Personal Choice | The Fourth Revolution Blog

Beyond fear

I am deeply scared.

Now that I have resigned from my conventional job to start my own venture, I am really, really, very scared.

It is a fear that comes from far. A fear not to be able to support my family. Of having taken the wrong decision.

Logically, I know I should not be so scared. I have savings to allow for some idle time. I am finalizing a significant contract for my new company that should allow to secure sufficient income in 2012.

Still, I can’t avoid to be scared. I have to learn to face my fear. And I am going through a tremendous learning curve now.

Of course I toyed with the idea of creating a company for some time. I spent hours on numerous simulation spreadsheets, studied the market, involved friends and sought advice. Still, now that I am in it, having cut the bridge to the company that employed me, WOW, fear hits big time! And it is not reality that hits, because reality seems to be OK – it is an irrational fear of the unknown with the thought that my life is at stake.

Now I do face my fear. And it is huge, scary, smelly. It is incredible. As I stand up to face it I feel exhilarated to look at my fear in the eye and with the internal belief that I am going to overcome it.

Because facing my fear makes me realize how committed I am and how deeply resilient I can be. Much more than I thought, actually.

Beyond fear I discover myself.

Maybe that’s an experience everybody should go through to discover oneself?

The incredibly far reaching Industrial Age imprisonment, crushing our dreams

Why is there so much frustration and so many people that don’t really do what they long to do, what they dream to do?

Ever since I have written a book, every time I present it, I get more questions on how I managed to write and publish it, than on the book itself! So many people dream to write a book, or have written a book already!

Ever since I have announced to the world that I was leaving the comfortable corporate environment to be an entrepreneur, I get more questions on how I manage to do it than on my actual project itself! So many people dream to start their business, so many people have a truly good business idea ready for application!

The answer is obvious, of course: fear, which often hides behind busy-ness (being busy on actions with little impact, spending one’s time). All of this entertained by Industrial Age institutions, which repeat endlessly how inappropriate it is to be weird, to have initiative, and lock us into a system from which it is difficult to escape.

Of course these institutions look like they provide us with a stable, safe environment. That was maybe true in the past, but today we know that’s really overrated. No job is really safe today in any corporation. Still, we cling to that mindset for lack of another safe haven. And the Industrial Age system also cleverly provided barriers to our dreams: large mortgages that limit drastically our financial freedom; tax, professional and immigration legislation that limit our freedom of movement or of choosing our activity.

parachute tandem jump — do you need a buddy for tandem jump?

There are ways to minimize risk when starting a venture. Have good advice and support from people who have gone through the transition (like you stay safe during your first free fall jump by having an experienced person jumping in tandem with you). Have a parachute already open that slows down your scary dynamics (a signed contract, savings…) and gives you more time. Have encouragement and support from your family and friends.

You know what? It is rare to find someone who has jumped out of the Industrial Age system and has really, deeply failed. Of course people go through temporary failures until they find their way; they might not seek and get those shiny things that Industrial Age ego would crave (a larger car, a larger house, etc); still, overall I find that people who jumped are more happy. And above all their contribution to the world is just tremendous.

I can barely imagine how the world will be when a significant portion of people will have jumped outside the Industrial Age, when the number of K.E.E.Ns will have increased dramatically, and when all these people will share their talents and contributions with all of us, creating a very different place to live.

Let’s go and do it. Overcome your fear. Become a real K.E.E.N.. Come on, jump!

You can only be flexible if you have choices: multiply your possible choices!

“You can only be flexible if you have choices“. That’s a simple and deep thruth.

the choice of roads — which road do you choose?

And we know, through the law of requisite variety, that flexibility and adaptability means success.

So it all hangs on our choices. Sounds easy?

The point is, having choices or no is always subjective.

We often feel stuck, without choices, constrained.

That’s just a perception, a cognitive bias. More and more, choices are there, around us, multiple. They have been multiplied through the Fourth Revolution: for example, stay-at-home moms can create thriving businesses from their home through the internet!

