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You Are Not Discontinued: How to Stay Relevant in the Age of AI · Mosaic Sparks with Lesley George

0:01
SPEAKER_00: To infinity and beyond.
0:05
SPEAKER_00: What does Woody Buzz Light Year have to do with artificial intelligence and a catalog, the mail order catalog?
0:18
SPEAKER_00: So let's get into it today.
0:20
SPEAKER_00: Welcome, welcome back, Sparklers.
0:22
SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Mosaic Sparks with me, Leslie George.
0:26
SPEAKER_00: But before we begin, I want to thank our international listeners, especially those tuning in from those tuning in consistently from Frankfurt, Germany, and the Netherlands.
0:37
SPEAKER_00: I see the consistency of our listeners in that region, and I want you to know how much I appreciate you.
0:45
SPEAKER_00: I am grateful for every person listening, whether you are around the corner, across the country, or on the other side of the world.
0:53
SPEAKER_00: We are building a sparklers community where people can recognize their value, use their voices, and find the courage to take their next step.
1:06
SPEAKER_00: If today is a special day for you, I want to celebrate with you.
1:11
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's your birthday or anniversary.
1:14
SPEAKER_00: Maybe today marks the beginning of something you prayed for, you have worked for, and waited for.
1:22
SPEAKER_00: If this is day one of a new job, business, relationship, you are on a healing journey or a new chapter in your life.
1:35
SPEAKER_00: I celebrate with you.
1:38
SPEAKER_00: Beginners carry a special kind of hope, and I am grateful that you choose to spend part of this day with me.
1:46
SPEAKER_00: You can visit mosaicsparks.com to find all of our episodes in one place.
1:52
SPEAKER_00: You can also join our community there if you want additional content, encouragement, and updates from me.
1:59
SPEAKER_00: Now, let's get into today's conversation.
2:04
SPEAKER_00: So today is National Mail Order Category, Catalog Day.
2:11
SPEAKER_00: I know, I know some of you are saying mail order catalog, Leslie.
2:17
SPEAKER_00: Somebody has given has apparently given everything its own national day.
2:24
SPEAKER_00: However, mail order catalogs were a real part of our lives, especially for those of us who remember a time before online shopping.
2:34
SPEAKER_00: You know, we had Sears, JC Penny, Montgomery Ward, and Finger Hut for the people who wanted to pay for a toaster oven over 12 months.
2:46
SPEAKER_00: These catalogs were serious business.
2:48
SPEAKER_00: You know, you sat down, you turned the pages, folded those corners, and circle what you wanted.
2:55
SPEAKER_00: And if you were a child, the toy section was where dreams were manufactured.
3:02
SPEAKER_00: You studied those pages like you were preparing for a final exam.
3:06
SPEAKER_00: You knew the page number, the item number, the color, and the price.
3:10
SPEAKER_00: And then you handed that catalog all marked up to an adult who controlled the household economy and shared and started making your case.
3:20
SPEAKER_00: You know, there was no click a button add to cart.
3:24
SPEAKER_00: There was please and ma'am.
3:26
SPEAKER_00: Now, once the order was placed, you just waited.
3:30
SPEAKER_00: There was no tracking notification telling you that your package had left a facility, it entered another facility.
3:37
SPEAKER_00: It may have crossed three states and giving you the time that it would arrive between maybe 145 and 5.30.
3:46
SPEAKER_00: You just waited, you hoped, and ran to the door whenever you heard a delivery truck.
3:53
SPEAKER_00: The mail order catalog changed how people shopped.
3:57
SPEAKER_00: It gave families access to products that might not have been available in their communities.
4:03
SPEAKER_00: It definitely placed possibilities into their hands.
4:07
SPEAKER_00: Then the world changed.
4:10
SPEAKER_00: Catalogs became thinner, stores expanded, and the internet arrived.
4:17
SPEAKER_00: Online shopping took over.
4:19
SPEAKER_00: Those thick, thick books that once occupied the coffee table slowly disappeared.
4:27
SPEAKER_00: Now people didn't stop wanting access, convenience, choice, or delivery.
4:33
SPEAKER_00: A faster method arrived to provide it.
