Almost everyone looks to see what the future will hold for them in the New Year. Will money flow, or will it be tight? How do you pick investments? Should you make do with what you have or branch out? Are styles due to change in the short or long term?
In essence, what are the trends happening this year, and how will they influence me, my friends, my family, and my clients?
There seems to be confusion about what will happen in 2023.
Here is some research on what people are saying. We’ve found there seem to be primarily divergent views. Some predict positive trends, while others are very negative, and still, a third group is ambivalent. They can’t tell!
I think this is because we are entering a period that resembles the inside of a hurricane. Everything is relatively calm in the gigantic eye of the storm. Yet surrounding this center are the highest winds moving dense clouds in a circle that widens outward and throws its force in all directions.
Our times and trends are figuratively following how a cyclone develops. Hot air has been steadily rising as populations worldwide gasp for fresh air, and it is now becoming less and less at the surface of their lives. They wonder how to emerge from the world-changing pandemic over the last few years. How do we start again?
People are taking stock of where they fit. More importantly, they take stock of where they want to work in an uncertain and rapidly changing world.
Individuals want more power and choice in both life and work. For some, everything is almost business as usual. For others, their goals have changed. Lives have been thrown up in the air, and the aim is to take more personal control over their lives.
This trend is showing up in the way people shop. Consumers demand memorable experiences to part with their money. In a way, this is a throwback to a time when customers received more personable service.
Brick and Mortar Shopping
We’ve noticed a trend while shopping in person during the 2022 holiday season. Clerks are friendlier and go the extra mile, or people leave. There is a craving for the “Up Close and Personal” type of service. You want to feel good about your purchases in the hopes these feelings will transfer to the recipients of your expenditures. People are returning to stores to shop but not lessening their online purchases. It seems to be all about the experience.
Digital technologies like smart mirrors and mannequins with apps for everything will change retail shopping in the near future as retail brick-and-mortar stores begin to entice customers with a more virtual feel —with the added attractiveness of interacting with an actual human. Instead of anonymous referrals, ultra-select personal shoppers will guide you through endless choices.
Online Shopping
As customers sift through lists and images, the tediousness of it will be exchanged with a more thoughtful customer journey. Life-like interactive metaverse rooms are at your disposal. Quick and easy decisions are significant, but a more memorable experience can decide which brand makes the sale.
Will People Have Discretionary Funds?
As wonderful as AI appears to be making our lives better. Robots do not spend money! Because of the changing economy of the last few years, the stretch between those who can afford it and those who cannot have widened.
Experts predicted, A Mild But Short Recession
Bloomberg has reported that the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) predicted the world would experience a Recession.
According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), global inflation decreased by 6.5 percent in 2023, down from 8.8 percent in 2022. However, developing countries’ economies may experience much less relief from inflation. Things are looking more positive now, although some people still seem to struggle.
The butterflies flapping their wings in faraway places may create as yet unaccounted-for consequences. Like the calm in the hurricane, it seems we are all holding our breaths to see what will happen.
Inflation – the high cost of average necessities for living.
Will new borrowing costs that have been introduced to combat inflation hit the mark or go too far? It all remains to be seen. Hence consumers are now uncertain about how they will earn enough. Is spending, investing, borrowing, saving, or making do prudent?
Lower consumer and business spending is causing the recession. People have been feeling pinched by the rising costs of everyday necessities, and inflation could take its toll. With a loss of confidence in growth and jobs, economists vacillate between predicting a Recession and a Depression. We can only hope for the best!
The commercialism and materialism of the past few decades have not been soul-satisfying. It has left too many people out. Just when there is so much in the way of a positive outlook needed to bring people back, some are getting used to the idea of living with less.
The world’s hope is in its youth, who want more meaningful lives. Yes, let’s have beautiful surroundings that are more meaningful. It may seem like the world is experiencing a “Permacrisis,” but people are looking to break out and find new options to engage in. Freedom is the new IN word!
There is Good News, Too!
Emerging technologies promise more control and sovereignty for people, particularly youth. With never-before-seen positive future outcomes for businesses and individuals, this seems like it could be a period of tremendous growth or a stalemate with nothing happening.
Actually, what is happening is under the surface of things. Something like the cocooning of a butterfly. It looks like nothing is happening, yet this creature changes itself from a groveling worm into a majestic flying beauty.
Changing Technologies
We will embrace AI developments such as ChatGPT and more, be able to ask for and get lines of perfect code, and create paintings and videos from words, which will speed up creativity time; there will still be room for genuine inspiration.
Developing your creative inspiration is like exercising a muscle. You can search, but you still have to keep thinking!
Listening to elders
Boomer parents’ and grandparents’ stories of their own youth influence our youth’s choices. Unfortunately, it seems like some people are switching off from society. It can look like we are frozen in time. Or people desire to move back in time. This is reflected in the shift to 60s-era fashions—a throwback to a time of more carefree living.
There are also severe pressures on family finances as people worry about whether 2023 will see a mild price dip, more inflation, or worse, lead to depression. Purchases are not happening or are being made as investments. They are buying needful things that can outlast the short term. Even grocery purchases are either focused on the cheap meal to satisfy the moment or the basics from which you can make good food from scratch. People who can cook are stretching a staple food further than ever.
It is back to exercising on your living room rug and taking long walks outdoors as gym memberships are paused. Unfortunately, social activities that come with price tags are being lessened for more do-it-yourself opportunities. This is not all bad since many people have had several years of artificial wealth. Recently, children’s birthday parties have gone through the roof, cost-wise. But are they any better than the homemade chocolate cake filled with charms like a thimble, a penny, nickel, and dimes, creating high excitement for a few close friends? Exchanging the warmth and love of well-meaning family and friends laughing as they stuff their faces with gooey goodness can’t be measured.
We may have become lonely over the last couple of years, and there may be a looming cost-of-living crisis, but people are resilient. We can embrace those who are elderly, alone, or in some way unable. With just a little extra drive, we can save, make do, and make simple yet unforgettable memories. Imagine how good it feels to give.
Working At Home
Returning to work, rather than working from home, is not as easy as it looks. And now that many large companies are laying off workers, this will compound.
We have all experienced some unintended consequences in our lives. Unlike video games, where if you wash out, you just reset and start again without any loss or consequence, in real life, there are consequences.
The Rise of The Creative Economy
Creatives take a more entrepreneurial approach to working. Collaboration is more important in establishing their culture of innovation. Those with creative talents, and many who do not, can join this more inclusive and eclectic group and often receive the mentoring they need to advance.
Suppose you are young and don’t know what to do with your life. If you think you have no choices, find a Creative Person or group and volunteer for them. It won’t be long before some creative gold dust rubs off on you, and you find new possibilities. Whatever age you are, find a way to volunteer, even just a little bit. You will come out renewed again!
