Photo by Greg Rosenke on Unsplash
If I told you that the fate of the world rested on your shoulders, how would you respond?
Would you take an action hero approach and confidently declare that you will handle it?
Would you shrink from the responsibility and pass it on to someone else?
Or would you simply shake your head, look me in the eye and say, “You’ve got the wrong person”?
The truth is, the fate of the world does rest on your shoulders. Your life is changing the world every day, whether you believe it or not.
If you choose to live positive values and be a good citizen of your community, you are changing the world for the better. If you choose to live negative values and take what you want from your community, then you are changing the world for the worse. No matter what you choose—to serve when needed, to give when asked, to ignore the pain of others, to take more than you give—every choice changes the world in some way.
There are four easy choices you can make daily that will change the world:
- Choose to Value People—this is a decision to see each human being you come in contact with, be it in real life or in the digital world, as someone with value who needs that value affirmed in some way. It’s a choice to connect with people and begin breaking down walls of distrust.
- Choose to Add Value to People—this is the decision to do something that helps another person in some way. It can be as extravagant as giving a gift or as simple as doing the dishes still piled in the sink, but it’s a choice to influence people through good deeds.
- Choose to Live Positive Values—this is the decision to live a life that builds rather than destroys. It’s the choice to be honest when the cashier gives you too much change, the choice to let someone else get the credit at work, the choice to treat other people with courtesy and respect. It’s also one of the most attractive ways to live your life.
- Choose to Share Positive Values—this is the decision to share with others the values that inspire and sustain your life. A life of positive values will inevitably lead someone to ask, “What’s your secret? How do you stay so positive, or generous, or kind?” And when they ask, you can choose to share with them the values that empower and enable you to live differently and make a difference.
That’s all it takes. You don’t have to be a superhero or a social media icon to influence people and make a difference in this world; you just have to have the courage to choose a life of values.
That’s the message of my new book, Change Your World, which will be in stores on January 26th. To launch the book, we’ve organized the first-ever Transformathon: a virtual marathon…