In 2020, most companies moved to the digital world regarding the working environment.
At Airbus, for example, a login is created for each user, called the user ID that we use to log into our computer and to get access to all applications. That is not specific to Airbus. It is something shared with a lot of private and public organizations.
I have a unique social security number to access the free healthcare system in France. Take that America, and it is free for everyone.
I have a unique fiscal number for paying my taxes. Unfortunately, in most of my interactions with people through computers, I have been reduced to a string of digits.
The more we go, the more our identity will become digital, and we will all be reduced to our digital twins. They might say that it is in our best interest. The governments, the big corporations, and the social networks are craving for us to hand over our soul data so that they can process it and reduce us to that: just a succession of 0 and 1.
In the digital era, I feel that I am just a digit. If I were the computer processing all those logins and user IDs, I would not see any difference between people, reduced to their digital personas.
That makes me wonder what makes me unique in the digital era. Wondering about all those data processing tools, I want to remind myself of some figures which make me who I am. I mean that I love anonymity when it comes to targeted ads. However, I despise being a number among billions of other people.
Indeed this idea that I am “just” a login, a user ID, a computer-generated being makes me feel like nobody. It makes me feel like I am a disposable digital being that another same entity can replace if I come to be out of the picture.
Daily, I remind myself of the three figures below to figure out who I am and how I am in charge of my life:
1. 1 in 500 Trillion
2. 35 000
3. 86 400
Are you ready for some math?
No, I am just kidding.
1. 1 in 500 Trillion
I believe that we all are winners in life. If you feel like a loser like me, let me remind you that your birth is a 1 in 500 trillion possibilities.
1 Trillion is 1 000 Billion, and 1 Billion is 1 000 millions.
If I compare that figure to me winning a lottery in my lifetime, I could win many tickets in my single lifetime.
Hence I was born a winner. And every single day I live, this figure grows bigger and bigger.
Sometimes in my life, I feel like I am nobody and don’t matter. Yet I am unique to the scale of the universe.
I might be 1 of the billions of people walking on this Earth. The events that brought me here are staggering. I am not just a string of digits. I am tangible proof of the universe delivering a message to me.
Every day, some people might try to tell me that I am useless and that the world would be better without me. I agree to disagree with that.
The universe has done extensive work over its existence to bring me into existence. And I am not throwing that into the bin.
I am here because I have my role to play. I am here because the universe thought that I am worthy of being. I will not let anyone, computer or Artificial Intelligence convince me otherwise.
2. 35 000
Imagine that every day, you have to answer 35 000 questions. It would be tedious work, you would think. Yet on average, we have 35 000 thoughts per day.
From which foot to put on the floor to whether or not I should take out the garbage to whether or not I should take this new project at work, my mind is constantly bombarded with thousands of thoughts every day.
We, as humans, have survived not because we have learned how to do things. Instead, in most events that brought us here, we learned how to avoid pain and remember our past negative experiences to survive in the wild.
Now we are in 2020. We are the dominant species on Earth, for better or worse. Yet the majority of our daily thoughts are negative ones.
I have more ways to avoid pain than to bring pleasure. Yet, I can find so many ways to hurt people that one that could bring joy in their life.
To channel my thoughts, I use journaling and a fast decision-making process to direct my thoughts. Journaling helps me lay out my day so I don’t navigate my day blindly. A quick decision-making process for me is to strive for a “yes” by default when things come my way.
That helps me deal with my thoughts and be in charge of them, not the other way around.
3. 86 400
Imagine that each day, you are given 86 400$ that you have to spend on that day. Yet there is a catch. All the remaining money at the end of the day will be lost if not spent. You cannot save it for the day after. However, you are given the same amount the following day when you open your eyes. That would be amazing. I see myself going on Amazon and Prime, delivering many things.
And let me break it to you. Each day, you are given 86 400 of a currency that is more valuable than any currency, more valuable than gold, diamond, and every crypto-currency you can think of.
Each day, I have 24 hours, 60 minutes x 24 = 1 440 minutes, and 60 seconds x 1 440 = 86 400 seconds.
Those 86 400s are more valuable than any 86 400$ or any other currency you put in front of it. Be it Jeff Bezos, Martin Luther King Jr, Da Vinci, Aristotle, Jesus, Mohammed, or Moses, we all have 86 400 seconds daily on Earth. With death, time is the second most potent equalizer on Earth.
Whatever is accomplished by anybody you admire, they did it within the same amount of daily time as you. For example, they might have 13 billion dollars in one single day, yet you have the same amount of time as them in a single day.
I see my time as the most precious asset in my life. Every second I lose, I cannot get it back. Every second I give, I cannot take it back.
I will trade any amount of money for one single second of life. I will change every trillion dollars I have for one second of my life.
I know I am unique by reminding myself of those three figures daily. I know that I am in charge of my thoughts and that it shapes how I see the world. I know that many have billions more money than me, yet they have the same amount of time as me daily.
With those three figures in mind, no other figure in life can impress me or try to make me think that I am less than I am actually worth.
What kind of figures help you figure it out?
How do you bring your uniqueness into the conversation?
How do you evolve from anonymity to uniqueness?
Leave a comment below.
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Photo by Chaozzy Lin on Unsplash