4:36
SPEAKER_00: The purpose remained but the delivery change.
4:40
SPEAKER_00: That thought led me directly to Woody from Toy Story.
4:45
SPEAKER_00: Now Woody knew what it felt like to be useful, trusted, and chosen.
4:51
SPEAKER_00: He had been Andy's favorite toy for years.
4:55
SPEAKER_00: He was the leader of the room, and the other toys listened when he spoke.
5:01
SPEAKER_00: He had the experience, he understood Andy, he knew the house, the rules, and the relationship between all the toys.
5:10
SPEAKER_00: He knew his place.
5:12
SPEAKER_00: And then Buzz Lightyear arrived.
5:16
SPEAKER_00: Now Buzz was shiny, impressive, and technologically advanced.
5:21
SPEAKER_00: He had buttons, wings, flashing lights, and that dramatic voice.
5:27
SPEAKER_00: When Buzz walked into the room with features Woody could not match, all Woody had was a pull string.
5:35
SPEAKER_00: Buzz was prepared to go to Infinity and Beyond.
5:42
SPEAKER_00: The room reacted immediately.
5:44
SPEAKER_00: Everybody wanted to see the new toy.
5:48
SPEAKER_00: They wanted to hear Buzz touch the buttons and watch the wings come out.
5:54
SPEAKER_00: Woody watched the attention move away from him and panic over time.
6:00
SPEAKER_00: He was still the same Woody who had led the room the day before.
6:05
SPEAKER_00: His experience didn't disappear when Buzz arrived.
6:08
SPEAKER_00: His relationships did not disappear, or his leadership ability.
6:14
SPEAKER_00: But Woody began questioning his worth because someone new was receiving attention.
6:21
SPEAKER_00: That fear is familiar to many of us as we grow older.
6:26
SPEAKER_00: Now you can walk into a workplace where the technology has changed, the language has changed, and the people making decisions appear to be getting younger.
6:36
SPEAKER_00: Someone mentions a new platform, and before you have learned how to pronounce its name, the company has already scheduled a mandatory training.
6:46
SPEAKER_00: And now AI, artificial intelligence, has entered the room.
6:51
SPEAKER_00: AI can create presentations, organize information, analyze data, produce videos, and perform tasks that once required hours, even days of human work.
7:06
SPEAKER_00: Now, it doesn't need a lunch break or get tired.
7:13
SPEAKER_00: Doesn't roll its eyes when another meeting should have been an email.
7:18
SPEAKER_00: That can make an experienced person wonder where do I fit into this?
7:27
SPEAKER_00: You may find yourself watching younger professionals move through digital platforms with ease.
7:33
SPEAKER_00: They understand the newest language, know what is trending, and appear comfortable in a world that sometimes make you feel as though somebody rearrange all the furniture while you were sleeping?
7:49
SPEAKER_00: The discomfort can turn into fear, and fear that your experience no longer has value, fear that your skills have become outdated.
8:00
SPEAKER_00: What about fear that the world has moved ahead without asking whether you were ready?
8:06
SPEAKER_00: Fear that you have become Woody in a room filled with buzz light years.
8:13
SPEAKER_00: Woody had to learn that the arrival of something new didn't erase the value of what was already there.
8:19
SPEAKER_00: Now the new toy had technology, but the new toy did not know the room.
8:25
SPEAKER_00: Woody understood the people, the history, and the responsibility that came with leadership.
8:31
SPEAKER_00: He knew how toys worked, he recognized danger because he had enough experience to see the patterns, and he understood Andy because that relationship had been built over time.
8:45
SPEAKER_00: Now Buzz brought new capabilities, absolutely.
8:50
SPEAKER_00: But Woody brought context.
8:53
SPEAKER_00: That distinction is essential in the age of AI.
8:57
SPEAKER_00: AI can arrange information, but it doesn't have your lived experience.
9:02
SPEAKER_00: It can produce language, but it has not lived through the moments that gave your words emotional weight.
9:10
SPEAKER_00: It can identify patterns and data, yes, but it has never sat across from an employee who was trying not to cry.
9:22
SPEAKER_00: It has never raised a family, built a life, survived the disappointment, or entered a room where nobody expected it to succeed, or learn to lead while carrying responsibilities nobody else could see.
