By Craig Johns
When I am out riding, I love to challenge my mind to work out what the world will be like in the future. Here are my six trend predictions that are already in their early stages or I feel will become part of the way we consume, relax, challenge our bodies, belong, use our time and play sport.
1 – LONG CONTENT WILL COME BACK IN FASHION
The world is going through a phase of short versus long content. A lot of businesses changed their approach to meet the consumer wants. However this phase is already showing signs of change back to longer content. Generation Z, also known as Millennial’s, who have been synonymously linked to having short attention spans, are showing signs that with the right environment they are happy to absorb content for long periods of time. E-Sports is a great example of this, where spectators are happy to watch a live event for hours on end. People will tend to spend more time understanding, absorbing and enjoying content.
2 – WE WILL LEARN TO SWITCH-OFF
People are already beginning to move away from the frenetic nature of digital devices, especially mobile phones, where social media apps attract our attention multiple times per day. In the future we will see a decline in digital device use, outside of work and school as people start to naturally adopt more activities that allow the brain and body to recover more effectively. The rapidly stimulating nature of flicking through posts means the brain is constantly firing, preventing recovery and effective thought-processing. It’s kind of like rope-learning for an exam, where you briefly absorb a lot of information, but it doesn’t convert to long-term memory. There is also a major global epidemic brewing where by 2030 mental health issues will be somewhat out of control as our brains are constantly switched on and aren’t getting the recovery they need.
3 – THE RETURN OF THE ENDURANCE SPORT CHALLENGE
Isn’t it uncanny that most things in life have a tendency to repeat themselves? They have a cyclical nature, which quite often is generational. Fashion is a great example where it tends to repeat itself every 25 to 30 years. In sport we are seeing the end of a cyclical trend where people focused more on adventure (Cross-Fit, Mud runs, Spartan, Neon runs, etc..) type challenges versus endurance (marathons, triathlons, cycle races) type challenges. The adventure challenges (similar events with different names) were popular in the 1980’s and returned in the late 2000’s. They seem to be more of a one off type nature compared to the endurance challenges, which act more like traditional sports where people look for continual improvement over a period of time. Cross-fit maybe an exception with its cult-type following that it has generated.
4 – I WANT TO BELONG
As the world has become increasingly complicated and people feel like they must be constantly doing something, they have lost the real sense of community. How often do you go and introduce yourself to new neighbours or hang over the fence and have a yarn with them? There is a real sense that the act of volunteering is losing its appeal and that people are happy to pay for someone else to do it. In the future people will realise their sense of belonging is not being fulfilled and will want to have a greater part to play in their community and be more associated with things they enjoy and like being a part of.
5 – PEOPLE WILL REALISE THEY AREN’T TIME POOR
How often do we hear people say that they are too busy or don’t have enough time? The average number of hours worked per week hasn’t changed, and neither has the number of hours in a day. People are either adding more things to their day or are choosing activities that take longer to complete. Digital device’s have become an addiction for some people and that tends to absorb a lot of our time and attention. People will realise that it is about the choices they make and if the prediction, that people will want to switch off more holds true then we will see a lot more people going back to the simple things in life, such as have a few laughs over dinner with their friends and reading physical books again. They will understand that they have control over the choices they make.
6 – SPORTS WILL CHANGE THEIR RULES
As the world evolves, so will the sports we play, watch and consume. Soccer will realise, like field hockey has, that taking the off-side rule out of the game and introducing unlimited interchanges will create a far more exciting, faster and more technical game.
Cricket will begin to understand that the umpires on-field have to have greater authority to control behaviours such as sledging, ball tampering and other forms of cheating. At present there are no immediate consequences or ramifications for breaking the rules during the game. The “Spirit of the Game” will be enhanced through the umpires having the ability to give a yellow card and send a player off the field for 10 minutes or a red card for the rest of the game.
Rugby League will realise that they need to take a much firmer stance on tackles near the head, like rugby has, before someone is seriously hurt or even killed on the field.
Triathlon will implement a heats, semis and finals format of a short, fast and exciting format, at the Olympics. This will result in attracting exponentially more non-triathlon followers to watch the sport, rather than a one off race. A person loves to follow their nation and connect by knowing that someone, from their country, has made it to the next stage and has a chance of winning a medal.
WHAT DO YOU PREDICT WILL BE THE NEXT TREND?
Leave a comment and let us know what you are thinking.