Our world is changing at 10x speed: How to prepare and be the change!

Our world is changing at 10x speed: How to prepare and be the change!
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Be the change you want to see in the world!

Be the change you want to see in the world!

By now, most people are aware that our world - and especially technology - is changing and developing lightning fast. But while we keep updating our operating systems and smartphones all the time, we completely forget to update our human systems, our beliefs and habits. Isnā€™t it strange that the majority of the world still lives by the same rules that have been passed on from generation to generation over hundreds of years?

As much as we are striving for progress, such outdated rules are terribly inhibiting. Thatā€™s why many of us are fighting with stressful, limiting beliefs that hold us back from being our ā€œtrue selfā€ and living life to its full potential.

Luckily, a new breed of open-minded, world-centric individuals has begun to question the status quo and the way our society works. They realize that some traditional norms simply donā€™t fit into our hyper-informed, creative and technological age anymore and things need to change.

THE RISE OF LOCATION INDEPENDENCE AND DIGITAL NOMADS

Amongst this breed are digital nomads, remote workers, location independent entrepreneurs, like my girlfriend Felicia and me. Call us like you want. These digital nomads are about to change how and where we work, taking advantage of the fact that most work can now be done online. Instead of waiting for vacation or retirement to finally arrive, freelancers and entrepreneurs travel out with nothing but their laptops and an urge for freedom and adventure.

Felicia and I freed ourselves from the limits of society 5 years ago. Life is holding so much more in store for us than going to the same office every day and waiting for our annual holiday or retirement. We knew we wouldnā€™t be alone out there, which is why we started the global DNX movement to give people back ownership of their time, jobs and lives.

ā€œDigital Nomad lifestyle of the DNX founders Felicia Hargarten and Marcus Meurer: ā€œFollow us aroundā€ in Jericoacoara, Brazilā€

THE INTERNET CHANGES EVERYTHING

Thanks to the Internet, information became freely accessible and is spreading faster and faster. It is empowering every single one of us. We can now take control of our lives and are not dependent on what other people think is good for us. We can share our ideas with the world.

The countless studies about digital nomads make it crystal clear: Itā€™s a movement that is growing fast, that is getting highly professional, increasingly sustainable, and more and more accepted by other people. Digital nomads take their opportunities and responsibilities seriously.

Here comes the good news: The time has come to replace restricting models of society with empowering ones. To question everything we ever believed in. Wouldnā€™t it be cool if we couldā€¦ Live and work anywhere? Set up a business everywhere? Avoid having to rent a stable flat? Register in any country? Have a worldwide insurance? Have bank accounts all over the world? Use crypto currencies to replace the fiat money? Create a basic income for everyone as more and more jobs will be done by technology?

7 FACTS THAT PROVE THE GLOBAL MINDSHIFT IS HAPPENING

A global mindshift is happening. A shift towards a stronger level of consciousness and a world where people start to question outdated systems and rules. A shift that will revolutionize the way we live, work and interact with each other on this planet.

1| Outdated employment models are dying

9 to 5 and payment by hours spent in the cubicle are outdated!

9 to 5 and payment by hours spent in the cubicle are outdated!

People are fed up working for big corporations and working to fulfill someone elseā€™s dreams. They want to escape the cubicle, feel valued and trusted in the work they do.

So they start asking questions like:

Does it still make sense to work from 9 to 5? A 40-hour week? A model that was created in the times of Henry Ford in 1914? To be in the same room - or even country - as your boss and colleagues? Or could it be replaced with a new model that gives us more freedom, more sunshine, more vitamin D and more energy. We could be working faster and more productive than ever. All while keeping healthy bodies and minds.

The future workforce wants work life balance and time for their families and friends without burning out. Old status symbols like job titles, company cars and other perks arenā€™t attractive anymore. Instead, many workers are longing for freedom, happiness and purpose.

With the progress in artificial intelligence, current jobs are declining. Therefore, being self-employed and building up your own business turns into one of the safest options for many. Solopreneurship - in which an entrepreneur starts, owns and runs his or her business alone - is growing into a powerful force in the future world of work. The trend also goes towards founding 100% self-funded and ā€˜bootstrappedā€™, instead of competing for venture capital and being dependent on big investors. Itā€™s a model that is agile and quick and slowly disrupts - and outperforms - the slow world of corporations.

But open-minded companies realize the potential of working with highly motivated, talented people and hire a fully remote workforce - a rising trend that will most likely represent the majority of digital nomads in the future.

2 | Unschooling is shaking the education system

Unschooling, homeschooling and worldschooling are the next big things!

Unschooling, homeschooling and worldschooling are the next big things!

