The New “Normal” and Why It Matters

Our definition of “normal” has changed—seemingly overnight.

For example, working a steady nine-to-five job isn’t normal anymore. And waiting until you’re retired to explore the world, try new experiences, eat delicious food and enjoy life isn’t normal either—if retirement is even a thing anymore.

What’s now “normal” is this desire that we all have for freedom and flexibility, which conveniently is exactly what the gig economy promises.

A desire for freedom and flexibility is the new normal—and this is exactly what the gig economy promises.
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And contrary to common belief, this is not just something that affects those in their 20s and 30s. According to the research, there are people in every generation who have side hustles because this desire for freedom and flexibility has become our new oxygen. It’s the air we breathe and the water we drink. In fact, it’s become so commonplace that it’s no longer the exception—and it’s affecting everything and everyone.

You don’t even need to be working in it for it to affect you.

Just think about the last time you bought something off of Facebook Marketplace, rode in an Uber, ordered food using Grubhub, slept at an Airbnb or got your IKEA furniture assembled by a Tasker from TaskRabbit. That was all possible thanks to the gig economy and someone else’s side hustle.

The same is true even without an app, because every time you get a haircut, hire a contractor, have your lawn mowed or hire a babysitter, you are also funding the gig economy.

This is why I wrote my new book, You Are What You Do: And Six Other Lies about Work, Life, and Love.

I wrote it because I wanted to examine the ways that this new “normal” is affecting everyday work, life and love. And as I was digging into the research and examining the ways that this new “normal” was affecting the people that I interact with on a regular basis, I discovered seven lies that were subtly and subversively affecting us right to our core:

You are what you doYou are what you experienceYou are who you knowYou are what you knowYou are what you ownYou are who you raiseYou are your past

In You Are What You Do, not only do I show you how to recognize these everyday lies in your life—and why it’s sketchy to build your life upon them—but I also unpack the truth on the other side.

There’s truth on the other side of these lies—the kind of truth that leads to freedom.
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The truth that leads to freedom. The truth that will move us from surviving to thriving. And ultimately, the truth that will unlock a life of purpose, adventure, meaning and destiny.

Learn more about the new “normal” and how this affects your everyday work, life, and love by picking up a copy of my book here, or wherever books are sold.