Let’s all say it together. The pandemic was traumatic. There was death, financial ruin, and insurrections. In 15 months, our world underwent a dramatic pivot. No matter how much many of us sought solace by looking towards the day that the world “returned to normal”, the world was never going to return to normal. When faced with this reality, two paths unearthed. Adapt or falter away.
Knowing that the old “normal” is gone can be freeing or terrifying. It is all dependent on whether you choose to purposefully sail through the winds of change or allow fate to drift you where it may.
There was a time when having one decent job could afford you a good house, a good life, and room to pursue ambitions. But, relying on one source of income/skill is now limiting and dangerous. The “new normal” will require us to be more dynamic, more skilled, more financially hardened. Not 1 year from now, not 3 years from now, but right now. As 2020 showed us, tomorrow is never promised and the best defense for unpredictability is preparedness.
In relation to skills and jobs, preparedness includes having multiple streams of passive AND active income. There are many articles that center the importance of passive income, but they are working in the framework of the old guard. For those of us that were not born into wealth, overcoming the coming wave of inflation and increased job competitiveness will require us to take an extra risk to achieve enough active income to generate high passive income. High active income can be attained through high paying job roles. But as stated previously, it may not be enough for those of us overcoming generational wealth imbalances. Instead, it will become a necessity for many of us to take on the risk of developing a small business. This combination, a revenue generating small business and a high paying job, provide an edge.
Before I lose you, a small business does not mean a store front and long work hours for minimal profit. A future forward small business will take into consideration the industries and markets of the future. Artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, biotechnology, infrastructure, blockchain, user experience (UX) design, remote learning, nanotechnology, the emerging economies of the global east and south, skin care, hair care, and more. With the right eye it is easy to see that, despite the dramatic change the world will be undergoing in the next decade, there is more opportunity than ever before.
Still, even when you are aware of the industries of the future, it can be overwhelming to decide how to enter those industries. Should I learn how to code? Should I go back to school? Won’t all of those skills take time and prevent me from starting a business? Well, entering one of the industries mentioned here does not require extensive delay.
Take the remote learning industry. Humans are notorious for having a limited attention span. There will be a demand in the future for content designers who are able to retain enough of the human attention span for learning. If you are skilled in content creation, maybe you pivot to creating a business that capitalizes on user experience writing.
As the previous example shows, many of us already have the skills needed to get started on generating high active income, right now. So, let’s get to work. Our future prosperity, quite literally, depends on it.
ModBlackFemme 