Why I'm optimistic about the future...

I totally get why for many people right now the world feels very unsettling. We have climate change to "solve" (there's actually nothing hard about it. We just need to change our habits like using public transport more, reducing our consumerism habits, turn off electricity and water when we don't use it, etc!), the rise of what appears to extremism (usually it is just people who are afraid of change and a VUCA world so tend to follow loud authoritarian personalities who promise a calmer impossible to attain world of "how it used to be") and the rise of technologies full of scaremonging experts (more about it below). Much of this is the perfect food for the media engines that tap into the collective anxiety and our reptilian instincts of paying attention more to bad news than good news.

Yet....

Yet amidst all this noise I am incredibly positive about the future. This is a future that is perfect for those who have an entrepreneurial attitude towards life: i.e. they are the roll up our sleeves kind of people who are learning more and more how life really works, what they really need (and not what the global consumerism marketing muscle tells them they need) and who learn to understand better who they are (the more you know who you are and what you stand the less easily you are influenced by those who shout the loudest).

So let's dive a little more into what makes me say this...

Why you can be more optimistic about life and the future

First let me preface that being optimistic is far easier when you have a roof over your head and you have the means to feed yourself and your loved ones. When your homes are bombed or you live in a dictatorial fear controlled environment life is much more difficult (last night webinar I attended by the Afghans for Progressive Thinking (APT) where young girls shared their experiences and perspectives on what living in Afghanistan means.It was a powerful reminder that happiness is not evenly distributed),

Still...

The foundations of my optimism is based on 3 statements:

Real growth is never easy or pleasant ( Jonti Searll )

A smooth sea never a good sailor made (unknown)

Stress and pressure will always exist. The difference between a succesful person and one who is just a passenger is their ability to learn the tools to manage that pressure.

When you realise that the emotions of uncertainy you are feeling are the most normal things in the world and should be viewed through the lenses of growth, then the anxiety becomes fuel for the soul. Change is scary but it becomes easier to handle - much much easier - the more you expose yourself to it. Do you remember the first day in a new job and how you felt vs after a year or so? The job is (more or less) still the same: you are now just empowered with perspectives and knowledge to understand, cope and thrive better.

What we learned from my work supporting entrepreneurs in 27 countries (451 cities)

Not many people know that the reasons I am so passionate about entrepreneurship has very little to do with helping people in starting and growing a business.That's an (AWESOME) side benefit. The real reason for my doing what I do is that I am a big fan of helping people to become more entrepreneurial in life... Helping unlock for people an attitude that motivates them to change the world they live in, to improve their relationships with their loved ones, to contribute towards their experience at work (vs just showing up and doing the min necessary). We are are in a world that is PERFECTLY made for those who are entrepreneurial in their attitude. And the best part is that entrepreneurial attitude can be learned! And it is fun to learn. I don't mean this in the fluffy way: we didn't grow to 451 cities and communities because of some magic marketing trick: we grew because people everywhere love and loved what we do and how we help open eyes to the beautiful magical opportunities all around them.

As Marcel Proust once said (parahprased): the journey of discovery begins not with seeking new lands but in seeking with new eyes.

Our focus is on helping you see what's around you.

Now... On a less philosophical angle:

Practically speaking...

Politics...

Most of what you see happening in politics today is misleading promotional fluff created to drum up engagement perceptions.. Most people don't really go out and vote as they are too busy working, growing their families and trying to improve their lives. This leaves politicans who do a good job in a quandary: keep your head down, do a great job and most people won't notice you or shout the loudest meanest untrue things that solicit reactions and maybe get a few people to go out and vote. The loudest most radical voices generate the most attention yet when they do get into power their true colours and limits are quickly exposed (right now Mr Trump is generating a lot of noise and alarms (and opportunities) but soon the time for making announcements and big proclamations will end and people will start asking to see what he has actually achieved other than breaking things... and that's with many of the more radical leaders). Read Michael Lewis the 5th risk or Prof Mazzucato "The entrepreneurial State" to get a better sense of how the govt really works. For every ridiculous screaming political aspirant there are thousands upon thousands of amazing dedicated professionals working in government doing their bit to make life better for the citizens.