9:38
SPEAKER_00: AI can provide information about courage.
9:42
SPEAKER_00: It has never had to be courageous.
9:45
SPEAKER_00: Your humanity remains one of your greatest advantages, and your judgment carries weight.
9:51
SPEAKER_00: Your relationship, your intuition, and experience gives you something technology cannot reproduce.
10:00
SPEAKER_00: Experience becomes powerful when we keep it active.
10:04
SPEAKER_00: That is where responsibility enters the conversation.
10:09
SPEAKER_00: We can't demand that the world recognize our experience while refusing to learn how the world now works.
10:19
SPEAKER_00: Being experienced does not excuse us from being curious.
10:24
SPEAKER_00: Wisdom and curiosity belong in the same room.
10:29
SPEAKER_00: You know, some people reach a certain age and start wearing, I don't do technology, as though it was a badge of honor.
10:39
SPEAKER_00: They announce it proudly before asking someone else to complete the task for them.
10:45
SPEAKER_00: There was a time when you didn't know how to send a text message.
10:51
SPEAKER_00: What about joining a video call or use the computer that you currently have sitting in front of you?
10:57
SPEAKER_00: But you learn because the technology became connected to something you needed or want or wanted.
11:04
SPEAKER_00: You are still capable of learning.
11:08
SPEAKER_00: Now I know this from my own experience because there was a time when I didn't even like the word funnels.
11:17
SPEAKER_00: Every time someone said it, I felt as though I had entered a conversation in a foreign language.
11:24
SPEAKER_00: Funnels, landing pages, integrations, domains, all the features that come with building a website felt completely unfamiliar to me.
11:35
SPEAKER_00: I knew that I wanted my website to accomplish.
11:39
SPEAKER_00: I knew what I wanted my website to accomplish.
11:43
SPEAKER_00: I could picture how I wanted people to experience them.
11:48
SPEAKER_00: I had the vision, but I didn't have the technology, the technological language to explain it.
11:55
SPEAKER_00: And that can be frustrating, definitely.
11:58
SPEAKER_00: It can be a frustrating position because when you do not understand the language of a particular field, you can become believing that the person who knows the technology or the terminology must also know what is best for your vision.
12:15
SPEAKER_00: And I had to learn the difference between respecting someone's expertise and surrendering my vision.
12:22
SPEAKER_00: I gave myself time to learn what I needed to learn.
12:26
SPEAKER_00: I asked questions and figured out what the difference, the what the different features did.
12:34
SPEAKER_00: I learned enough to make informed decisions instead of automatically accepting what someone in the field thought was best.
12:44
SPEAKER_00: Now, I didn't need to become a professional website developer.
12:48
SPEAKER_00: I needed to become an informed owner of my vision.
12:53
SPEAKER_00: Today, I've built two websites that two websites that look and function the way I want them to.
13:00
SPEAKER_00: They include the features I selected because I now understand why those features belong there.
13:07
SPEAKER_00: The terminology was foreign at first.
13:10
SPEAKER_00: It didn't remain foreign because I accepted responsibility for learning it.
13:16
SPEAKER_00: That experience taught me that frustration and inability are two different things.
13:21
SPEAKER_00: Feeling confused in the beginning does not mean you are capable, you are incapable of understanding.
13:28
SPEAKER_00: You don't have to know every platform or download every new application.
13:35
SPEAKER_00: You need to understand the changes affecting your work, business, industry, or audience because relevance requires your participation.
13:46
SPEAKER_00: Now, Woody's fear caused him to focus on removing buzz instead of understanding what buzz brought to the room.
13:53
SPEAKER_00: Fear can make another person's gift look like evidence that yours has expired.
13:58
SPEAKER_00: A better question is: how can I combine what I know with what is now available?
14:06
SPEAKER_00: You know, take a woman with 20 years of leadership experience who learns to use AI, and can she can give her vision her wisdom greater reach?
14:20
SPEAKER_00: An author who uses technology to arrange research or understand her audience is still an author.
14:29
SPEAKER_00: The technology supports her process, her voice, judgment, and truth, and the story remains hers.
