personal purpose | The Fourth Revolution Blog

Developing a personal brand: a revolutionary idea – and so much needed!

The Fourth Revolution is here. Today anybody living anywhere can develop a personal brand that will be visible over the entire Internet.

Personal brand marketing

This requires a good definition of one’s personal purpose and a persistent and consistent communication over many media.

But it is necessary.

And actually, it is key for the successful K.E.E.N. to develop such personal brand.

The Industrial Age mindset is completely opposed to such idea: people were put in categories, by profession and diploma. They were considered interchangeable in the workplace. And any individual deviating from such classification was considered suspiciously, and he or she did not fit anymore in these categories.

Today, more and more, exceptions to the Industrial Age categories are the rule. Although failing bureaucratic organizations will continue to resist the idea for a while, the future is that each individual will have a specific profile and a specific brand.
And that’s needed because having a strong personal brand increases one’s value by being unique: possibly the unique response or profile to solve a particular issue.

So, when do you start developing your personal brand on the Internet and in the world? It will take time. Start today.

The scariest is not to start something new, it is to stop something ongoing

I am a Coach and I find through my experiences that one of the most difficult stumbling blocks for personal change is for people to stop doing things.

We are often scared to start new things. What will be the result for us? How are other going to look at us?

But because it adds things to our life, our character, our reputation, because the new can be exciting, with a little or more effort this fear can be overcome, and we effectively start the new activities.

Though, you can’t continue to add up things in your life without removing others… or you’ll have a burn-out problem.

And then comes the even more scary part: removing activities, habits that one has developed over time. We feel comfortable with them. They become part of our identity. It is scary to abandon them for the benefit of some new, uncertain things and activities.

It is where most people fail: stopping old things to give room to new things. They don’t fail to start new things, but because they don’t abandon old things, they don’t devote the time and attention to the new things and they falter.

Overcoming the fear of stopping and abandoning things and habits is the hardest. It is where the Coach needs to concentrate.

So, when do you make an habit to abandon every year what makes 5 to 10% of your time and replace it with new, better activities?

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.

Four keys to success in the Collaborative Age – the Fourth Revolution Manifesto part VII is online!!!

Now that we have investigated in depth the Fourth Revolution and how it will change the world, we can now focus on what will make individuals successful. Find out four keys to personal success in the Collaborative world in part 7 of the Fourth Revolution Manifesto – now online.

Cover of the Fourth Revolution manifesto part 7

You can access the part VII of the Fourth Revolution Manifesto – FOUR keys to success in the Collaborative Age 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 7 on Scribd .

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

Can’t wait to see the conclusion? Next week, in the final part of the Fourth Revolution Manifesto we’ll finally discuss your choice – and why you are important for the Fourth Revolution.

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.

Let your light shine. Happy new year!

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?”
by Marianne Williamson, American Author and Peace activist, in “A return to love”, 1992

At the time of the new year when we are thinking about the year ahead and possibly forging some new year’s resolutions or writing down our objectives for the year, what could be a better inspirational quote?

Happy new year and I wish you great, meaningful undertakings in 2011.

“[…] And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we’re liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others”

Let your light shine. Contribute to the world. And help us get free.

Overcoming our fear

Failure is free today. But fear is still lurking.

Fear to take the first step into the unknown. Fear to be exposed in the spotlight to the judgment of the crowd. Fear to jump in the unknown.

jump into the unknown — overcome your fear

Overcome the fear. Kill the fear. Ask yourself: what’s the worst that can happen to me if I do this? If I publish my idea? What will my family, boss, friends, colleagues, think about me?

There is just one risk. That they like it because they discover a new facet of your personality.

Go and do it. Lean into our fear.

FEAR is just False Evidence Appearing Real.

Get out of your shell. Contribute to the world. Start today. The first step is the most difficult. Do it.

Chaos theory and your destiny

In the Industrial world, everything was linear and predetermined. The trajectory of a ball. The orbit of the planets.

Your life was determined too – by your childhood experiences and your genes, later converted in the format of a diploma. The past determined the present which determined the future, according to a deterministic process.

We now know that’s not the case. Chaos theory shows that the smallest event can change the future. Psychology shows that one can change her perception of the past.

It is the end of ‘the road to destiny’ reaching the horizon linearly. It is not even being at a crossroad of possible choices. It is not about taking the least used road versus the most.
trail of destiny
Today we are inside a wide space of possibles. We can trace our road in any direction. We don’t need to follow any example.

When do you start tracing your own trail?

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?

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