January 6, 2020 By Jim Best, Chief Growth Officer, EKA Solutions, Inc
Happy Reboot, er, New Years!
Technology is having an impact on us in ways once unimaginable, changing how we work, play, shop and socialize. But one of technology’s most effective actions – the reboot – most closely resembles one of our favorite traditions – New Year! Everything old becomes new again…. (Read More)
No matter how tech-savvy you are – and it could be that the more savvy you are, the more you believe in its value – but, there are times when we all solve a glitch by rebooting. In fact, I have been in several situations when the only thing I could think to do – it was, indeed, my last and only resort – was to reboot. Thankfully, it works.
Rebooting is, of course, the techie’s equivalent of an “all-purpose punt”. Consider these guidelines:
- When in doubt, reboot
- When all else fails, reboot
- When push comes to shove, reboot.
A reboot works because it restores ”everything to its original state”. It “flushes” the system of ‘…random, unimportant, and/or trivial data bogging down your device”. There is, of course and fortunately, an important lesson to be learned here.
If you are human (and I will assume you are, as I do not have a “Select the squares which depict cacti” nine-square test available), you can probably relate to the “reboot” analogy. So often so many of us stumble (okay, let’s say, “blithely traipse”) along the path of our life, thinking we’re pretty much headed in the right direction, believing we’ll get where we hope to arrive, and hoping we’re with the right people to make the journey, well, if not pleasant, at least tolerable.
And, then, what? A thunderstorm bursts from the sky, the people we’re with decide they hate us and flee, the path becomes untenable and, worse, uphill – a pack of stray dogs looks hungry and mean, our shoes become untied, a chill wind descends and sleet smites our face.
What to do? Re-boot!
And so, I theorize, the popularity of New Year’s. It is our annual unconditional reboot.
Fall short of your goals?
Only partially alcohol-free?
Not quite finish that 5K?
Poor performance review?
GPA less than 4?
Forgot to call home a few (dozen) times?
Speeding ticket?
Slide from paleo-to-keto-to-nacho?
Told your sister to mind her own business?
Pretended you didn’t see your neighbor?
Bought the cheap dogfood for Sir Bowzer?
Used data-roaming a few times too often?
A few credits short of your Master’s degree?
Lied about your weekend?
Told your spouse you didn’t see the dirty dishes?
It’s okay – it was a helluva tough year. Cut yourself sone damn slack!
Just reboot. Everyone is doing it.
The only real question is, “Why do we wait a whole year before each sanctioned reboot?”