July 4, 2037
This year is the 10th anniversary of my book Get Beyond Your Troubled Past. Included in it are three core principles that I believe are critical for reentering citizens to understand: Free Agency, Selling Your Services, and Operating in the Marketplace. The successful incorporation of these begins with a mindset shift. It progresses to identification, which means seeing oneself as a Free Agent, a Seller of Services, and someone able to navigate the Marketplace.
Little has changed in ten years; if anything, these concepts have become even more fitting for those reentering. However, there’s a new twist: they now apply to a growing percentage of the rest of the population, those not encumbered by background issues.
We are experiencing a profound shift in societal perspective, one that holds the potential to redefine fundamental frameworks. There is a strong argument that this marks a true paradigm transformation. For the sake of discussion, let’s refer to it as the 4th Radical Change, listed below with the previous three that roughly coincide with the existence of the USA:
First Industrial Revolution
1760-1840
Second Industrial Revolution
1870-1914
New Deal Era of Big Government
1933-2016 (+/-)
4th Radical Change (to be named)
20XX-XXXX
We are in transition, both societally and economically, as well as politically. There will be a name for this new period, and future historians will likely assign it a start date, perhaps sometime between 2030 and 2045, based on past transitional timeframes. However, the name and date are for later; what’s important now is recognizing what’s happening all around us—change.
The drivers are numerous: globalization, technology, climate change, demographic shifts, and others. The way things were in the New Deal Big Government era is giving way to something else, exactly what, it’s too early to tell, but it will be new and different. One trend that’s clear to me, essentially born out of my work a decade back, is that we are all becoming Free Agents.
Before delving into this, I want to make two points regarding change and transition, era-wise: The first is that we’re not yet at the next epoch (not just here in the US, globally). The second is that cataclysmic events are intertwined with past transition periods (for example, 1860-1865, 1914-1932, & 1939-1945 associated with the 2nd to 3rd transition). Somber stuff, to be sure, so please take a look for yourself if these “dates in history” don’t stand out to you.
What this boils down to is change and disruption, something that, despite our fragmented and polarized current state, most people might agree we are experiencing in new and disquieting ways. This makes reentry more challenging to write about, not because I have any reservations about my approach, which emphasizes sustainable self-sufficiency, personal responsibility, and client ownership of the reentry process, not in the least, as my Get Beyond It All approach fits well with the current DC MO.
Instead, I see the status quo support structure melting away (in itself, not a bad thing) with little to replace it (which is indeed very bad). The example that comes to mind is the reduction and/or elimination of the Affordable Care Act/program with nothing, which is to say, N O T H I N G, to replace it except, of course, private for-profit options stealthfully waiting in the wings. For a glimpse, take a look at how things are progressing in the rural hospital space if you’re unsure. Not a perfect example, but you’ll get a sense of it.
All of this will take years to unfold. For now, each of us is tasked with doing our best work given the current circumstances. To this end, I am working on a new book and related project, Get Beyond the Grind: Work Journaling with The Grind Diary. I’ll have more to say about The Grind Diary Approach and how it can help not only those reentering the workforce with background challenges, but everyone navigating the Marketplace as a Free Agent.
In the meantime, consider the transition we are all experiencing now and ask yourself: Where will I be, and what will I be doing on July 4, 2037? Be specific, give yourself an exact date. Dwell on it, connecting the dots in reverse to the present. We should have some idea about this next era and perhaps even possible names for it. There are many possibilities; however, I’m convinced that Free Agency will be fully baked in the cake by then, but I can’t say how... hopefully for the better.
More soon.
Onward!