A few decades ago, our lives were tied to a location. Where we found a job, we build a home and we stayed there because we stayed at the job throughout the course of our lifetime. Mobility didn’t really exist as an opportunity – at least not for most. However, nowadays the picture looks completely different. People switch between jobs, work remotely, and climb the socioeconomic ladder – without thinking twice about it. Mobility has become the reality and normality for a lot of people.
Mobility means the ability to move – move between places, move between social statuses, move between lifestyles, jobs, cultures, careers. Nothing needs to be fixed anymore. Everything can be changed. That’s at the heart of the megatrend of mobility. So let’s look at the opportunities and the challenges of this megatrend, and see how to make the most of it.
Opportunities of Mobility
Mobility opens up a lot of new opportunities as our ability to move means greater freedom, greater flexibility, and more equity. To a much greater extent than before, we are able to choose our own path and how we want our life to be shaped. In most parts of the world, our mindset has changed, meaning that we no longer limit ourselves to the circumstances of our birth, but move beyond the reality of our parents.
- Our socioeconomic background will have a lesser say on how our future socioeconomic status looks, for example, because more opportunities for education and learning are freely available online.
- Our homes will become more flexible as fewer things will confine us to a certain location. Remote work, easy traveling options, virtual jobs all support this trend.
- Our lifestyles will become more fluid as we are confronted with different cultures on a more regular basis and let them influence and inspire us, cheery-picking what we like from each lifestyle we come into contact with.
Mobility means more flexibility and equity in all areas of life. The opportunities of this are awe-inspiring.
Challenges of Mobility
However, mobility also poses some challenges to us as a global society. For although mobility is becoming increasingly normal in the developed world, there are still large parts that are not part of this trend because the virtual infrastructure and the social security network needed are missing. So the gap between the developed and the undeveloped world might grow larger once more in terms of life quality. Luckily, the global wifi network is expanding, not decreasing, and so is the trend towards social fairness.
Another challenge raised by mobility is our sense of belonging. When we start to travel more, switch from one project to the next, and continuously reinvent ourselves – all of which are great! – we might feel a stronger sense of dislocation, of not belonging, of feeling unsure of our identity. This could lead to an increase in becoming part of various communities and groups in order not to feel lost. Joining such communities can be awesome if they’re positive and open ones, but if they’re extremist and violent, this can be a dangerous trend.
More on the chances and the challenges of mobility can be explored in the podcast: **the** Social Mobility Podcast.
What You Can Do
To get the most out of this megatrend, here is what you can do:
- think globally when you look for opportunities – if you work for it, you might get a job for a company on the other side of the planet.
- make the most of the opportunities that are freely available to you and up your game! It’s great for your personal development and for your professional opportunities.
- be open to diversity, differences, and dreaming beyond your inherited limits.
- find like-minded people and a transnational community you can belong to and that can help you grow (like the Moonshot Pirates Community 😉)
Movement is the universal language of personal freedom.
– Louis Chevrolet
