1. The Alliance of the Young Entrepreneur and the Modern Elder.
“Disruptive innovation” has been a buzz phrase for a couple decades, but the seismic nature of our collective COVID experience will likely lead to more brilliant, young entrepreneurs accelerating change through the use of technology. Never before have we needed to mint “modern elders” to offer wise, EQ-infused insight to these disruptors.
Here’s a 2-minute clip with Brian Chesky about the symbiotic relationship we developed.
2. The Emergence of “Long Life Learning.”
In order to produce more modern elders, we need to help mid-lifers understand how to cultivate and harvest their wisdom and shift their mindsets on aging. Lifelong learning is well-established, but there’s a big difference between the priorities and thinking of a 30-year-old and a 60-year-old which is why “long life learning” is becoming embraced by higher education, an industry that is in jeopardy of being further disrupted.
Here’s a recent Next Avenue article that highlights our white paper on the subject.
3. The Digital Nomad Goes Mainstream.
Some of us have become moored to our homes. Others have used the pandemic as their opportunity to become untethered. The trend of workers choosing to spend a few months in Bali, then Baja, then Boston, then Austin is only going to accelerate and now we’re seeing knowledge workers of all ages jump on this bandwagon with huge implications for the hospitality and residential industries.
Here’s a previous Wisdom Well post that goes into more depth on digital nomads.
4. Co-Living Moves Beyond Millennials.
I’ve seen this movie before with respect to home sharing. When I joined Airbnb 8 years ago, people said, “Oh, that’s just a Millennial phenomenon.” They said the same about digital nomads and co-living, but we’re seeing increased intergen co-living. At a time when diseases of despair are rampant, the social wellness offered by co-living is more needed than ever.
Here’s a Fast Company essay I wrote this fall on why I think co-living is one of the next big trends in real estate.
5. We Better Understand “Why We Gather.”
There’s a great opportunity during this unbalanced moment to reset our personal bearings, to recalibrate our social compass. Understanding why we gather, what makes us gather, and even how best to gather moving forward (for the greater good and not just corporate gain) can bring greater human consciousness to our subconscious desire to be together. We also need to support “the gathering industry” that has been pummeled in the past year and is poised for a rebound.
Here’s a recent Wisdom Well book review I wrote on the book “Dancing in the Streets.”