110 | Transcending First World Problems
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110 | Transcending First World Problems
Date: April 11, 2022
Minute of Transparency: Did the Internet go down again?!
Today's Topic: Transcending First World Problems
How many worlds are there?
The problem with the First World
First World Problems and the Controversy
// 1. HOW MANY WORLDS ARE THERE?
So where did we come up with the terms First World and Third World...
And the bigger questions is - why don't we talk about the Second World?
Well, when these terms were coined - there were three worlds.
According to History.com - these terms originated during the Cold War - in an effort to explain the various countries in the world and how they were interconnected:
The First World: Included the United States and her Allies
The Second World: The Soviet Union and associated Eastern European Countries
The Third World: Included all of the other countries not associated with one of the first two
Interesting right? So when the Soviet Union fell apart - so did the term Second World...
And we moved to a new definition of the worlds - one that only includes the First and Third Worlds:
The First World: Now defined as countries that are modern, and technologically advanced
The Third World: Developing countries that haven't accessed technology and remain lower, to middle income countries
Now this shift in definition isn't welcomed by everyone involved - in fact most Third World Countries hate that title. They look at it as a slang term - a term of oppression and disrespect. Which I totally get...but that's not our topic for today...
I simply explained the progression of the terms so we would understand where we get the phrase: First World Problem...
It's based on this newer definition of the worlds:
The idea that there are modern countries and developing countries
And that the problems people experience in First World Countries do not even exist in Third World Countries:
Take my Internet access for example
To me - it is a problem because I have to stop working, or I can't check my Instagram Feed
But to an Amerindian, or an Indigenous person living along the Amazon River in Brazil or Peru - the Internet isn't even a part of their lives - so it can't be a problem for them
So that should help us with our definition:
First World Problems are problems that people in other parts of the world don't even understand
And...we can infer that First World Problems are problems we created for ourselves:
In other words - they are problems that exist because we created space for them
We created the environment, or the ecosystem in order for them to exist
Couple examples:
If we didn't create Wifi - we wouldn't have the problem of it going out on us
If we didn't create cellphones - we wouldn't have the problem of them going dead and us not having a charger handy
If we didn't create toilet paper - we wouldn't be freaking out when it becomes hard to get during a pandemic
etc.
Now - just to be 100% thorough - let's pull the official definition from dictionary.com:
a fairly minor problem, frustrating situation, or complaint associated with a relatively high standard of living, as opposed to the more serious problems associated with poverty...
Example: I’m bored with all my electronic gadgets—such a first world problem!
// 2. THE PROBLEM WITH THE FIRST WORLD
So now that we know where the phrase came from and why we use it - what's next?
I mean we kinda view it as a negative thing right? When we hear someone complaining about something super insignificant we say, "Oh my word - that's such a first world problem."
What we're really saying is, "You're spoiled rotten! You're ridiculous! And you need to get some perspective in your life."
Negative right?
But that's the problem with the First World.
We live in it! It's the environment we find ourselves in. The culture, the ecosystem, The Matrix if you will...
So we can't really bash people when they complain about something trivial - because we've done it ourselves.
At one point in time - we felt the same way.
Or at some point in the future - we'll have a bad day and we'll start complaining about something just as trivial.
I still remember learning this the hard way:
I was the Web Director at a church in the Midwest at the time
And I was feeling less than seen
The IT Department had decided to go multi-platform
In other words - they wanted to support both Mac and PC at the church
So they started buying all sorts of Apple products in order to test them against the churches Internet, exchange servers, Intranet, etc.
I was jealous to be honest - and the straw that broke the camel's back was a meeting I attended where a member of the IT Team had a MacBook Pro, a MacBook Air and two iPads - all open and being used in that meeting
Later in the day I mentioned to my boss, "It would really be nice if the Communication Department could spend money like that on tech..."
She looked me dead in the eye and said, "Do you want me to call a Wambulance? Wa. Wa. Wambulance?"
First off - I'd never heard that erm before - so it took a second for it to register...
