then in 2017 we saw in our country, in the Philippines, if you lace it with fear, anger, and hate it can go viral.”

We have a lot to unpack here in the United States today. Things have gone sideways, truth has been buried, and the hand of power is abusive in nature and aimed at control, manipulation, and profit. Some of us see it, while others do not, but I have come to recognize that each of us can help shift the balance through our voices, wherever and however they might be used. And through real connection.  We are all different. We have different faiths, we come from different places, and when it comes to politics we can disagree vehemently. But when we start to try and silence voices, whatever side of the spectrum we might live on, everyone loses. Instead, it’s time to find the humanity in our neighbors, especially those of a different – you fill in the blank.

I have always been a preacher of love. I believe in it with all my heart, and I believe that this was perhaps Jesus’ greatest teaching. So, if the loving is absent, it’s time to bring it back. Maybe you write something and share it with your people. Maybe you have a conversation with someone different than yourself without making them into a monster. Maybe you vote a little differently this next round in service to making America American again. This is a constitutional republic, not a monarchy. We have three branches of government to balance power, not to put it in the hands of one party. And our forefathers, and I have to believe foremothers, wrote a constitution that specifically states that church and state are to remain separate. As a reminder, they did this because they were fleeing religious persecution in Europe. Practice whatever religion you’d like, but stay out of our government and my bedroom. Thank you.

My number one wish is that we begin again to see one another as people, and I know we can. I know this because I spent a year traveling around the United States interviewing people from all walks of life. I did this trip because I wanted to see if America was in as bad a condition as the newspapers and news shows were saying it was. Once I got out on the road and started talking with people about their lives, I saw more of a shared humanity, and less of the differences. We were all and are still all trying to do our best to take care of ourselves and our people. We want not only food on our tables and a roof over our heads, but the opportunity to live with a level of freedom and autonomy, without fear of being attacked for who we are. We all seek safety. It’ s a part of our basic survival instinct. My year traveling around the country showed me that my fellow American’s are my brother’s and sister’s. No, we don’t all look alike or think alike, but variety is the spice of life. We’re a melting pot, and that’s what makes life interesting and fun.

Clearly we have work to do. Remember kindness, caring, love, and empathy? It seems some of us have lost track of these qualities and fallen asleep at the wheel of living well. I believe it’s time to roll up our sleeves and rise to the occasion we’re currently experiencing. And like with any behavioral shift there is a first step requirement – we have to acknowledge that we have a problem, and folks, we do. For those of you who’ve been through any of the programs like Alcoholics Anonymous, you know the First Step, as it’s called, states, “We admitted we were powerless over alcohol – that our lives had become unmanageable.” We are there. Our lives here in the U.S. have become extremely difficult to navigate. It’s time for change, and I recognize that this is precisely the moment we’re in right now. We are growing and it’s painful. The old is fighting the new. Fear is fighting with loving. It’s an internal struggle we all face being played out on a national and international stage. I recognize that if I’m to contribute any level of positive change I’m going to have to show up clean. I’m going to have to love my neighbor as myself. I’m going to have to give people with a different political opinion the opportunity to express, while also expressing my own political beliefs. And most importantly, let’s unmask the truth whenever possible. Time for us to become truth tellers, while monitoring the social media interactions we participate in on a daily basis. Again, just because it’s on your feed, mine included, doesn’t make the information true. There’s AI generated content. There are bots. There are Russian and Chinese assets planting divisive material. This is the world we’re living in today, and the what-is-ness of it all. I have hope, but I also know that you cannot make an alcoholic stop drinking. That has to be their choice. So, what are you choosing now? For me, I’m going to continue making positive and uplifting content on my socials. It’s one small step, but small steps can add up to big impact. I hope you’ll join me.

Hello Friends,

I am absolutely not the first person to write about the merits of a highly focused hour. What continues to make this conversation relevant is the ongoing need we have for focus. Read: from the myriad of distractions we face on a daily basis. We’re pulled in so many directions, and the lack of focus causes a lack of productivity with not only the work we’re paid to do, but also with the things we’d like to do, and even dream of doing one day. So, lack of focus can really eat into our joy.

International bestselling author Melody Beattie speaks eloquently on the dichotomy of focus in her book Journey To The Heart: Daily Meditations on the Path to Freeing Your Soul, “There is a time to be open, almost unfocused, as we take in what the world, the universe, is showing us. There is a time to get out of our heads and quietly take the journey our hearts lead us into – following with the openness and wonder of a child. But there also comes a time to aim our attention and focus our energy on what we want to accomplish. Instead of floundering with scatter thoughts and possibilities, we choose one, then act on it. We stay in step with the natural rhythm, but we’re pulling our scattered attention together and focusing it as part of that rhythm.”

