Availability Clients Testimonials Biography Jokes Articles Products Personal Contact Transcript of Radio Ulster Interview, January 2000
L.M.: Prepare to combat the threats and seize the opportunities of the 21st Century, because job security is gone, global companies are becoming more powerful and, according to Roy Sheppard, technology will continue to revolutionise every aspect of our lives. He’s written ‘Your Personal Survival Guide to the 21st Century’ – Roy what’s so different about the 21st Century from the one we’ve just lived through?
Roy: Things are going to happen far, far quicker than they’ve ever done before. In the last 4 years there’s been more change in the world than the entire century, and the speed of change now is accelerating. Things are happening so quickly that a lot of people just don’t understand what’s around the corner. They’re so tied into what they’re doing right now they feel they haven’t got the time – that’s why I wanted to write the book.
L.M.: So you’re saying, we’re not ready for it.
Roy: I don’t think a lot of people are. You mention about the workplace, there are huge numbers of people who are going to be made obsolete by technology. That’s started to happen already because computers now are far more powerful than they’ve ever been before. But, I do believe, that there’s a hell of lot you can do about that, so that you can become far more knowledgeable, and your knowledge gives you more choices, which allows you then to not be tied to one employer, who you might think is doing you badly. Therefore you have the power within you to actually go somewhere else where they’ll appreciate you more. It’s not all negative.
L.M.: And yet, you say, and most people will feel, that technology is not always our saviour. Some people, many people, feel threatened by it.
Roy: Oh I think that’s very widespread. I think there are a huge number of technophobes in the world and it’s quite understandable, because technology isn’t as simple to use as it could be, or should be. I think it will become far more easy to use in the future, but I know people now, even senior people, in global companies, who are actually proud of the fact that they don’t know how to turn on a computer, they think that’s being clever.
L.M.: Yes, I know one that has got one on his desk. He says, I don’t have a clue.
Roy: They think that’s being clever, but I really do believe it’s a little bit like saying, you know, I can read but I’m really proud of the fact that I can’t write. I think that, in the 21st Century, anybody that doesn’t get to grips with using computer technology, and it’s not just computers, will be functionally illiterate. And that’s a blunt thing to say, but I think it’s getting to the point now where, for a growing percentage of the population it will be important. It won’t affect everybody, and I’m not trying to say it will. But, if you are in business, and you are somebody that wants to get on in business, to understand and to use technology to improve your productivity, your efficiency and the knowledge you bring to a job, is going to be crucially important.
L.M.: So your joke, ‘What do you call a nerd in 15 year’s time?’ – answer, the boss – really isn’t that much of a joke.
Roy: No, I think it’s very, very true. Look at Bill Gates, you know, the guy was the classic ‘nerd’, but now he runs the most successful company in the history of this planet.
L.M.: So you devoted an entire chapter to learning, which you describe as ‘the key to your future’. Really, in a way, once most of us put away our books, whether they’re at school, university or night class, or whatever, we think we’ve finished learning, don’t we?
Roy: We have the word for it, ‘graduation’, which means that’s the end of the learning. And that is an outdated idea. I think continuous learning is probably the most important thing you can commit yourself to, but there are a huge number of factors that stop us doing that. I think one of the reasons is that school squeezes out of us any enjoyment of learning, because we’re taught, or traditionally we were taught, in a particular way which may not have been the best way for us as individuals to learn. So we take on board what teachers say or imply that we’re not as clever as we should be. When in fact, what actually happens - there’s been a huge amount of research into this, very often people who don’t do well at school, don’t do well because they’re not taught in the way that they will learn in the best way.
Because we’re never taught how to learn, we’re just told to learn. And, I think, if you went to school and you were told that you weren’t very bright, or whatever, that itself could be stopping you from wanting to sign up for a class on anything you could imagine, that you think will be of interest or value to you in your career or your social life. I think that the school system is at fault. I’m not laying blame on teachers or anything like that, because it’s not their fault, they’re paid to teach people in the way that they’re told to teach, but ultimately you may have all sorts of beliefs and attitudes from childhood that’s stopping you from learning. That is your biggest problem.
L.M.: So if you’ve come to a mid-life stage, where you have put that behind you, what way should you approach learning now?
Roy: Well, I think you’ve got to address some of the reasons why you may not want to learn – you might say ‘I haven’t got the time’ or ‘I’m too old now’, or you’re afraid. There’s lots of people who are afraid of being successful, because they’re afraid that other people will think that they are a bit of a swot – and we all know where that came from.
L.M.: Yes.
Roy: And there are also people who are afraid of failure, they think if I don’t take an examination I can’t fail it, can I? But they’re failing themselves when they do that.
L.M.: The other main chapter that interested me was looking at money, because, in many ways, people don’t talk about money very much, unless they haven’t got any and if people do talk about money, they’re regarded as being a bit of a blow really. And yet, you say, it really is important.
