I discovered an article about the new “Talent Society.” Here is how it resonated with me:

As a resident of San Francisco, signs of technology are ubiquitous. I mean this in a literal and figurative sense. There are the billboards in the SOMA district and more evidence of bold brand advertising popping up along the 101 or 280 highway corridors. Or just observe the daily habits of every other person walking down the street – eyes focused on their smart phone in hand, not at the oncoming car or fellow pedestrian. And don’t forget the toddler in the stroller engaging with their iPad! There are constant reminders that technology companies and entrepreneurs play a big role in this location. Re-thinking traditional ways of doing things is not an uncommon mindset for entrepreneurs. Or in tech lingo, “disrupting” the way something is normally done is what you could do to build a great product. Sameness is boring.

So how does one disrupt and transform the boring sameness into a brilliant idea? Perhaps the first step is to just BE in an environment which fosters freedom and creativity. The Bay Area certainly represents this environment and has developed a global reputation for incubating great ideas. So, freedom can beget great ideas. Freedom can also create the feeling of happiness. And fortunately, geography does not restrict the opportunity for happiness in the Internet Age.

We are now living in an era where individuals have more freedom to lead the lives they choose, if they understand how to maximize their networks of relationships. The Internet has facilitated our ability to build these flexible networks. People who have these skills or this social capital understand how to optimize their talents via their networks. On one level this replaces the common “find a job”mentality to “invent a job” model, but on a larger scale this is disrupting tradition. This is disrupting the societal model: go to school, get a good job, get married, make a family. Individuals who understand how to leverage their social capital have the power and freedom to be less patient with traditional ideas of how to live.

The beautiful side of the Internet is the ‘anywhere, anytime’ element. It provides a speed and scale opportunity for establishing contact to start building relationships. Begin a dialogue with anyone anywhere on the planet, potentially within seconds of pressing that “add”, “send” or “friend” button. That’s pretty amazing.

At the end of the day, you could be living in the corn fields of Iowa, reveling in the Tuscan countryside, or trekking across Mongolia. You could be anywhere. But as long as you simply have access to an Internet connection, opportunity abounds if you understand how to optimize your talents through your social capital. Tradition becomes disrupted. Hello, Happiness.