We often can’t see our choices. But they are there. Do the exercise. Think out of the box, find 5 choices for your life you did not think about.

PS: on the photo, which way do you go? Myself, I won’t go left or right. Maybe straight in the middle. Or turn at a right angle from the trodden path. See. There are more choices than it seems!

How algorithms change our world – the Video of the month on the Fourth Revolution website

VIDEO OF THE MONTH: How algorithms shape our world, a TED talk by Kevin Slavin.

A great video that shows how algorithms now change our world – not just virtually but also physically. The insights are fantastic – and sometimes scary. The Fourth Revolution at work, live!

Discover this resource and others in the …Value Creation System resource page… and other resources in the other thematic chapters in the resource center of the Fourth Revolution website!

Thanks: Thanks to Laurent Riesterer for pointing out the video!

The lizard and the Fourth Revolution

We developed our biological construct as primates and then hunter gatherers. We were wandering, very vulnerable, in a hostile nature. We developed very effective warning signals for any change that could have fatal consequences. Our primitive brain, the first to process sensory information, triggers quick response in case of anything outside the usual.

That is what Seth Godin calls “the lizard brain”. It never sleeps. It constantly monitors the environment. It reacts to any change.

In our modern world the lizard brain is still at work. It protects us usefully from dangerous situations, but also kicks in and prevents us from doing worthwhile activities. It is the lizard brain that prevents us from public speaking – a dangerous situation, at the center of attention of so many pairs of eyes!

The lizard brain is also at work when it comes to the Fourth Revolution. In the face of change, our natural reaction is to retreat in a safe environment. In an environment that we think is safe because it is well known and has served faithfully our parents and grand parents.

Yet the Industrial Age is now crumbling. Rather than trying to hide behind the walls of the citadels of the Industrial Age, which will only resist for a while before being swept away by the tsunami of change, the safest option is then probably to leap forward into the Fourth Revolution.

This is not intuitive. It goes against our deepest reflexes. It needs exercise, practice and will to go outside one’s comfort zone willingly, to tame the lizard.

When do you start taming your lizard?

Your choice – and why YOU are important for the Fourth Revolution – the final part of the Fourth Revolution Manifesto is online!!

That’s it! This is the final part of the Fourth Revolution manifesto. It is a personal appeal to YOU. What will you choose? The world needs you. Find out why you are important for the Fourth Revolution, and how you can contribute. in part 8 of the Fourth Revolution Manifesto – now online.

Cover of the Fourth Revolution Manifesto part 8

You can access the part VIII of the Fourth Revolution Manifesto – Your choice – and why YOU are important for the Fourth Revolution by clicking on the link. You can also read and share the document on Scribd – it has a great reader and can also be used as a backup if the above link does not work: the Fourth Revolution Manifesto – part VIII on Scribd .

Don’t hesitate to comment and bring in suggestions in the comments to this blog post!

And, above all, start contributing to the world we want.

We are the generation of the Fourth Revolution. We will shape the world

Willingly or not, we are the generation of the Fourth Revolution.

We will shape the world. It is our destiny.

It is our responsibility and our opportunity.

Let’s shape a world we will proud to leave to our children.

Let us thrive, and at the same time, make the world thrive…

So, will you choose the blue pill or the red pill?

Morpheus: The Fourth Revolution is everywhere, it is all around us. Even now, in this very room. You can see it when you look out your window, or when you turn on your computer. You can feel it when you go to work, or when go to church or when you pay your taxes. It is the Industrial World that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth.

Neo: What truth?

Morpheus: That you are a slave of your mindset, Neo. Like everyone else, you were born into bondage, born inside a prison that you cannot smell, taste, or touch. A prison for your mind. Unfortunately, no one can be told what the Fourth Revolution is. You have to see it for yourself. This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back.

Morpheus: You take the blue pill and the story ends. You wake in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill and you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes. Remember – all I am offering is the truth, nothing more.