At the current global speed, I believe one of the keys to living well and focusing is to slow everything down. And the good news is, we can start by doing so for just for an hour at a time. Being able to focus time is an absolute super power today. I’d go so far as to say it’s a downright miracle. Also, it does make me wonder, did ADHD come first, or was it the ultra-caffeinated, need for speed world we live in? I trust there’s an evolutionary process unfolding in all of this. And, as the world gets faster, and smaller connectivity wise, we’re forced to find new ways of navigating the demands. Training ourselves to utilize time in a way that actually serves us can feel like trying to find water in a desert. But that said, it’s not impossible.

For a moment, let’s put a pin in the power of an hour, and talk for a moment about a very large elephant in the room – our cell phones. Whether you’re Android or Apple, we all have in our possession, some of us 24/7, a computer. And now it’s moved to our watches, with whispers of a soon-to-be chip we can implant into our brains. I wouldn’t have believed it either, had I not had that pesky little conversation with a technologist. I didn’t know what the hell they were either until I did. Ends up these are some very smart people. Like REALLY smart. I can’t divulge my source, as it’s part of a technology cabal that made me sign an NDA. Don’t ask, I can’t tell. But here’s what I can say. When said technologist saw my iWatch he started saying how it was the step right before the implant, and if we want our internal computer to be commercial-free, we’d have to pay extra. I have never quite looked at my handy dandy super cute iWatch the same again. One step away. And this information rolled off his tongue like sharing the temperature outside. Like it or not, my friends, this is where we’re headed.

Whether you believe this or not, our main challenge still exists. How do we manage our energy usage, and the access to us these minicomputers create? Social media access to children has been banned in Australia until the age of 16. And I suspect that’s just the start. You’ve probably read the best advice these days – don’t take your cell phone to bed, or spend time on it right before you go to sleep. Too many ways to get yourself sidetracked from the most important task you have for living a sane, healthy life – your sleep. I’ll admit it, sometimes I sleep with mine. Now that’s probably something I need to discuss with my therapist, but she’s been hard to reach lately. She says she’s “busy,” to which I reply, “Scrolling?!” I’m kidding, I think, but these days it’s not outside the realm of possibility.

Our first step is admitting we’ve got a challenge here. And I think for the most part we have. Now onto some possibilities for better use of our energy and time management so we don’t become walking zombie’s barely living our lives, cut off from nature and the beauty that feeds our soul. I know it’s a little bit dramatic, but there is definitely some truth in there.

So, here’s one strategy I utilize for focusing. Practically speaking, I use this particular approach a lot for writing, and it has a fairly broad application. To focus writing wise, I sit down with my laptop open to a blank page or a piece of writing I’m currently working on. I then set the timer on my cell phone for sixty minutes. Now here’s the thing, life has a way of interrupting our focus time. That’s just how it works. There’s laundry, dishes in the sink, a bathroom break, you need water, and then children. I don’t have children, and they’re absolutely going to step into your focus time. Journalist, and New York Times Bestselling author Oliver Burkeman says in his fantastic living life well book, Mediation for Mortals: Four Weeks to Embrace Your Limitations and Make Time for What Counts, “Going through life with a rigid commitment to the elimination of interruption and distraction might seem like a way to stay more absorbed in what’s happening. Yet in fact it pulls you out of it, by undermining your capacity to respond to reality as it actually unfolds – to seize unexpected opportunities and to be seized by an awe-inspiring landscape or fascinating conversation; to let your mind take an unplanned journey into fertile creative territory, or to find enjoyment, as opposed to annoyance, in a small child bursting into your study, while fulfilling your obligations as a parent.”

I share this bit about interruption because it’s a key component to the focused hour. When an interruption occurs, as they do, I stop my timer and address whatever it is that’s calling for my attention. If it’s the dryer buzzing that my clothes are ready, I can let that one pass. But if I need some water, or a snack, I get up and take care of that need. Then I sit back down, turn my timer back on, and write. I have found that this particular approach has led to a great deal more productivity writing wise, but it’s also had another benefit. I’ve stopped looking at what we call distractions or interruptions as bad. It’s life. On the basest of levels, sometimes you just have to go to the bathroom, so go. Over time I’ve also developed a deeper level of self-acceptance, commitment to what it is I want to do, and a greater ability to focus. I’m convinced it’s the timer piece. And let’s be real, cause you know I am, not everything is gonna need a timer, but if you’re challenged with accomplishing something important to you, this is a great way to re-train your brain in support of honoring yourself, your dreams, and your life. Again, many applications.

I hope this little timing tip for focus serves you. And if you do run this Power of the Hour experiment, please drop me an email at barry@barryaldenclark.com, and let me know how the experience was for you.

In the meantime, take good care of you, and…

All the love,
Barry

PS: thank you to everyone who participated in my Complimentary Kick-Start coaching offer. I had the joy of working with ten people in support of personal exploration that led to heart-felt discovery, as well as the clarification of life goals, and next concrete steps for getting there. And we laughed a lot.

PSS: I’ll be reaching out soon to share my latest offering with you. My WYNN Workshop – Writing Your New Narrative. It’s a powerful three hours to uncover your gifts, and create next actions for manifesting your life goals through writing exercises and coaching by me. And it’s going to be fun, I promise.

After almost a year of being trapped in a box.