Schools are institutions from the 19th century, employing teachers from the 20th century that are teaching students from the 21st century - something is out of balance. The education system of today teaches us to get a career. But does it train us to truly matter? Who teaches us to be better at relationships? To be more productive at work? To build a business or create wealth? To eat healthy? To use our minds and intuitions to live a life full of meaning and fulfilment?

Many big thinkers, creators and entrepreneurs challenge the education system. Schools are teaching us to lead an ordinary life and be a functioning part of society. But we all carry genius in us - creativity thatā€™s waiting to be unleashed. We can push ourselves towards doing extraordinary things.

Luckily, people have started hacking the old education system. Prestigious universities are putting their knowledge online for free. The sheer number of tutorials, webinars and online courses available gives us control of what we want to learn - and we can do it anywhere, anytime and in any stage of life and business.

ā€œUnschoolingā€ or world schooling is growing, with entire families traveling the world, meeting up in communities for a while and then splitting ways again. Imagine a world where we teach our kids about biology, language, history and culture - and then go out and experience it first-hand in the Brazilian jungle, the ruins of Angkor Wat or the fisher villages in Portugal. Makes sense, doesnā€™t it?

3 | Our health system is not helping us anymore

Our health system makes us sick!

Our health system makes us sick!

Over the last decade, alternative medicine has found its way back into our Western societies. With information spreading that conventional Western medicine has long been funded by big pharmaceutical companies, more and more people start to question our health system. Ever wondered why chronic diseases such as diabetes, asthma or dementia have become near to normal in our society? This simply canā€™t be right.

In our current model, doctors are trained to merely treat the symptoms of our diseases with pills, instead of searching for the cause. This has been feeding the big pharma companies with millions of dollars, as ongoing treatments of symptoms meant ongoing revenues and demand for medication. Medication that was never designed to heal us, but instead is just temporarily masking the pain.

Good news: This system is about to crash. More and more physicians - and patients - are turning towards traditional methods like Traditional Chinese Medicine or Ayurveda. It takes on a holistic approach to health, instead of simply giving us a quick fix. The future of medicine is searching for the causes in our everyday life and our environment - the way we eat, what we eat, the level of toxins in our bodies and in the air around us - and fixing the problem where it arises.

Latest research has been adopted and spread by the business world, too. Some of the brightest minds and leaders are experimenting with biohacking and detoxing rituals. Techniques like intermittent fasting and other natural detoxing and cleansing routines are becoming easily accessible. High energy stands for a high quality of life, and people are being given the knowledge and tools to understand and heal their bodies.

4 | Food is healing ourselves and the planet

A plant-based diet gives you pure energy!

A plant-based diet gives you pure energy!

Connected to health, food is one of the best ways to biohack our health and restore balance in our bodies. It seems crazy how badly we treated our own bodies in the past decades. We didnā€™t question if products sold in supermarkets are good or bad for us. We just accepted that big brands are feeding us with non-natural, processed junk-food for the bigger profit...

Finally this is changing! We started to see the huge connection between clean, healthy, organic food and a happy, successful life. And this will change our whole economy. Again, power is shifting back to the smaller businesses, the farmers, or even ourselves. Weā€™re growing food at home or sharing it in urban gardens.

An even bigger question that many people ask themselves: Does it really make sense to eat so much meat in the year 2017? Most manufactured meats are full of antibiotics.

It makes our bodies hyperacidic, making us the perfect breeding ground for many diseases like cancer, diabetes, heart diseaseā€¦ Things that we sadly started to see as normal! Apart from that, it is widely known by now that consuming less meat also saves the environment.

I decided to go 100% vegan in 2015 - and it has proven to be the best decision I could ever make. I am feeling more energized, healthier and stronger than ever. I have more endurance, more power and feel that I do right by my body, the animals and the planet. I am living the cosmocentric lifestyle, which means we are all one and connected. We share our beautiful planet earth with the animals and nature with equal rights

We are no preachers and believe that everyone should do what feels good on a personal level. But it is good to see that there is a massive rethinking, and plant-based, healthy, natural eating is part of the future of food.

5 | Consumerism and capitalism cry for renewal

Less is more!

Less is more!

Did capitalism and the strive for maximum profits really give us happiness and fulfilment? Clearly not. There are 7 billion people on this planet - 10% of which suffer from burnout, chronic fatigue and mental illnesses. Thatā€™s 700 million people! Shocking but unsurprising: Most of those people are living and working in the Western world, driven by consumption and capitalism.