But once I put 2 and 2 together I was conflicted:
Did you just call me a baby?
My ego was immediately bruised
And my first thought was to push back and rationalize my request
But I didn't - in fact I just laughed and admitted she was right
She followed it with, "Have you ever asked for new tech? Is it something we did, or can work into our budget? And if so - submit requests and we'll see what we can do."
Needless to say - that's a hard story to tell - because I got called out for focusing on a First World Problem...and one with a pretty simple solution at that.
Funny though - that I can still recall that conversation today. Probably because it was a learning moment. A growth spurt where I went from viewing the world one way to understanding it at a new, more mature level.
Of course I'm not 100% cured of complaining, or focusing on First World Problems. But hopefully I'm not where I was back then...
Okay - just for fun - I did a Google search for the most ridiculous First World Problems - so let's look at just a few of those before we move on:
I found these on CBSNews.com
"I'm trying to text while at a red light, but I keep making all the greens."
"The conveyor belt at Wal-mart wasn't turned on tonight, so I had to move my items toward the scanner by myself."
"I know I should evacuate my apartment, but what if someone else's blog is the first to publish Hipstamatic shots of Hurricane Irene hitting my neighborhood?"
"My dishwasher broke, so now I have to wash up by hand while I wait for it to be fixed."
"My girlfriend keeps texting me while I'm playing Angry Birds."
"I ate too many breadsticks at Olive Garden and now I can't finish my steak."
"I don't have enough dip for my chips, but if I open another container, I won't have enough chips for my dip."
"Twitter updated its iPad app with a blue icon. Curses, Twitter, I have enough blue icons already!"
"One pillow is too low, but two stacked is too high."
"My iPod died while I was at the gym, so I had to exercise without music."
"The automatic doors at the mall were broken and I had to pull open a regular door."
"My mom never bought me Lunchables. I guess that's why I didn't have any friends in elementary school."
"Power is out because of [Hurricane] Irene and I can't read my favorite book because my Kindle is dead."
That's enough for now - you get the idea...
The funny thing is that the article was published in 2011 - so imagine how many more we could add to that list over 10 years later!
But this isn't an anomaly - it isn't something a niche group in the First World faces. This is the First World in a nutshell.
Now obviously there is poverty in the United States. There is homelessness. So there are people here that experience Third World conditions.
But you understand where I'm going with this episode.
The majority of us have things way too good. Better in fact than we need them to be:
Think about Amazon delivery - in less than 24h in some places
Uber Eats, Door Dash and other companies that deliver food directly to your door
Meal Box Subscriptions like Hello Fresh, Factor and Blue Apron
Apple Music/Spotify - the ability to listen to any song ever made at any time (within reason)
Netflix/Hulu and the Streaming App revolution - the ability to watch on demand content whenever we demand it...
The ability to purchase a car through an App like Driveway, or Shift and have it delivered to your house
And this is just the tip of the iceberg...
We live in a consumer-centric society - so this list is only going to grow in the future
Now, on the one hand it's nice having these creature comforts in life. On the other hand - we've set ourselves up for failure on some level. There are now hundreds of things at our fingertips that if removed, stopped or broken will cause us pain - hence our First World Problems...
So what's next?
If we're trying to Transcend the Human Condition - if we're trying to rise above these First World tendencies - what do we do?
2 Recommendations:
The first is to Get Clarity on the problems we face in life:
And here's one way to do that:
In 1989 Franklin Covey published a book called, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
And in this book - in Chapter 3 - called Put First Things First - he provides something called:
The Franklin Covey Time Management Matrix: https://www.franklincovey.com/habit-3/
It's a box with 4 Quadrants
The X Axis is the level of Importance (Important and Not Important)
And the Y Axis is the Urgency (Urgent and Not Urgent)
And when combined - you get the following 4 Categories:
Q1: Important AND Urgent
Q2: Important BUT Not Urgent
Q3: Not Important BUT Urgent
Q4: Not Important AND Not Urgent
Now Covey came up with this as a time management tool - a way to decide what things you should tackle first in the day and what needed to fall to the end
Big Takeaway: Covey suggests that we need to spend the bulk of our time focused on Q2: Things that are Important BUT Not Urgent
And in so doing - we will complete important tasks that make us more effective in life
Not that you can't do things that fall into Q3 or Q4 - but they just need to fall after the first two Quadrants
Now, what I want to do is edit the chart just a little for our purposes. Hopefully the Franklin Covey Company will forgive me 🙂
The change I want to make - isn't because Covey had it wrong - it's because I want to use it to shine a light on how certain activities and pursuits are actually based on our First World Problems.
