Everything keeps changing and you either run from it or run with it. We should help ourselves make sense of a fast-changing world where old norms have been upended.
Are we the same person that our mothers gave birth to? Is the skin on our body the same skin that covered us years ago? Is the fat under our skin is the same fat that was there a year ago? The answer is no. We are, of course, somewhere two or three decades older, the skin is made up of entirely new cells and the fat is replaced with a new one. Even the entire lining of your digestive tract is renewed every three days. Your skeleton gets replaced every 10 years or so, your muscles every 15, Those are really scientific facts which I can easily get hold of in scientific research. So yeah, we change, society changes, pretty much. Every day we wake up to a new invention, to a world where technology is moving at an exponential rate, to a society which evolves so fast that we might get lost, like not knowing to choose what we’re going to watch on Netflix this evening. Staying static seems to have no place. Why is it so important and what should we do?
I remember the first task every morning when I come to the office during my internship is to spend around 30 minutes keeping up with everything going on in the world: what’s trending on Twitter, The Sun, The Guardian, Metro, newspaper, tabloids,… literally everything. I’ve learnt that the world is changing and you have to keep rolling with it, constantly, in order to always be informed and active in dealing with potential problems. The reason why I like to be in the industry is you have to be always ahead of the game, it’s challenging but it’s also rewarding. Working with a lot of people having that kind of same mindset provides me with a window of opportunities to keep reinventing myself, and to have to update my knowledge and to learn from others. I’d like to research and to understand what’s happening in the world, in the industry, in different sectors so that I am able to converse with my colleagues, my clients or my friends. Change is inevitable and it has already become de rigueur in our society today.
We are living in a watershed moment. I read somewhere that we are living through one of history’s hinge moments, on the brink of sudden and epochal change, with the future up for grabs. Indeed. How many times have you heard the word “unprecedented”? How many times have you heard about the “new normal”? Yes, we have been in this battle with Covid-19 and we have to adapt. Adapt to evolve. We can’t lose the battle. #MeToo movement, #BlackLivesMatter movement, #LGBTQ+pride,.. everything happens so fast and the world is such an overwhelming place right now, but we did the right thing. We fight for what’s right and we fight for what we believe in, which will eventually lead to a better society. All I am saying is we have to learn to adapt to change, we should be open and we should embrace it. It might be a complex and layered story but I am a firm believer that if we keep moving forwards and opening up ourselves to change, to so-called a part of history, we will end up in the good place.
Brands are always talking about trying to be a part of the culture, and right now, this is culture. Culture of change. And they try to keep pace with it. Brands of all sizes and stripes are looking for ways to show they take current issues seriously. But seriously, audiences are smart enough to tell what is authentic and what is being done for the sake of its trending topic. Are you a part of the positive change or are you a part of some trend? The audiences today are more attracted to “the authentic, the real and the transparent”. How can you expect someone to believe that your brands are relevant when you really have nothing to say? If you want to be a part of cultural change and to make a real impact, back your words or your Instagram posts or whatever social media’s involvements with actions and solutions.
Change happens with or without you. It might be challenging and daunting, it might force you to step out of your comfort zone, to be uncertain, but it also means that you are well prepared and ready to do something new.
Photo by Nicolas Hoizey on Unsplash
