“So, what do you want to be when you grow up?”
Our younger, starry-eyed selves may have dreamt of becoming astronauts or footballers. To which our parents would have likely scoffed and guided us to find something more “realistic”. So today, when our own children tell us that they want to be YouTubers, designers or run their own businesses – we might feel tempted to repeat the same advice. But what if I told you that your child’s dreams are, in fact, perfectly suited to the current world economy?
A decade ago, you graduated into a consumer economy that valued knowledge and expertise. Your parents likely encouraged you to work in business or finance to meet the needs of a world that had moved away from physical manufacturing towards the provision of services.
But the rise of social media and the shifting role of the internet in recent years has brought about a brand new economy – the creator’s economy.
What is the creator’s economy?
Ordinary people expressing their ideas, promoting their independent businesses and monetizing their passions is at the core of what fuels the creator’s economy. Contrary to popular belief, they don’t even need millions of followers to do so! Now, just a thousand dedicated people can spell mass success for an independent creator.
Long gone are the days where giant media corporations served as gatekeepers for news and entertainment. With the development of YouTube, Instagram, SoundCloud, Kickstarter, Patreon, Ko-Fi, Medium, and hundreds of other platforms – the content that we consume is now developed by everyday people like you and me. People who are motivated not by another promotion or a desire to climb up the corporate ladder, but instead, by creativity, innovation and self-expression!
Is a creative career stable for my child?
You might be immediately skeptical. After all, isn’t a traditional corporate career the safest trajectory of all?
Maybe not!
The unprecedented circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated that in fact, traditional career choices do not guarantee financial stability. While those working for major corporations found themselves getting laid off or receiving pay cuts, self-employed individuals working in the digital space found several growth opportunities amidst the ongoing crisis.
That is because the creator’s economy pushes individuals to work independently, take risks and facilitate individual growth. Rather than putting all your eggs in one basket, the creator’s economy rewards the creation of multiple income streams.
This means that in an increasingly unstable world, you can actually lower the risk of your child being someday excluded from the labor market by imbuing them with entrepreneurial skills early on!
But creativity and entrepreneurship aren’t codes that can be cracked in a single sitting. They are mindsets that must be nurtured, encouraged and gradually developed over time.
How can we prepare children for this new economy?
If we want our children to thrive in this never-before-seen-or-experienced environment, we must first realize that copy-pasting the approach of our parents’ isn’t going to cut it! Instead of training our children to work as cogs in a slowly crumbling machine, we must foster entrepreneurship, creativity and independent thinking from a young age.
We must encourage them to work on projects instead of just on assignments. To tell stories, rather than regurgitate information. To create new ideas rather than emphasize existing ones.
Entrepreneurship is, after all, not just a skill but a mindset. One that can empower children to think critically, work as part of a team, innovate new ideas and creatively solve problems!
Today, there are multiple avenues to help children cultivate these unique skills. Everything from design and animation classes, to coding, to storytelling and blog-writing courses. Nurturing these skills early on empowers children to take them forward into any avenue of their choosing – no matter what their landscape ends up looking like.
If you’re interested in equipping your child with the skills to thrive, Freadom Academy has two unique courses to help give your child that much needed boost in this creator’s economy.
Our Entrepreneurial Mindset course hosted by divergent thinking expert Sushil Mungekar is all about teaching your child to monetize their passions and incorporate critical skills such as planning into their existing creative ideas. Our Comic Studio course by comic writers and publishers Aniruddho and Abhijeet offers children the ability to hone their skills, master visual storytelling and learn to cultivate a design thinking mindset.
Enrol in a Freadom Academy course NOW!
