eTip #641 - If You Want to Change the World, You Have to Change Yourself

“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.” – Leo Tolstoy

You want to make an impact on the world, don’t you? You want to change people’s lives, create something powerful, or solve a serious problem?

Most of us are like that. The size of our aspirations varies, but we want to make a difference in some way. We want to change our workplace, our home life, our friends, our industry, our market, or our community. A few of us genuinely want to change the entire world.

Look at some of the world’s most successful people – the people who made the biggest or most important changes. They aren’t so different than you or I. Biologically, they’re the same. They grew up in normal households with the same challenges and many of the same experiences.

So, what makes them different? How do people like Warrant Buffet, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, or our namesake Dale Carnegie manage to create profound change in the world, over and over?

The best leaders, developers, creators, inventors, investors, thought-leaders, artists, performers, and hustlers have one thing in common: They know how to change themselves.

Here’s a little story you might have heard before:

There was once an old man walking the beach. He came across thousands of starfish that had washed onto the shore, all struggling to return to the water. The old man was sad at the display, but he knew he couldn’t help them all, so he continued walking.

Later, he came across a young man who was dutifully picking up the starfish, one at a time, and throwing them into the water. The old man asked: “What are you doing? You can’t possibly hope to make a difference to all of these starfish.”

The young man lifted a starfish and tossed it into the water. “I made a difference for that one,” he said.

This story tells us that a difference must start somewhere. We can’t wait for change to happen. We can’t expect to make giant, sweeping changes. We must start with one change. Then we make another. Then we make another.

The first change must be your mentality. It has to start with a change in yourself. Are you ready to commit to the change you’re asking of other people?

The pay-it-forward movement is an excellent example of people making small changes that snowball into big changes. If you haven’t experienced a pay-it-forward moment, you probably know someone who has. With a simple act of kindness, one person can incite a wave of charity and generosity.

Changing yourself isn’t easy. It takes work. You must be honest with yourself. You can’t dip your feet in. You can’t embrace change only during work hours, or only when you speak publicly. You have to dive straight in. You must commit. You must live and breathe the change, even when you’re alone.

Don’t misunderstand us: You should not begin your quest to change the world by criticizing yourself or others. Complaining and condemnation erode relationships and divides people. It doesn’t inspire other people to become better. It doesn’t build anything.

Make the change within yourself, and then use honesty, transparency, and communication to spread it to others. If you want to start a charity, be charitable. If you want to disrupt a market, be innovative. If you want to create a positive environment, be positive.

Turn yourself into a little snowball of change and push yourself down a hill.

In time, the change you make in yourself will spread to other people. In time, you’ll make a difference.

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