I want to use the same Quadrant system - but I want to change the words Important and Not Important to Eternal and Temporal - which gives us the following Quadrants:
Q1: Eternal AND Urgent
Q2: Eternal BUT Not Urgent
Q3: Temporal BUT Urgent
Q4: Temporal AND Not Urgent
Now, those are just some examples of the behaviors, activities and pursuits we face in life. And what I'm going to suggest is that the things we typically clump into the First World Problem category - will be found in Q3 and Q4 - the Temporal things.
Because the Q1 and Q2 things are Eternal - and therefore come with a level of importance and justification baked in.
And if we're really keeping score between the First World and the Third World...check this out...the things in Q1 and Q2 are actually All World Problems...or maybe I should say Both World Problems...
Urgent things like voting in the eternal election and helping someone in need. And Non Urgent things like parenting, and determining how you spend your time.
Aren't those things we all struggle with? No matter how much money we have? No matter what country we live in?
Very fascinating to me...
So how can we use this Matrix in our everyday life? Maybe like this:
Here's a 5 Step Process:
Step 1: Ask yourself some questions:
What am I frustrated about right now?
What am I complaining about right now?
What do I think would make me happier?
What do other people have that I don't?
Step 2: Document your answers - for example:
I'm frustrated that it has taken so long for Stranger Things: Season 4 to come out
I tend to be complaining a lot right now about high gas prices
I'd probably be more happy if I ate better and exercised more
Lots of people are going to see Billie Eilish in concert - maybe I should get tickets ASAP so I don't miss out
Step 3: Place your answers in the right Quadrant - using my examples:
Q4: (Temporal AND Not Urgent) waiting for Stranger Things: Season 4 to come out
Q3: (Temporal BUT Urgent) trying to decide whether or not to buy gas at the price it is today
Q2: (Eternal BUT Not Urgent) starting to make lifestyle changes toward being a healthier person
Q3: (Temporal BUT Urgent) deciding if you need to buy Billie Eilish tickets or not
Step 4: Prioritize
Just like Covey suggested - it pays off to live in Q2 - doing things with Eternal significance methodically over time
Yes - there will be Q1 things that jump in there every now and then - address those right away!
And then - after you've made sure that Q1 and Q2 items are on lock
There's nothing wrong with throwing in a little Q3 and Q4 every now and then to spice up your life
Step 5: Repeat this process every single day of your life
// 3. FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS AND THE CONTROVERSY
So we have defined First World Problems, and then I said I had 2 Recommendations for right sizing them in our lives.
The first was to Get Clarity - and we discussed using a variation of Franklin Covey's Time Management Matrix with the 4 Quadrants.
The second is similar - but has more to do with our world view.
Recommendation number two is to Apply the Controversy Filter.
So to bring everyone up to speed let's define two things:
The Controversy:
The Controversy is what this entire podcast is based on
It's the foundational element - the Absolute Truth - that allows us to accurately navigate the world around us
The truth that God, the Being that created us, and one of His rogue angels, Satan, are at war
They are in a battle for our worship, our time, our energy and our vote in the Eternal Election between the two of them
In Season 1 we did an entire series called Controversy Theory - so check that out if you missed it
Simply put - The Controversy brought the Sin Virus to Earth and helped form the Human Condition we all find ourselves in
A Filter:
This won't take long...