Good news: We are slowly digging our way out of this manipulative mindset to consume and possess as much as we can. We donā€™t need all the things our parents were told we would. Instead, people are drawn towards the ideas of minimalism, slow consumption and the simple life, taking the power away from many big corporations and passing it to small, creative businesses with good values.

I love collaborative consumption: People are buying less cars, swapping clothes, going to flea markets and sharing vans, longboards, apartments and workspaces. Itā€™s still a long way to go, but you can feel it all around you.

6 | Collaboration & crowd intelligence disrupt old power models

Collaboration is king!

Collaboration is king!

Weā€™re moving towards a world with strongly connected, supportive, global tribes. Concepts of the sharing economy, collaborative communities and togetherness are growing. Weā€™re building communities where ego is the enemy! Itā€™s amazing! Check out our free DNX Community on Facebook!

Coworking & coliving projects unite a diverse community of local creatives, techies, entrepreneurs, remote employees, changemakers. Everyone has different backgrounds, talents or skills and is happy to trade and share them. Times of pushing elbows are coming to an end.

Sharing has become more desirable than owning. We want to stay in other peoplesā€™ homes and share the space we live in, we want to share our cars and move more efficiently from A to B, we want to share our meals, our knowledge, our skills.

In the financial world, cryptocurrencies are shaking up the way our money flows. Especially with the rise of location-independence, many people start to question the financial system. It doesnā€™t seem right to pass on control over our money to a third party that takes ridiculous fees. Itā€™s a fact: Bitcoin, blockchain, Ether & co are going to revolutionize the world of banking world in the next years. With a rising amount of information available, everyone can now learn to make smart investments and be part of a revolution.

7 | Mindfulness: Spirituality is re-awaking in 2.0

Spirituality, mindfulness and awareness are king!

Spirituality, mindfulness and awareness are king!

Not too long ago, people would smile at you if youā€™d practiced meditation or yoga. It was meant for monks and hippie folks, not for the modern person. Now look around you - ā€œmindfulnessā€ has become a huge trend and is helping lots of stressed people to feel happier, healthier and more aligned with the world around them.

The paradox: We focus a lot on our bodies, training them, getting them into shape. But we still hugely forget to train our minds, too. Itā€™s just as much a ā€˜muscleā€™ as our biceps or triceps. The more we look after it, the stronger it gets and helps us to be happier, healthier and more successful, both in life and business. It also helps us to share this state, spread our ideas and really create something meaningful in this world.

Itā€™s exciting to see our thoughts shape our reality. Happiness is something we can choose! As neuroscience is advancing, there are numerous studies that prove it: if we create positive thoughts and feelings, our mind automatically watches out for them more and attracts positive things back. Makes total sense, right?

People donā€™t need to be deeply spiritual or a buddhist monk to benefit from these ideas. Just open-minded. As digital nomads, thatā€™s exactly what we are. And also more and more people open themselves to practicing gratitude and meditation as used and shared by the worldā€™s greatest achievers, creatives and entrepreneurs. It helps us to be 100% present in the moment, to be happy in the now. That, in turn, reduces fear and anxiety, which are major causes of all our modern day problems.

THE ROLE OF DIGITAL NOMADS IN SHIFTING SOCIETY

The DNX founders Marcus Meurer and Felicia Hargarten working from a coworking space on Bali, Indonesia

The DNX founders Marcus Meurer and Felicia Hargarten working from a coworking space on Bali, Indonesia

When my girlfriend and I started into our new lifestyle as digital nomads more than 5 years ago, hardly anyone would believe that the movement of digital nomads, remote companies and alternative work concepts would attract so many people. Now, it is clear that it is far more than just a hip trend. It has grown into a real DNX movement and is getting bigger every year.

As with each new movement, thereā€™s been a lot of doubt and criticism. But lately thereā€™s been a shift, a wake up, taking digital nomadism away from the misused idea of the ego-centric Westerner making use of geo-arbitrage and working just enough to keep traveling. This is clearly not the case. At least not in our DNX community. Digital nomads are thinking about their impact and thinking about their legacy in this world.

The DNX movement is not just striving for freedom and adventure, although thatā€™s of course a crucial part of it. Itā€™s also about giving back and making a change in the world. Our tribe of friends, DNX speakers, partners and supporters prove us right: location independent entrepreneurs are trying to build their businesses not only around themselves, but really strive to create something meaningful out there. Theyā€™re looking for the exchange and searching for opportunities to learn from other cultures.

Itā€™s a fantastic time for digital nomads (and those who are thinking about becoming nomads) to shape the future of our society. It excites us everyday to think about the possibilities we have - every single one of us - to build up a life we love. We are striving to uncover mutual understandings, exchange ideas with different cultures and move humanity to a whole new level.

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