How to Live in the Shift Age

Try to live in the moment and be as aware as possible. We all get lost in thought. It is like making plans: we all get lost in thought or caught up in making plans while life flows right by us. Make life flow through you. Then flow with it. Open to the sense of flow that is everywhere.

I have always been fascinated about the future, about what is around the corner, about what lies ahead for humanity. I have always seemed to do things years before other people did them. There are people who are driven by acknowledgement or money. Vision is what drives me. I like to live in possibility.

As a passage to adulthood, many Native Americans were sent out into nature to discover their essence; what it was in nature that best captured who they were. They returned to the tribe to speak their natural truth. As a young man I did that and came back with the name “Swelling Wave”. A friend once told me that I have a gift of being able to connect the dots that others can’t even see. As it turns out, she was right.

We all have gifts to offer humanity, some find them sooner than others. I realized five years ago that all along my gift is to get people, the market and the planet to think about the future. That is how I define being a futurist, which is what I do for a living.

Humanity is now in transition from the Information Age to the Shift Age. Historically, such transitions feel very disruptive as the old orders are giving way to the new ones that are still in early stages of formation. In this case we are moving into the global stage of human evolution. This flow to global is happening simultaneously with the flow to the individual as we are all now more powerful as individuals than at any time in history.

Both of these forces are amplified by the accelerating digital connectedness. This digital connectedness is fundamentally doing two things: it is creating an alternative reality and changing human consciousness. These three forces are setting the stage for a possible new evolution shift in human consciousness. Almost everything will undergo some degree of transformation. Be adaptable and be resilient.

Embracing the new and being open to change is essential for growth. It lessens fear and increases curiosity and adventure. As Bob Dylan said, “Those not busy being born are busy dying.” Think about being born every day. Experience something new every day.