Witness the Transformational Consumer

In the year ahead, we are likely to witness an accelerating movement by many of us, to completely "re-think" work, health, and home. The U.S. has a sizable network of "free lancers" who are forming a new "small business"marketplace. In many cases, they cannot find jobs. In other cases, they are quitting their jobs, realizing that the traditional corporate structure is not conducive to stimulating a productive career path. These "KnowMads" as Society3 suggests, are a business of one or two persons, connected to an assemblage of resources with complimentary skills to support projects of varying scope.

From Forbes:

Non-conformity does not equal anti-consumerism.

This transformational consumer is a new and large consumer group:  I envision that this consumer will make a big impact in the following areas:

• Health, Fitness and Mind-Body Wellness. This include health clubs and foods (quinoa, anyone?), supplements and recreational sports/wellness activities like, yoga, running, Crossfit, TRX and all the gear that goes along with them. It also includes things like digital health and wellness apps and games, spas, weight management programs, and infomercial fitness videos.

• Personal Finance. This includes money education and apps, personal finance software, financial and estate planning services – possibly even some real estate, mortgage, banking and investment transactions.

• Self Management and Behavior Change. This includes all the efforts and investments involved in changing our habits and behaviors, setting and further goals, recovery and reinvention, and managing our own emotions and mindsets, as through therapies and some self-help type books.

• Personal and Professional Development. Coaching, books, seminars, online educational courses and other workshops for skill-building and upleveling our performance or enjoyment of life – especially in the realm of ‘how-to’ materials, career development and entrepreneurship.

• Natural and High-Performance Living. Investments in what is put in, on and around their bodies (and those of their kids and pets) – as well as the actual physical spaces in which they live. This includes organic and whole foods, but also spends for green home remodels, natural home and body products and both high- and low-tech organizational and personal electronics for home and lifestyle.  

The craving for transformation is constant, or at least recurring: it is a way of life. We want to experience and be, versus get: we want to bemarathoners and yoginis, be entrepreneurs and be world travelers – not just take a trip around the world.

We crave the transformational experience, the process of change, the process of constantly revisiting what is and isn’t working, where we are and are not dissatisfied, where we could be doing more, bigger, better and making lifestyle, career, business, even health and financial power-tweaks. We crave to be engaged in that process of continual growth, constant evolution almost as much as we crave the actual outcomes themselves.

2013 is going to continue to justify the movement, the paradigm shift to a transformational consuming marketplace.  I am happy to have a front row seat. Come Join Me.

Happy New Year.