14:39
SPEAKER_00: A coach can use digital tools to serve more people while protecting the personal connection that makes her work effective.
14:48
SPEAKER_00: Same as a speaker can use new platforms to carry her message into rooms she may never enter physically.
14:57
SPEAKER_00: Mosaic Sparks is evidence of that in my own life.
15:01
SPEAKER_00: You know, more than two years ago, I started Mosaic Sparks as a YouTube channel.
15:06
SPEAKER_00: I was creating content and putting my voice into the world, but I was not completely satisfied.
15:12
SPEAKER_00: Something keep telling me that YouTube was not the full vision.
15:17
SPEAKER_00: I saw and wanted a podcast.
15:21
SPEAKER_00: I wanted conversation, stories, Disney connections, particular life lessons, and a community of listeners who would return because the message connected with something happening in their life.
15:37
SPEAKER_00: Now, at the time, I didn't have all the tools or language to explain exactly what I wanted.
15:43
SPEAKER_00: I simply knew that what I had created did not fully match what I had envisioned.
15:49
SPEAKER_00: That kind of dissatisfaction can be useful because it served me well.
15:55
SPEAKER_00: Because sometimes it tells you the vision is still developing.
15:59
SPEAKER_00: I discovered an incredible community focused on helping people grow a podcast.
16:07
SPEAKER_00: I began learning the language of podcasting.
16:10
SPEAKER_00: I learned about distribution, downloads, audience growth, positioning, and sponsorship.
16:19
SPEAKER_00: I gained a better understanding of how to build a show beyond recording an episode and placing it online.
16:26
SPEAKER_00: The GIF was already present.
16:31
SPEAKER_00: The tools helped me create the right container for it.
16:34
SPEAKER_00: And now Mosaic Sparks has listeners in the United States, Frankfurt, Germany, in the Netherlands, and other parts of the world.
16:42
SPEAKER_00: And I have reached the stage where I'm even pitching brands to sponsor the podcast.
16:50
SPEAKER_00: Now think about that journey.
16:52
SPEAKER_00: It started as a YouTube channel, didn't feel complete.
16:55
SPEAKER_00: I could have remained there because I had already created something.
16:59
SPEAKER_00: I could have decided that my inability to explain the full vision meant the vision was unrealistic.
17:05
SPEAKER_00: I kept learning until I had the language to describe what I had been seeing all along.
17:12
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes your spirit recognizes that distinction before your vocabulary, your vocabulary catches up.
17:22
SPEAKER_00: Relevance requires you to honor that vision while learning how to bring it to life.
17:28
SPEAKER_00: I want to challenge you for that.
17:31
SPEAKER_00: The tool does not replace the gif.
17:34
SPEAKER_00: The right tool can amplify the gift when the person holding it accepts responsibility for using it.
17:42
SPEAKER_00: That is brag in action.
17:45
SPEAKER_00: You may ask, what is brag if you've never heard about it?
17:48
SPEAKER_00: Brag means be responsible for amplifying God's greatness in you.
17:54
SPEAKER_00: Being responsible means I cannot bury my gift beneath the excuse that the world changed.
18:01
SPEAKER_00: I can't complain about a younger generation while refusing to learn from them.
18:06
SPEAKER_00: And I can't wait for someone to notice experience that I continue to hide.
18:12
SPEAKER_00: I can't accept yesterday's strategy to keep producing tomorrow's results.
18:18
SPEAKER_00: Responsibility calls me to remain teachable, coachable, develop my skills, communicate my value clearly, and bring my experience into the present.
18:30
SPEAKER_00: Amplifying God's greatness means taking what has been placed inside of me, inside of you, and allowing it to serve people when?
18:43
SPEAKER_00: Now.
19:23
SPEAKER_00: Delivery that once took several weeks now takes, now happens within a few hours.
19:30
SPEAKER_00: The purpose continued because the delivery adapted.
19:35
SPEAKER_00: So maybe your gift is still needed, but the way you are presenting it needs to change.
19:42
SPEAKER_00: Your knowledge is valuable, but you have not translated it for the people who need it now.
19:49
SPEAKER_00: Your business solves a real problem, but your customers can't find you.
