The view from over the hill is pretty good. No more climbing corporate ladders, greasy poles, playing on the jungle gym, or whatever the metaphor used to help paint a picture of those past endeavors. But, just when you thought that it was safe to go outside, there's a technological revolution taking place that is very exciting and you're probably involved in whether you choose to be or not.
Right now, as you're reading this masterpiece, there are more than 3 billion people online: anyone can find you, if they want to. You may well think that you can 'opt out', but that decision is not going to be as easy as you at first may have thought.
In days gone by, we used to say that there were three kinds of people – bores, who talk about themselves; gossips, who talk about others; and perfect conversationalists, who talk about me. Now there's another category – talkers, who spread news (good and not-so-good). People talk. Chances are that you probably found out that Twitter sponsored soccer's World Cup because someone told you.
Playing the Ostrich and hoping all of this stuff is just a fad and it will have its day dooms us to disappointment. Or you can choose to be a participant. Everyone has the chance to stand out and to be found without having expensive office space, a marketing budget, and all those trappings you may have thought you'd need.
Here's how – be recognized! Seth Godin talks about the need for all of us to be weird and remarkable. He claims that that fitted every new successful company that has emerged in the past few years (he is able to list those companies). The challenge for us is to think in a weirder and more remarkable way – and, most of all, get recognized.
By being recognized (as well as being remarkable, and a little weird) enables us to think better, to live a more intentioned and exciting life, and to develop an eye for an alternate path irrespective of our age. We'll then meet new people and inspire others whom we might discover are also a little bit weird and remarkable.
It sounds easy because it is!
