The last several weeks have been heavy travel months for me, and I’ve had the opportunity to use Uber a handful of times before they were kicked out of the province of Alberta. I am not a fan of parking at the airport, and so I frequently will catch a ride to avoid taking my car. Below are a few of those experiences.

Uber driver #1

My first time ever using Uber was about 15 minutes before I had to head to the airport. 6 minutes after downloading the app and setting up my account, there was a friendly driver in a brand new, immaculate black Honda Pilot in front of my house. 

I struck up a conversation with the driver (Bruce) as I was curious about the type of people using the app as drivers. It turned out that Bruce is a father of 3, and an entrepreneur who owns a big truck for his livelihood. In the winter time he clears snow for the city, and in the summer he hauls gravel. With this current winter being unuasually mild, Bruce’s truck has sat dormant for most of the winter while he continues making payments which include storage. In order to make ends meet, Bruce has enjoyed the convenience of driving part time through the use of Uber.

Uber driver #2

For my second trip to the US this year, I was greeted in less than 5 minutes by a clean and welcoming mini-van. My driver this time (Dan) was a single dad with a young boy around the age of 8. I noticed hockey sticks in the back of Dan’s van and learned that when he is not selling medical equipment to hospitals he is coaching his precocious 8 year old son. With the tough economic conditions, Dan’s regular gig has taken a hit, and Uber has been a convenient method to make extra cash to help out with his son’s financially demanding hockey activities.  

These were just two of my at least 6 experiences using Uber, and with each trip I noticed something interesting. It occurred to me that the typical driver profiles were pretty average Albertans wanting to get ahead in the face of the many challenges we’ve faced as a province over the last year: namely…

• More than 100,000 oil related jobs have been lost
• The price of our oil, our key economic driver has fallen by more than 70%
• Our economy has hit a floor not seen since the early 80s

Attempting to turn Uber into a taxi company

The types of drivers that I met using Uber were not full time taxi drivers, and I think that is the beauty of the platform. And this is a point that I think our government is failing to realize. Uber is not a replacement for taxis, it is a disruptor of taxis. I understand that this comes across as alarming for many people. But we have to take a step back and understand why it is that Uber is so disruptive. 

In my previous post I wrote about disruptive businesses leveraging technology to become extremely customer-centric. Uber has accomplished this feat, and its success is merely a reflection of the masses voting with their wallets. 

 By imposing regulations such as mandatory background checks as well as license and insurance upgrades, it no longer exists as a ride sharing app. We are creating another taxi business. As an entrepreneur, I see a service and business model that is near perfection when it comes to connecting supply and demand. Drivers who want to give rides being matched seamlessly and automatically with drivers who want a ride. A driver validation and rating service in my mind is more than adequate to give me confidence in the person picking me up.

What does this mean for Alberta?

In the face of our numerous economic challenges at present, I remain incredibly optimistic about the spirit and capabilities of creative entrepreneurs who will innovate their way out of this situation. What I am apprehensive about is that our government has demonstrated a level of bureaucracy signaling to businesses and investors that Alberta is not a progressive province. As a result, what we are seeing and will continue to see is a mass exodus of talent and capabilities from our province by people with good ideas. As an example, I have met more Canadians than I can mention who have moved to California and seen incredible success. When polled, every one of them cited that they didn’t think their ideas stood a chance of succeeding in Alberta.

We have incredible and very capable people in our province and in our country, and I do see a bright future – eventually. I agree that our oil rich privilege has created some apathy that we will need to push through in order to return to prosperity. But this will take a change in mindset, especially on the part of our elected representatives. I see Uber as a first strike, and we’re now sitting 0 and 1. It’s not too late. 

In the meantime, I hope to see more than a dozen Uber drivers in Edmonton when the platform returns this summer. 

It has been said that the quality of decisions that we make deteriorates throughout the day. In fact, a 2011 study in the National Academy of Sciences found that judges who were responsible for granting prisoners parole became increasingly less lenient as the mornings approached lunch. On an empty stomach their decision making capabilities were actually compromised. 

Thankfully most of the decisions that I have to make throughout the day are slightly less significant. Nonetheless below are a few strategies that I have experienced real success with that could help put you back in the driver’s seat.

5 tips for managing decision fatigue

1. Choose your clothing the night before. 

Our brains when faced with choices throughout the day move closer towards a state of cognitive overload. Removing that first decision of the day is a surprisingly powerful trick to help conserve brain energy in the early hours of the day. I’ve taken it one step further by loading my closet with a dozen of the same black shirt to help remove one last decision. A word of warning though, this advanced move may lead to people questioning your bland wardrobe.

2. Meditate first thing in the morning

Prolific author Robert Greene compares our brains with icebergs, in that the majority of cognitive reasoning is buried within our subconscious. But this potential can often get drowned out by our monkey minds. The daily intentional practice of quieting that chatter in our minds can have huge benefits towards setting us up for success and happiness. Even 1 minute each morning is a powerful small step towards achieving the numerous benefits of meditation. A good entry point that I’d recommend is an app called Head Space. 

3. Write in a journal for 5 minutes each morning

The Five Minute Journal has been one of my best purchases so far this year. Each morning (most mornings if I’m honest) before looking at my phone or scanning e-mails, I jump straight into my journal to jot down 3 things I’m grateful for, and 3 things that would make today great. Sound simple and trivial? It’s actually more difficult than you would think. But it forces me to exercise that same muscle as the meditation to give me laser focus on 3 things to achieve each day.

4. Exercise each day even if just for a few minutes

This is an obvious one, and I won’t get into the myriad of benefits of daily exercise. But I’ll put it in as a reminder to stop making excuses. The body and mind are so linked that it would be impossible to aspire for a balanced life without tending to both. And if you have troubles finding the time, start out with an app like Seven Minute Workout.

5. Break your world into 90 day chunks

Chris Anderson illustrates the exponential curve of choice in his book The Long Tail. There are so many avenues of choice in our world these days that they are literally trending towards infinite. One only needs to visit the supermarket to count the amazing abundance of choices. Who knew there would be demand for Lobster Roll flavored chips? Dan Sullivan, founder of Strategic Coach recently wrote a book called the 25 Year Framework, in which he has succinctly mapped out where he wants to be 25 years from now in all aspects of his life. He then breaks it down into 90 day chunks. Each quarter effectively equals 1% of 25 years. A great way of dealing with the overwhelm is to write down 5 multipliers or goals that you can work on each 90 days that will move you closer to that 25 year target. And if you have one bad quarter, no sweat. It’s only 1% of the picture.

Whatever your situation, there are a tonne of intentional hacks that can help you regain control of your days. What tricks have you found to be successful?

One of the coolest technologies that Tesla has built into their cars is their ability to support over the air software updates. Typically they release these small over the air improvements every month or so. They take about an hour to download once your car is parked and plugged in.

Here are the most recent updates as of this morning (January 12, 2016).

 

1. Perpendicular Parking

2. Enhanced Autopilot Visualization

3. Autosteer: New Safety Restriction

4. Garage Door Auto-Open/Close

5. Vehicle Lock Improvements