Roy: I think it’s absolutely crucial. We have our views on money dictated to us by our parents, perhaps. We listen to people that don’t understand money. And, funnily enough, the people that do understand money we very often don’t trust. So there’s a huge amount of emotional pain associated with money, because people think that if I had enough money I’d be happy, and everyone wants to be happy. Whereas you’ll find people who are rich who do not do the things that we associate with rich people. I quote in the book a number of the different factors that rich people determine their lives by. They set budgets, they don’t spend a lot of money, they don’t buy flash cars, they buy old cars, they don’t live in the swankiest, most luxurious neighbourhood. They are very careful about what goes out of their lives, in terms of money, whereas people who don’t have money are only concerned with what comes in. We live our lives like a leaking colander. There’s so much money gets poured in the top, but we forget that so much of it pours out of the bottom. And one of the things I say in the book, is that, if you want to change your relationship to money, the first thing to do is to get rid of any debt that you have. Debt is the thing that really does stop people from living a more stress-free life. Credit cards I find fascinating. If you’ve got credit card debt, and millions of people do, it’s a bit like saying ‘right I’m prepared to work for you for five days a week, but just pay me for four of them. Because that’s the 20 per cent interest that we’re charged on our credit card, very often. I mean, it varies slightly with various people. But if you don’t have debt, you’ve then got money that you can save. The second rule of really coming to grips with money is to get into the habit of saving 10 or just 15 per cent of your annual income. But save first, don’t see at the end of the month how much money have I got left over and I’ll save that. Put it aside first and learn to live on the rest of the money. It’s only when you can build up capital that you can do something with it by investing it wisely. I mean, it’s beyond the scope of my book to advise in that respect. But people just don’t understand what the power of money can be, because they’re constantly living hand-to-mouth, and you don’t need to do that.
L.M.: So the oxymoron ‘spend and save’ really is the whack.
Roy: Absolutely. You read the book, I can tell, because I do quote that.
L.M.: So our lives, do you think they’re going to be so different. I mean, we’ve passed that milestone of 1984, we’ve passed the year 2000, 2025 might be a nice one to hit as well. But the way we work, our lifestyle, our health, is it going to be so different in the 21st Century?
Roy: I think it is going to be different, for a number of not-so-positive reasons. I think that, no matter what Government is in power in this country or in any other country, they’re not going to be able to afford to do the things that we have traditionally accepted is the role of a Government. In the U.K., for example, in the next 10 to 20 years we are going to have the oldest population in the world. That will mean, that the oldest people will want, and deserve, a pension, but there won’t be money for it. It’s statistically proven that old people tend to account for about 45 to 50 per cent of all healthcare costs. Now we know what the National Health Service is going through at the moment, but its nothing compared to what is going to happen in the next 20 or 30 years. And I’m not saying that just to be negative, but it’s a reality of life, it’s a demographic fact that this is what’s happening. Now you can entrust your future or the last 20 years of your life to somebody else, but you also have to accept that they might get it wrong, and they might let you down at the very time in your life that you need it. I believe that there’s a huge amount that you can do to take responsibility for your life and not be a burden on society in the future, but at the same time live a far more comfortable life and also a far more fulfilling one.
L.M.: You quote Pete Townsend, "I hope I die before I get old". Another one that comes to my mind is Rod Stewart’s song that made me laugh, "I wish I knew what I know now when I was younger and when I was stronger".
Roy: Yes, well, this is very, very true. When I looked into the subject initially when I was putting the book together, I was astounded at what is already happening in the world that hasn’t really trickled down into our lives. And I just do believe that so many people are so busy with the day-to-day, they don’t look at the bigger picture. By stepping back and saying "Right, who am I? Where am I? What are the things that are going on in my life, positively as well as negatively? I talk about it being a Survival Guide, and one of the first rules of survival wherever you may be, in whatever situation you are, is to assess the potential threats to you. And there are potential threats, but just because you want to believe that there aren’t there, doesn’t mean to say that you’re not going to get hit by them. I’m not suggesting that people become neurotic or paranoid, but it’s just the sensible way of doing it. So I put together a huge amount of information, I distilled it down and the book still came out as being quite a big read, but it’s the sort of book that you can dip in and out of. And the feedback I’ve had from it, thankfully, has been very, very positive. People have found it very thought provoking.
L.M.: So, as you say, the future belongs only to those who have adequately prepared for it. You’ve got some of the book on your website, to find out more about it.
Roy: That’s right.
L.M.: What is that website address?
Roy: Well, funnily enough, the website is part of what technology is allowing us to do, and my website address is www.royspeaks.com. There’s a free chapter on there, there’s also the synopsis and lots of other information about the book. So people can go to it if they want to, rather than trying to find it in a bookstore and perhaps not being successful.
L.M.: But if you’re still a luddite, you can find ‘Your Personal Survival Guide to the 21st Century’ by Roy Sheppard in your good book shop, and its published by Centre Publishing. Roy Sheppard, thank you.
Roy: Linda, thank you.