19:56
SPEAKER_00: You keep saying social media is not your thing while wondering why people who need your message do not know your name.
20:06
SPEAKER_00: And you keep waiting for an invitation from a system that now expects you to build your own platform.
20:14
SPEAKER_00: Relevance does not require you to chase every trend or pretend to be 25 years old.
20:20
SPEAKER_00: Nobody needs to see you dancing beside the trash can at 6 o'clock in the morning because someone said it will help the algorithm.
20:27
SPEAKER_00: Relevance requires awareness, learning, and intentional action.
20:33
SPEAKER_00: Woody's journey also reminds us that our roles will change.
20:40
SPEAKER_00: First, he connected his value to being Andy's favorite toy.
20:45
SPEAKER_00: Later, he connected his value to be needed by Andy.
20:50
SPEAKER_00: Then he had to face what happened when Andy grew up.
20:54
SPEAKER_00: Woody's deepest struggle was never whether he could recognize his worth when the role that once confirmed it was no longer available.
21:05
SPEAKER_00: That's a real conversation for many people.
21:09
SPEAKER_00: Who are you when your children no longer need you in the same way?
21:16
SPEAKER_00: Who are you when the title, the body, the relationship, the responsibilities change?
21:22
SPEAKER_00: A change in role does not mean a disappearing purpose.
21:28
SPEAKER_00: The role was one place where your gift operated.
21:32
SPEAKER_00: It was never the full measure of your gift.
21:35
SPEAKER_00: Woody remained loyal, courageous, strategic, and committed to others, even when he was no longer sitting in the same place on Andy's bed.
21:46
SPEAKER_00: His location changed, the contribution changed, his purpose expanded.
21:52
SPEAKER_00: And the same can happen for you.
21:55
SPEAKER_00: Agent gives you something youth can't manufacture quickly.
22:00
SPEAKER_00: And that is perspective.
22:03
SPEAKER_00: You've seen ideas arrive with great excitement, disappear and return 15 years later with a new name, better branded.
22:12
SPEAKER_00: You know that every emergency is not an emergency, and you can recognize a familiar mistake while everyone else is still admiring the package.
22:22
SPEAKER_00: Perspective becomes useful when it's shared, updated, and applied.
22:29
SPEAKER_00: Experience sitting untouching a shelf simply becomes history.
22:35
SPEAKER_00: Experience brought into today's challenge becomes wisdom.
22:40
SPEAKER_00: Now Woody and Buzz became stronger when they stopped competing and combined their strengths.
22:47
SPEAKER_00: Woody knew the terrain, Buzz brought capabilities, Woody that Woody didn't have.
22:53
SPEAKER_00: And together they accomplished things neither could have accomplished alone.
22:58
SPEAKER_00: That is the picture I want us to carry into this season.
23:03
SPEAKER_00: Your experience can work with continued learning.
23:08
SPEAKER_00: Your wisdom can work with new technology.
23:11
SPEAKER_00: Leadership can work with willingness to ask for help.
23:18
SPEAKER_00: Your confidence can work with the courage to become a student again.
23:24
SPEAKER_00: And that combination can carry you into places your experience alone could not reach.
23:30
SPEAKER_00: Now, I want to move this from inspiration into action because feeling encouraged for 30 minutes will not change your life.
23:40
SPEAKER_00: A decision followed by action can.
23:44
SPEAKER_00: So choose one error where you have started feeling outdated, overlooked, or uncertain.
23:52
SPEAKER_00: Name it without judging yourself.
23:55
SPEAKER_00: Then answer three questions.
23:58
SPEAKER_00: What do I already know that still has value?
24:02
SPEAKER_00: Which is question one.
24:04
SPEAKER_00: Number two, what do I need to learn so I can apply that knowledge in today's world?
24:11
SPEAKER_00: And number three, what action will I complete within the next seven days?
24:19
SPEAKER_00: Your action could be attending a class.
24:23
SPEAKER_00: What about trying an AI tool?
24:26
SPEAKER_00: Updating your professional profile, asking someone to teach you about a platform, or finally sharing the idea you have been sitting on.
24:41
SPEAKER_00: Choose one action you can complete.
