3 Skills Needed To Be Safe From The Robots & Being Replaced

Hey, welcome back to the show. This is Brad. And today it's just you and me, solo. Nobody to interrupt us, no guests, no interviews, just some musings that I had from an email that I received from my dad today. It's a beautiful, sunny San Diego morning and my dad shot me an email this morning with an article in it that he found on Business Insider. And the article's title is, McDonald's Shoots Down Fears. It's Planning to Replace cashiers with kiosks. And the commentary my dad made in the email was that, hey, the burger flippers aren't going to enjoy the increase in minimum wage very long, are they? And my dad and I love to talk about economics and politics and business and life, etc. And this is one of those instances where the article is all about how, hey, look, McDonald's is rolling out these self service kiosks where you don't have to interact with a human to order your cheeseburgers. Now, good or bad, this is coming and McDonald's is actually defending themselves saying, look, look, look, we're not trying to replace humans altogether. These are just tests, etc. So they're shooting down the fears. But I'll tell you what, if you're making minimum wage, you're flipping burgers, you're taking orders, etc. You should be fearful. A higher minimum wage will absolutely accelerate this. And you know, look, I've got a background, a degree in finance and economics, and I have very strong opinions about this, although I'm open to being wrong. And I know it's controversial and I am absolutely empathetic with the people who are or sympathetic with the people who are making minimum wage and who are struggling to pay for themselves. I've never had to be in that situation since I was like 16. However, in general, minimum wage as a policy can do a lot of harm. It can do a lot of short term good, but in the long term, it can do a lot of harm because it increases the cost of labor and it disincentivizes people for hiring a lot of the people that it's trying to help. However, this episode actually has nothing to do with minimum wage, but it has to do with a bigger thought than this triggered at any level. The more money you think you deserve, you think you're worth, you think that somebody owes you, the easier it is to replace you unless you become indispensable. And there's a way to become indispensable. And I'm going to offer that to you here in just a moment. But the bottom line is we live in a time that is revolutionary. If a computer can do it, it will do it, right? If you're doing a task that smarter computers can end up fulfilling, it will. I mean, we're already seeing self driving cars in the beginning. I mean, this is going to replace cab drivers, it's going to replace truck drivers. This is not an if, it's an absolute when. So that's one example of it coming. We're seeing it in a lot of other areas. But if you're creative, you're safe, right? So if you are somebody who you know, does any kind of art or web design, etc. You're probably okay as long as you're creative. As long as it's not a menial task. I'm going to tell you you're wrong. There are some, some examples I'll use from my own industry, the world of marketing, of digital marketing and Internet based businesses. So just a couple examples. There are amazing tools right now that allow you to replace the need or to a degree, the need for a web or graphic designer. My friend Russell Brunson, who was on the show before, has a program called Click Funnels which allows you to, you, you don't even need a website. You can literally just go grab page templates and put those to work and integrate them all. And they're beautifully designed by other people. So you don't ever have to hire a web designer unless you want to. My friend Craig Carpenter has a new software called Relay that which does amazing graphic design work. Although it's not any type of graphic design. It's somewhat templated, but it's a very powerful tool that people can use without spending a lot of money on graphic designers. But even then, if they're not automated, they're being outsourced and crowdsourced for pennies on the dollar. I have people that work for me overseas that I pay a fraction of what I would have to pay over in the United States. And I don't feel bad for it. This is the way that it works. This is what allows me to grow and allows other companies to grow. And it's a, you don't have to like it, but you're going to have to get used to it kind of a thing. So continuing on this concept of if you're creative, you're safe. What about copywriting? So copywriting, which I do a lot of for my clients, has to be safe, right? Well, I've got a couple friends, Ben Atkins and John Benson, who have created Tools, software tools for, to a degree, automating the copywriting procedure. They take, they take a computer program, they take templates, they ask questions, you fill in the blanks and it spits out an amazing template that you can then just go in and tweak and, and edit to your heart's content. Thus saving you potentially thousands and thousands of dollars as a copywriter. And soon enough, once artificial intelligence comes in, you'll plug in a couple of variables and it will write the copy for you. Heck, for all I know we'll have artificial intelligence buying things for us when we need it. So who knows where the future is going and that's maybe the distant future, but this other stuff is happening right now. I, I just found another tool that I'm using that uses basic artificial intelligence to create these very beautiful slide deck like PowerPoint style presentations almost automatically. It cost me 30 bucks and I'm really impressed by what it's able to do. The point being, even if you're creative and even if you think of yourself as an artist, that doesn't really mean you're safe either. So what is safe anyway? Well, I did some thinking about this and I think that's one of the most safe areas as a critical thinker. If you have the ability to think critically, solve problems and connect with others, and connecting with the people who do the first two, the critical thinking and solving problems, these are the skills that will be the hardest to replace. Critical thinking, solving problems, connecting with others. Most of those things that you know that I mentioned before can be replaced by computers, by robots, et cetera, and they eventually will. But these are the ones that's going to take a lot longer to do and they have the most value. If you look at the biggest entrepreneurs, the people who've created the biggest fortunes, they've solved problems through critical thinking and connecting with others. To continue on with that, there's a quote that I love by, I think he's an author and motivational speaker named Charlie Tremendous Jones. And he said this. You'll be the same person in five years as you are today, except for the people you meet and the books you read. Let me repeat that. You'll be the same person in five years, except for the people you meet and the books you read. So are you learning? Are you connecting those dots and are you connecting with people