Looking Forward - Careers in the 21st Century

Hello there

This week I was asked by a concerned parent
‘What are the careers for the 21st Century?’

Now this got me thinking and some would say this is not always a good thing but the more I thought about it the more I realised that many of the jobs we currently have will be severely diminished if not extinct within my lifetime.

These careers could include anything to do with the mining and petroleum industry and plastics manufacturing, the auto industries and energy utility industry as we know it and even food production, transportation and logistics will look very different 50 years from now.

We will have new jobs where technology and primary industries mesh, especially in the regions of food production, distribution and supply. Also how we keep food stuffs, cook and present food will all change as the world grapples with over population and limited resources in food, water and shelter.

Our energy supplies will need to be more efficient and possibly come from the endless and clean supplies of sun and wind. Our homes will be made of sustainable materials that can be recycled and reused and our dwellings will need to be more efficient in terms of space and use.

So how will we find these careers, how will they happen?

Well this is one of the reasons many developed nations are looking for people who have engineering, science or technology backgrounds along with problem solving capabilities as these are the skills considered necessary to solve these dilemmas. But what of the people inhabiting the planet?

What type of careers will we need to develop to cope with the speed and change necessary for humanity to not only survive but thrive in these coming challenges?

There is going to be a need for a much greater sense of community and the need to work collectively. Groups of people will need to work together across the globe to a specific set of values and integrities. These values will be the thing that unites them regardless of their race, colour, ethnicity, religion, gender or age. They will be in the careers of social ecology, social sustainability and we will need lots of them. We will need community carers across all age groups but particularly for the young, aged or defenceless and we will need not just peace keepers but peacemakers or peace builders.

The singular most important ingredient for balance, prosperity and sustainability of our world is PEACE.

And as our world shows us - this is something that we need to learn to do in the same way we need to learn to read, write or play a sport.
It is now time, not for a peace movement but for a peace industry - an industry that recognises the financial, social and personal career benefits for having peace as our core state from which all resources can be managed.

So what attributes would a career as a peacemaker or builder require?

Well for me, Peace is a quality within that once taken root emanates outwards into the world. Peaceful actions can be learned but the state of peace is innate. This reminds me very much of Creativity. We are all capable of creative acts, but those of us with more natural talent will develop greater sensitivity, trust and development of our creativity and spend more time wishing to express it. I think the same can be said of peace.
So what does creativity and peace have in common?
1) Talent – the natural desire and ability to express a state - be it peaceful or creative. We all have it, we express it in different ways and what we need is a map to be able to read and understand the differences.
2) Skill – we are able to recognise skills and abilities once the ‘map’ is in place and from here we start building the skills to create competency. We study and practise to make the skills strong and effortless.
3) Motivation – It is in the third step that we often falter, we are hard at the grindstone not yet seeing the benefits of our efforts and we often lose our passion here. This is where we need the teacher, the coach or the mentor to help us keep going.
4) Productivity – a creative person produces a lot – much of what they produce may never see the light of day, but nevertheless they write or paint or practise their violin for hours. They learn to love deeply and appreciate fully the gift they have been given and the work it takes to master it. Peace when it is loved, desired and appreciated fully becomes the work and the gift.
5) Knowledge – Over time with effort, practise, diligence and constant upgrading of one’s knowledge we master the expression of peace. Our knowledge grows of ourselves, others and the requirements necessary for peace and our peaceful ‘being-ness’ is a natural state.
6) Collaboration – Peace more than any other state within the human expression thrives most effectively when it is agreed to and motivated by the collaboration of the group. When each person is listened to, acknowledged for their contribution and recognized as a person of value, then peace can develop and grow into a strong root that enables prosperity and sustainability of the community, nation and world.
7) Marketing – No creative artist can be recognised in the world without the assistance of a patron, a business or marketing team or process that gets the idea in the world for others to appreciate and value. Peace is no exception to this rule. Each act of peace no matter how small is organic. It flies like the seeds of a dandelion head on the breeze of the marketing spiel and rests in the heart and minds of men and women ready to bloom when the time is right.

The time for Peace is now. Those who will be the leaders and work in the Peace Industry are already being called forward to take their places. The rest of us are also being called to bear witness, to act with as little harm as possible and to take responsibility for our own inner peace.

The 21st century will be a challenging and yet exciting and fulfilling time to live on Earth. The journey to Peace and the careers necessary to sustain it are seedlings as we sit in 2008 and your children will be the trailblazers for this new world.

Until next time,

Melody