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The German word Zeitgeist means “spirit of the times.” Zeitgeist is “what’s in the air” around you. It’s what folks talk about around the water cooler, and the style and lingo they choose. Zeitgeist is more than just what’s “hot” and “cool” (fads and trends). It’s also how we express the everyday. Even fad topics are expressed with new slang, jargon, and idioms. Deviating from “the right way” of using such topics can immediately make you seem out of touch - or worse, stupid.
A budding entrepreneur or ambitious professional must recognize current trends. Detecting and exploiting zeitgeist is the simplest way to position yourself, your products (business or career) and to rally your crowd (customers, co-workers, employees, or supervisors). Communication—like marketing collaterals— that channels zeitgeist also grabs people’s attention.
You may choose to go with the flow or strategically swim counter-current. Either way, ignoring zeitgeist by definition is ignoring the strongest social phenomena around. How much time do you invest consciously reflecting on relevant zeitgeist?
Zeitgeist at large is pop culture. But within the concept rests the spirit and consciousness within your profession, trade, or industry. What’s hot in shop talk? It’s the strongest current within your microcosm.
If you’re a player – and if you intend to win the game – zeitgeist is where it’s at. These are the rules that keep changing. Nowadays, with the world at our fingertips, keeping current is just a few mouse clicks away. Recognizing zeitgeist has always been vital and crucial. Now, there’s no excuse to be out of it.
Grab the RSS feeds off the sites below. (If you don’t know what that means... you need to use this article immediately.) In no particular hierarchy, here are the top five resources for you to keep current with zeitgeist:
1) Covers and Headlines
We live in the Information Age; it’s easy to be overwhelmed. It’s hard to keep on top of everything: Covers and headlines have thus become even more powerful. Regional newspapers and lifestyle magazines can give you a quick grasp on what’s hot in pop culture. The same logic can be applied to your trade newspapers and journals.
In your Idea Journal (you do keep one, right?), write down the top five headlines in your world. Pull up your favorite search engine (you do have one, right?) and type in the phrase “trade magazines.” A bunch of sponsored and search results will come up. Grab all the freebies you want. Make sure you subscribe to journals in adjacent and volatile industries. From here, your future competitors–and many of your brilliant ideas–will spring.
