Smartphones have killed our ability to be present in meetings and conversations. The speaker shares Bruno Mars stopping a concert to demand phones away, then challenges you to put yours down for a day and see what changes.
Good morning everyone. Here is your moment of yes for today. Imagine if you're in a meeting or giving a presentation and right, you're scanning the audience, you're making a big point and someone takes a newspaper out and starts reading the newspaper or turns to the person next to them and starts having a conversation or maybe pulls out a portable TV and starts watching TV. Crazy, right? It'd be pretty rude. Yet we do this over and over again. All day in meetings and presentations, just having a conversation with someone, we whip out our smartphones, we send a text, we send an email, we read an article, maybe we even catch a highlight. All right? We do this all the time. Our phones have become— it's kind of broken all barriers, all etiquette rules and manners. And yet, for the most part, we've kind of accepted it. I'm guilty of it myself. I have a hard time. And so the reality is that we have this thing now that constantly demands our attention, more important than whatever is going on right in front of our face. All right, imagine if someone said, you know, in a few years you're going to live your life entirely like this. You'd say, well, that's ridiculous. But in essence, that is what we do all day. We walk around life Like this, and we miss everything that's going on right in front of our face. We're missing all those opportunities to be present and to be just in the moment. So I'm encouraging you to put it down. Your moment of yes for today is to put it down. Put your phone away. All right, check it a few times a day. Maybe when you're by yourself, you can take it out and, and see or read what you need to read, but put it down. Be present with what you're doing. I heard recently that the singer Bruno Mars, during one of his concerts, stopped the concert and told everyone to put their phones away and be present right now at the concert. I love that. And that's my challenge to you, is to put it down. Be present. Be present in every moment of the day. When you have free moments, maybe you're sitting at your desk or, or you're doing something by yourself. Yeah, you can Take out your phone and— but especially if you're with someone, put it down and be present with them. Can you do that today? Maybe just today, and then we'll see how tomorrow goes. That's your moment of yes for today, everyone. Have a great day. Bye.