who are, Think about that. How can your kids be better prepared? What are they learning? Are they learning how to be robots? Are they just learning skills? Are you teaching them how to pass tests or how to think, think critically, solve problems and connect. How can they be better prepared and they better be prepared. Look, I'm really good personally at connecting dots and people. I've referred to myself as a dot connecting entrepreneur because that is how I've created so many opportunities and solved a lot of problems for myself and my clients. Speaking of connecting the dots, my partner and I, Kent Clothier, just hosted our quarterly two day mastermind called the Boardroom Mastermind here in San Diego, where we just wrapped up with about 35 really high level entrepreneurs who are helping each other connect the dots between each other and solve these problems in a way that really helps them cut in line and jump to the solutions where they may have had to figure it out all on their own. Now, Kent and I get compensated for this because we created a very valuable resource to connect the dots between entrepreneurs who can use this. And when we think critically, all together, we can really move mountains. I'm really excited to see some of the stuff that came out of that. But you know, connecting the dots isn't just about the mastermind. It's all about. It's also the podcast that I'm doing right now. You know, I'm connecting dots with people. The people that I interview and that I bring on this show are amazing people that I want to connect with. And I build relationships with each and every one of them. At the same time, I'm learning from them, I'm asking questions and that increase my knowledge. It's not quite like reading a book. Sometimes it's better because you get the condensed version. But you know, I've also slacked a bit on solving bigger problems and implementing innovative solutions and I intend to change that. Yes, I do solve my clients problems and I help them grow their business. But I ask myself, how can I have an even bigger impact? How can I do more? How can I make a bigger dent in this world? I don't know yet. I'm working on that. But questions themselves are very powerful things. One of the former guests on the show, A.J. roberts, who's a world champion powerlifter, an amazing marketing mind and is doing some crazy things, he's also in my mastermind, the boardroom that I just mentioned. Well, he acknowledged me this weekend when he was on the hot seat for having a knack for asking really powerful questions on my podcast when I interviewed him. And I apparently pulled an answer out of him that I think had eluded him up until that point. And it allowed him to zoom out and see what he was doing in a better way. And I was really grateful that he acknowledged the fact that I asked powerful questions. But the most successful people that I know ask the best and biggest questions, and I'm going to continue to work on this. But what I mean by that is that the questions they ask is not how do I necessarily hey, how do I make enough money to pay the rent? They ask how do I solve problems that the world considers completely impossible? How do I solve world hunger? How do I solve obesity? How do I solve transportation issues? How do I solve. You name it, but they're asking better and different questions. I think I'm pretty good at that. But I also think that I need to be a lot better. You probably do too, but ask yourself that question. This post I'm sorry, this episode started off with a little bit of a fearful note and it was controversial. It was all about be scared of the robots and be scared of being replaced, etc. It is not meant to be and it's not meant to be a treatise on minimum wage. Agree with me or disagree with me, I don't really care. But I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. But what is meant to be is a wake up call and it's meant to wake myself up as much as you. I'm talking to myself out here to remind myself that, look, the times are coming where nobody is really safe unless you are innovating and innovating with yourself. What kind of personal development are you doing? What kind of skills are you getting? And are you getting skills that will be easily replaced tomorrow? If you are, then times may not be really good for you in the future. Now I don't know if I can, if I can help you or not. Maybe this resonates and maybe you're like, yeah, I am stuck in a job right now that is kind of a dead end job and I can see the writing on the wall and I need to get out and do my own thing, but I don't know what and if you scour the Internet enough for work at home or make money on the Internet, etc. You'll see that it's oh, it's real easy. All you got to do is jump out there and do this, that or the other, push a couple buttons and make a bunch of money. It's not that easy here to tell you, but it is possible and it's possible to forge your own way. As one of my friends and favorite authors, James Altucher, says in his amazing book Choose Yourself, which I highly recommend you get it it's never been more important right now to choose yourself, to forge your own path and to be an entrepreneur, even if you're an artist or even if you're an employee, to use entrepreneurial skills. But it's never been more important and critical to choose yourself and not rely on others as it is right now. But it's also never been more possible with technology, with help, with the people, with the resources that you have. I'd like to be a resource for you if I can, and if you want me to. Now, this podcast is one way of doing it, and another way of doing it is to email me at askbradaconrappbusiness.com and tell me your biggest challenges. Then tell me what you really want. Tell me if this is. If you're trying to make a change, whether you have a business and you're doing several million dollars, but you're stuck and you don't know where to go, or you're trying to get started and you're kind of floundering around and flapping your wings and getting frustrated and going to bed every single night anxious and with sweat, not knowing what's going to happen. And maybe change is being forced upon you, or maybe you want to force change upon yourself, but you don't know how. Maybe I can help you. The only way I'll know is if you send me an email to ask bradakenratbusiness.com and I hope that this has resonated with you, I really do. I found myself inspired this morning after reading this, and usually I get inspired after my mastermind because it's been two days of thinking bigger and asking better questions. But take note. Take note of the changes that are happening out there and pay attention. I mean, if you're listening to this and especially if you've listened to this whole thing so far, you are paying attention and I congratulate you for that. Alright, so keep on listening to Bacon Wrap business, review it on itunes, send me an email, share it with your friends, share it on social media. I love it when you guys do that. And until next time, don't order any burgers out of kiosks for your health. All right, guys, talk to you soon. Bye. Bye.