24:46
SPEAKER_00: Give it a date and put that on the calendar.
24:50
SPEAKER_00: Because otherwise than that, it does not work.
24:54
SPEAKER_00: If it stays in your head, it will never come out.
24:59
SPEAKER_00: And then your next step does not need to, this doesn't need to impress anybody.
25:05
SPEAKER_00: It needs to move you.
25:07
SPEAKER_00: Stop saying I'm too old for that when the truth may be I am uncomfortable being new at something.
25:15
SPEAKER_00: You have been a beginner for many things before.
25:20
SPEAKER_00: You were once new at the work you now do with confidence.
25:25
SPEAKER_00: You were once unfamiliar with the responsibilities that you now manage without even thinking about them.
25:31
SPEAKER_00: Learning may feel awkward because it feels, because it feels before it feels natural.
25:39
SPEAKER_00: Your value was never based on being the newest person in the room.
25:44
SPEAKER_00: Your value comes from what you carry, how you continue developing it, and your willingness to use it in service of something meaningful.
25:56
SPEAKER_00: Now, you're not a catalog gathering dust on a shelf or an old model waiting to be replaced, and you're not a discontinued item.
26:08
SPEAKER_00: You have experience, perspective, resilience, gifts that still have work to do.
26:18
SPEAKER_00: The world will continue changing.
26:22
SPEAKER_00: Technology will continue developing.
26:25
SPEAKER_00: New voices will enter the rooms, new tools will challenge the way we have always done things.
26:33
SPEAKER_00: Their arrival does not announce your departure.
26:38
SPEAKER_00: Do not spend the season staring at Bud's light year's wings and forgetting that and forgetting what you brought to the room.
26:50
SPEAKER_00: You know the terrain, you understand the people, you have lived through enough plot twists to know that panic really produces a good decision.
27:03
SPEAKER_00: Pick up the new tools and bring your wisdom with you.
27:07
SPEAKER_00: Walk into the next room willing to learn and prepare to lead.
27:12
SPEAKER_00: That is how you remain relevant.
27:15
SPEAKER_00: This is how you unbox your brilliance, and that is brag in action.
27:22
SPEAKER_00: So before we close, sparklers, I just want us to say the official black brag pledge together.
27:30
SPEAKER_00: Whether you are, wherever you are, say it out loud.
27:37
SPEAKER_00: Your voice needs to hear what your heart has decided.
27:42
SPEAKER_00: So say it with me.
27:44
SPEAKER_00: This is the brag pledge.
27:46
SPEAKER_00: I will be fully who God created me to be.
27:50
SPEAKER_00: I will take responsibility for my voice, my growth, my choices, and my brilliance.
27:57
SPEAKER_00: I will amplify once I want what I once minimize, edited or hid.
28:05
SPEAKER_00: I will remember that I am God's created, that I am God's, created intentionally and worthy before any achievement.
28:16
SPEAKER_00: And I would honor the greatness placed within me and allow the gift of me to be seen.
28:22
SPEAKER_00: I will not shrink to make other people look comfortable.
28:25
SPEAKER_00: I will not wait for permission to be visible.
28:28
SPEAKER_00: I will brag with confidence, responsibility, and purpose.
28:33
SPEAKER_00: I am God's gifts and I will show up like I know it.
28:39
SPEAKER_00: Sparklers, carry that pledge with you this week.
28:43
SPEAKER_00: Choose your next action and complete it.
28:46
SPEAKER_00: The world may continue updating, but you are still valuable.
28:52
SPEAKER_00: You are still needed.
28:54
SPEAKER_00: You are still becoming.
28:57
SPEAKER_00: So visit mosaicsparks.com for more episodes and additional content.
29:03
SPEAKER_00: Share this episode with someone who needs to be reminded that they have not been replaced, forgotten, or discontinued.
29:14
SPEAKER_00: So until next time, keep shining, keep growing, and keep bragging.
29:20
SPEAKER_00: So we will see you next time on Mosaic Sparks with me, Leslie George.
29:28
SPEAKER_00: Please share this episode, like, and leave us review.
29:33
SPEAKER_00: A review.
29:34
SPEAKER_00: Until next time, bye.