Trust Your Own Internal Compass

Where would we be without cell phones, email, the Internet, and the tools to utilize all that wonderful content and connectivity? I spent an entire career helping to bring innovation to market, but when it comes to business productivity, there is clearly a point of diminishing or even negative returns.

Having shared my views on the plague of "gadget mania" in the past, I was intrigued by a Peter Bregman post that mirrored my own concerns:

So much technology. So much information. So much to understand, to think about, to react to. We stay up until 3 am trying to answer all our emails. We twitter, we facebook, and we link-in. We scan news websites wanting to make sure we stay up to date on the latest updates. And we salivate each time we hear the beep or vibration of a new text message.

But that's a mistake. The speed with which information hurtles towards us is unavoidable (and it's getting worse). But trying to catch it all is counterproductive. The faster the waves come, the more deliberately we need to navigate. Otherwise we'll get tossed around like so many particles of sand, scattered to oblivion.

We're talking about CEOs, executives, VCs, entrepreneurs, all manner of talented business folks. It goes without saying that they were passionate about their work and dedicated to their careers and the success of their companies. Sure, they worked their tails off. But they also knew that success was a marathon, not a sprint. They knew to pace themselves.

I've always had a sort of internal compass that tells me when it's time to coast, decompress, or shut down entirely. And that same compass distinguishes between technology the productivity tool and technology the black hole that sucks you in, chews you up, and spits you out.

I know, some of you will say, "Sounds great in theory, but in today's brutally competitive marketplace, we don't have that luxury." My response to that is, "Bull!" I'm a classic, compulsive, overachieving, "Type A" workaholic, and if I can learn to balance my act, anyone can.

Besides, if your goal is "success," you'll fail to achieve it without that internal compass for two reasons:

1. Just as companies must focus on specific goals and strategies, and fail if they spread themselves too thin, individuals must learn to do the same.
2. The only true success is happiness. You can achieve the latter without the former, but for whatever reason, the reverse does not hold true.