Freely adapted from The Matrix (written by Andy Wachowski & Larry Wachowski)

So, are you ready for the Fourth Revolution? Which pill do you choose?…

So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor.

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain

When do you start doing those things that you will regret not to have done, twenty years from now? Why do you postpone doing them to tomorrow, next month or next year?
Start today!

And, when will you stop doing all the things that have no importance and that you won’t remember, nor anybody, twenty years from now?

The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. Gong xi fa cai!

The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.
Lao Zi – 6th or 4th century BC

…So, when do you do your first step?

Happy Chinese New Year to all Chinese friends!!!

Be the year of the Rabbit the year of your first step!

Gong xi fa cai!

Choice and life purpose – the lesson of Matthieu Ricard

Do you know Matthieu Ricard?

He is a great example to show that one’s purpose in life is often concealed and revealed only later. And also, that one must make real choices to reveal one’s purpose.

If you haven’t heard about him, you might want to take a few minutes to discover this personality. It’s a person worthwhile listening to with great insights for modern life.

One particularly interesting thing is that, being a young scientific researcher, son of a prominent philosopher, fully embedded in modern society’s elite, he decided as a young man to leave everything and seek spirituality as a Tibetan Buddhist monk. He left the comfort of Europe to join a spiritual quest. He became the disciple of great spiritual leaders there. He became prominent in the Tibetan Buddhist community.
Then around the year 2000 he somehow managed to reconcile his scientific mindset and his Buddhist monk experience, by being a key driver into the investigation of the brain activity of experienced meditators. Mind exercise is shown to change significantly the brain!
He is now a bestseller author, writing marvelous books about happiness and a number of other issues, gives talks worldwide.

Matthieu Ricard made a tremendous choice to leave modern society, living for 20 years with very little resources in remote places in Asia. He is finally contributing much more powerfully to the world and our understanding of ourselves than if he had stayed a PhD student and became a researcher like many others in a research institute. He probably could not anticipate this when he made his initial choice.

What a better example than this one to show that one’s purpose in life is often concealed and revealed only later? To show that one must make real choices to reveal one’s purpose? That otherwise it may stay forever latent?.

What REAL choice will you make in 2011?

Do you want to know more about Matthieu Ricard?
There are a lot of resources by him on internet – videos, pictures. You can visit for example Matthieu Ricard’s website or watch one of his videos on Youtube. For example, his video on “changing your mind – changing your brain” is a great insight into brain modification induced by training.

Why is personal purpose so important in the Collaborative world

In the Agricultural Age, purpose was often defined by society. You did was you were born to do.
In the Industrial Age, purpose was often defined by the organization. You did what the Corporation thought what was good for you.

In the Collaborative Age, nobody tells you anything. You choose in what direction you want to go. Personal direction and purpose is needed.

purpose Purpose is closely linked to enthusiasm and motivation. Enthusiasm and motivation are central for accomplishment and success. Hence, personal purpose is the centerpiece of accomplishment.

Finding one’s purpose is one of the most difficult endeavors. Actually one cannot understand one’s purpose but on his last breath. As Richard Bach, a famous contemporary US writer says: “Here is a test to find whether your mission in life is finished: if you are alive, it isn’t”. Only at this point can life make sense.

We can still define intermediate objectives and temporary purposes that lead us on the way of our life. How do we do that ? Let’s listen to ancient wisdom:
“Let yourself be drawn by the stronger pull of what you really love” – Rumi, Persian poet, 13th century.
Whatever makes your heart beat, your thoughts develop enthusiastically, that can be a part of your purpose, and something worthwhile to aim into.

When do you start defining your present purpose?

When do you start living in accordance with your present purpose?

M	T	W	T	F	S	S
						1
2	3	4	5	6	7	8
9	10	11	12	13	14	15
16	17	18	19	20	21	22
23	24	25	26	27	28	29
30