AI

AI poses risks the same ways cars pose risks. An irresponsible driver can kills people. But I have personally seen on my phone how AI can also make my life dramatically better. For example, I have AI enabled tools that fact check news, opinions etc and give my perspective on what is being said. A month with these tools and soon you'll listen with much more critical ears to the nonsense people say and write. I also use AI to bypass practicall all social media algorythms. I have no used social media tools or google in over 6 months so am getting to good content without being a victim of algorythms, at least not the ones that try and manipulate me. AI can protect us, improve our productivity (I used google's gemini in my inbox and it has literally overnight improved my productivity by 70% - eg. Gemini: give me a summary of this email thread of what action items I need to do). When internet started we were swamped with scams, spams and the porn industry taking advantage of first mover advantage (a fun fact: look at how the porn industry is using tech to understand the potential of something). Of course there are going to be scandals, but for each company that abuses it's position however there will be many many innovators developing solutions to counter than bad actor.

Circular Economy / Sustainability

Let me be honest: the majority of the world's population do not really care about sustainability other than paying lip service to it when required (want superficial proof? Look at the rise of Shein and Temu - people buying like crazy regardless of the carbon footprint of shipping around the world, or the fact that so many people are replacing their cars with electric cars instead of changing their logistical arrangements). That's not to agree with them. But that's how it is. However, what I have seen is more and more businesses that are using sustainable business practices and elements of the circular economy to lower costs and improve their services. This kind of behaviour actually improves their competitive advantage and taps into the selfishness of people as a whole (who want better quality and lower costs). A case in point: a company has sold hundreds of thousands of cell phones they manufacture where all compoments can be replaced which means the lifetime of your phone triples or quadruples as you don't need to buy a new phone every 3 years). In this world why would you pay money for a phone you know will last 1/3 of the time?

When - as some governments are sloooowly doing - the tax system starts to tax the wrong behaviour (eg. Airlines, alcohol and processed food companies should be taxed much higher than rail, bus or locally produced produce. You should be getting tax credits when you don't own a car or buy a bike etc). Having said that there is an incredible amount of amazing progress happening in astounding large numbers all over the world. These are factual observations and not statements of hope! Just look at Nick Hedley's The Progress Report or Future Crunch and be blown away by how much progress humanity is making in terms of saving the planet. We are certainly not out of the woods yet but the rate of change is incrasing exponentially (to make a point: today having a home without solar panels is almost unthinkable, something that just a few years ago was impossible to imagine).

World population decline

In case you missed it, the world population is now starting to decline. While a number of companies and people decry this as an existential crisis (and we will certainly have a bunch of challenges - think caring for old people, etc) the rise of robotic helpers, AI health monitors that reduce the cost of preventative healthcare, etc will on the whole balance this. Yes, this will have an impact on the hopes of companies hoping to live in an ever increasing spiral of consumption, but the reality is that most of the stuff we have around us today is NOT necessary. The perceived necessity is the outcome of a carefullly scripted marketing message to create that perception.

I can imagine a world where the house etc is cleaned by robots (there's tons already in houses that clean floors), watches that give us amazing insights into our health and prevention and awesome technologies that will soon deliver automatically (amazon drones anyone?) the pill that was DNAed to your specific genetical minestrone (manufactured on demand, not unliked 3D printers of today). AI will jump with and have conversations and engagements with people who feel lovely (I kind of hope that we start finding the community living trend again, people looking after each other). There's going to be such an abudance of technology and solutions competiting against each other than it will drive down the cost so much that you don't need to earn that much to have an amazing quality of life (look at self driving taxis costing already a fraction of a driver led car and that's taking into account hardcore and expensive tech... This too will become even cheaper).

Be positive...

To be sure, there will be pain. Real change that leads to improved quality of life is rarely pleasant of equally distributed. Some people will fall behind as they seek the good old days (were they that good?), some will struggle to adapt.

But I am optimistic.

And I invite you to see the world full of opportunities!