Anyone who has used social media understands how a filter works
You take a picture - or record some video and apply a filter
The filter makes you look different - sometimes better - sometimes worse
The filter is nothing more than code that sits between the media content and your eyes
The real image is still there - but it has been adjusted with code so you see it differently
Now - how does this apply to First World Problems?
Simple:
As we move through our day - we engage in certain behaviors, activities and pursuits
Some are fun. Some we do without thinking
But others are problematic, frustrating and can produce anger and frustration
But whatever the situation - we have the freedom of choice
It's up to us what filter we apply:
The Worldly Filter:
The world suggests our personal happiness is the goal
The world suggests we react to things vs. deciding in advance
That we do what feels good
That we get all the things we have coming to us
That life should be easy and comfortable
See how easy it is to have First World Problems in this scenario?
The Controversy Filter:
The Controversy has nothing against happiness - but it isn't the main goal
Living "Controversy Aware" is of greater importance
Prioritizing our activities and pursuits around the fact that we have value and our lives are meaningful on a whole different level
Not value the way the world shows value - with popularity, money, fame etc.
But value simply because God Created us
Doing the right thing is more important than doing what feels good
Understanding that life isn't perfect - so ease and comfort aren't guaranteed
If we use this filter - it will be easier to recognize First World Problems for what they really are
Now - I want to end with this:
There is a sinister side to First World Problems:
I mean there's the funny side - we laugh and joke about it when we see good examples of it
But at the same time someone is using them as part of a bigger strategy
Yes - Satan - that's who we're talking about
And if we're going to fully flesh out the Controversy Filter idea
This is the role Satan is playing
First World Problems is just another tool in his tool belt:
The perfect distraction
Keep us focused on small, petty things
Angry about gas prices
Frustrated that our favorite TV show hasn't released the next season
Irritated when our cellphone doesn't have the battery life it once had
etc.
If he can just keep us focused on those things - we walk around looking down
Instead of looking up and seeing the bigger picture - living "Controversy Aware"
Let's Land the Plane:
I was literally in the middle of this episode this week when I realized I was falling into a whole new category of First World Problems...
As I did some self reflection I realized that I was experiencing frustration and tension about little things I used to do all the time.
So why now? Simply put: COVID
I'm realizing that the pandemic added a whole new layer to the things we consider First World Problems...
So I'm suggesting we create a new category: Post-COVID First World Problems...
This week I experienced three things:
Numerous emergency interruptions:
Similar to being in an office where a person walks up to you, spends 20 minutes talking to you about something, and completely distracts you from what you were doing
Only now - it's over Slack and Zoom
This happened a number of times this week - impromptu 20min Zoom calls
I had an 8a meeting:
Now I understand - 8a is part of the work day
But that doesn't mean scheduling meetings at that time is necessary
Doesn't it make more sense to ease into the day - get caught up on email and plan your day - then have your first meeting?
I had an In-person Meeting:
Yes - I had to leave the house - drive to the Studio - and meet with people face to face
What is that?
I don't even remember how that works
It was awkward
It was expensive (due to gas prices and tolls)
And it killed my productivity by adding 1.5hrs worth of travel to my day
And those are just the three I can put my finger on...
You can see how all three are related to the pandemic - living the new normal - working from home and doing life differently.
At the same time these are First World Problems...
Or better said: Post-COVID First World Problems...
So there you go - a second Minute of Transparency for this episode!
Two for the price of one...
But I've identified it - and now I'm working on it...
This week ask yourself these questions:
How often do I struggle with First World Problems?
And what would it take for me to see them for what they are?
Can I use the Activity Matrix to prioritize better?
Can I start viewing things through the Controversy Filter?
How did COVID impact me?
Do I struggle with Post-COVID First World Problems?
That's it for this week friends!
Hope you're having a fantastic Spring season. Even with the difficulties going on in the world around us.
My prayer for you is that you can find peace amongst the chaos. Live "Controversy Aware." And kick those First World Problems to the curb.
Next week we're going to look at Inactivity - and how we can push through it by finding our next big thing.
Until then, have a great week and keep Transcending Human!