The fusion of work and life will continue; we can see this already in the under-30s generation who don't compartmentalise their life.

But the pièce de résistance came from Ze Frank, a well-known satirist in the US who pens articles for Time magazine, who brought home how the internet is connecting us all. Ray, a middle-aged man in the heartland of the US, wrote a song for his daughter who had called him in distress about her job.  Ray didn't really know what to do to give her comfort, but he wrote her a song that she could sing when she was frustrated.

Then he thought that he could share the song with all suffering employees worldwide, so he put it on the web.

The song goes:
I'm about to whip somebody's ass
Ohhh, I'm about to whip somebody's ass
Oh if you don't leave me alone
You're going to have to send me home
Cause I'm about to whip somebody's ass

The song travelled around the world - thanks to the net - and can be readily found on YouTube. Ze Frank picked it up, and became determined to find its composer, Ray.

Inside a week, he found the man - knowing just the song and nothing more.

Life is all about connections, and the web is simply another means of connecting, but one with exponential growth and the power to amplify a linear thought.

Encountering a lazy colleague or a horrendous boss can make us feel lonely. Connecting to all other suffering employees in the world makes us feel connected and powerful.

I see a lot of people in my line of work who are quite smart, but sometimes lazy. There is an internal contradiction between having ability and being undisciplined enough to work hard. Most people have no idea how hard they will have to work to achieve something important in their life.

There will be different speeds in the workforce in the future. Talented and hard-working people will rise to the top.

People who want to work less will drive more slowly, and live a different style life - no matter how smart they are.  

The commitment to hard work will be a defining characteristic of the 21st Century.

Julie Meyer is chief executive of Ariadne Capital.