Make Your Change Happen: Taking you and your team to the next level
I was recently invited to speak at the 10 year celebration of Toastmasters in China. The first club to charter in China put on a wonderful show with almost 300 attending. I shared some insights into life changes and leadership through the metaphors of three heros. Today, I have enclosed a link to the second hero: The Bamboo Leader.
Click to play the 8 minutes 48 seconds video:
Listened to a speech by Daniel Smith this week and he mentioned a question that I wrote down. It was an abstract, big picture question. At first I passed over it as it seemed too vague to be useful, but then I realized that the answer to this question was an important reality check on whether my own life journey was heading in the right direction. The question was:
In the next 15 years what will you do to make the world a better place?
The lens that I look at the world comes under three categories: health, wealth and contribution (in that order). I asked myself would the vision I have for my own dreams actually make the world a better place.
Health
Health is always number one on my list of goals. Without good physical health you limit your energy and potential to live a dynamic life. Whether you like sports, going to the gym, hiking or endurance events, all these are key to making the world a better place. People who exercise believe in self-improvement and are often competitive. I think it’s a real shame that some schools forbid sports day on the grounds that some of the children will lose. This is teaching children something terrible because like it or not the world is a very competitive place and whatever your chosen field you need to be competitive- whether you are stock trading or raising funds for a community project. Being competitive means always improving. Sports teaches this to children in a fun way. Even if you lose today, you can come back tomorrow, train harder and have a chance the next week to compete and win. That is much closer to a winning life philosophy.
During the next 15 years I intend to continue my participation in triathlon races around the world in beautiful locations like Lombok, Thailand, Malaysia. I also will return to another love - scuba diving. This leads onto an important part of outdoors sports, the environment. I am more aware of the importance of maintaining a balanced ecosystem. As I become more involved in these sports over time I will direct my efforts to support efforts that are working to educate people about how to be a responsible tourist.
Good health will keep my energy high, allow me to share my talents and increase my awareness for how I can contribute to keeping nature beautiful. What are your health goals and dreams? How do they help the world around you to become a better place.
Wealth
Many people still have a negative mindset towards money and wealth. Growing up an Irish Catholic we were taught: “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” (Matthew 19:24). Which is not exactly an resounding endorsement for wealth creation!
Media sensationalizes wealthy people by focusing on their material possessions, wild and debauched lifestyles and other trivial parts of an abundant lifestyle. But wealth is more than that. Wealth creation is a important part of my philosophy of an abundant life. It says that I am responsible for my own wealth, I have the power to influence and there is absolutely unlimited “wealth” in the world. Having wealth is about having more opportunities to live a life of purpose, passion and sharing.
In 15 years I will have a successful publishing company which spreads important skills around the world to millions of people. Education is a key value for me. I went to a great school on a scholarship and I want to share that opportunity with children and adults everywhere in the world. Educating yourself is an important step to freedom. Wealth creation is the result of that process.
How much wealth do you wish to create in the next 15 years? How will you create it? Will you exchange your time for money? Will you build a business? Are you an avid investor. Allow yourself to imagine how you will use this wealth to create a wonderful life for yourself, your friends and your family. Because once you have a healthy life and you have created wealth, the third part is the most rewarding: contribution.
Contribution
Sharing my talents with the world is my main life purpose. In many ways, I see this as the main life purpose for us all. We all have abilities which other people can benefit from. By maximizing our ability to share them with the world is the journey I believe we are all on. Consider the people we admire. Don’t we admire the fact that they have the ability to influence and contribute to others, more than just their singular abilities. I like Michael Phelps more for his grounded approach to life than for his freakish talent. When he has stopped swimming this attitude will take him further even than his amazing sports achievements. Even if you are the smartest person in the world, this talent is only as good as your ability to share it with other people. Is this perhaps why the most intelligent people around us are never the highest paid? They believe that their internal talent is enough to take them to the top, whereas the less-gifted among us realize that it is only the ability to connect, support, share and build relationships that will help them rise above the more intelligent.
I founded my business on the principle of giving. We have supported Love without Boundaries since 2005 and now my new book has connected with The Library Project to ensure that enlightened self interest will also educate orphans in the rural parts of China. As my wealth grows, so does my ability to contribute. I read Randy Gage’s newsletter this week and he is very direct about his enjoyment of the material parts of life. He talked about buying USD10,000 pairs of shoes and USD250,000 cars. And if this makes you uncomfortable ask yourself why. He also contributed US300,000 to charities. That doesn’t mean he is a saint but isn’t that a tremendous way to live. To have the options to contribute massively to the worthy causes that turn you on.
How will you turn your health and wealth into contribution. What causes do you stand for? Education is my main cause but what’s yours? How are you going to continue your expanding contribution as you become wealthier? Feels good just thinking about it, doesn’t it?
Spend a few minutes today and write down some big, big dreams about how your dream health, wealth and contribution goals will help the world become a better place in the next 15 years. If your read your goals and they seem unbelievable, then great because no one has done anything of note that didn’t first sound unbelievable to themselves. Keep the picture in your mind and keep believing. Have a great week!
I live in a city of 16 million people and I am amazed at what a small world it is. Just yesterday at a gathering for trainers and facilitators in Shanghai I bumped into a friend I had not seen for 8 years and last met in Taipei. Coincidence? Perhaps. But it seems to happen all the time. Let me share a recent example.
Last week, I was asked to evaluate a speech for one of my mentees, Cher, who I had not met for about six months. During a quick conversation as we caught up we found the following connections:
1. I had been a charity auctioneer for the British Chamber Charity Ball from which I was asked to host a similar event for SCAA from which I was asked to host one for Hands On Chengdu.
2. During the Hands On Chengdu event I met one of the organizers, Fang, who was a friend of Cher.
3. Fang’s husband works in the same company as Cher.
4. Another one of Cher’s colleague had just emailed me via the IAF web site on a question about facilitation.
Just for another connection during the event I met a young man who attended a university speech I gave four years ago on “Finding your Passion” - which he still remembered.
It was a good reminder than every little interaction affects so many connection now and in the future. We live in an interconnected world where six degrees of separation often seem to be just one or two degrees. The six degrees of separation started out to link every actor to Kevin Bacon through six or less degrees. One degree of separation are the people you know directly. Two degrees are the people who your friends know but you don’t know and so on. Business networking sites like LinkedIN are built on this principle.
There are lots of books and sites on networking but here are a couple of my simple networking guidelines:
A. Be nice to people
If you assume that every single person you meet will play some important part in the success (or failure) of your future, how would you treat them? Even if you only meet a person once, they still can affect your future by referring people to you, making connections and talking you up to their friends. Be nice. Treat everyone you meet like a long-lost buddy.
B. Pay-forward (not payback)
Instead of waiting for someone to help you, so you can then “pay them back”, why not pay-forward. Be proactive. What service and support can you offer your friends? How can you contribute more to the organisations you are a part of? The best way to build up a name for yourself is through step up and offering help to others.
As we move into the new year, we all set goals in health and wealth. How about setting a few goals under “contribution”. Choose areas that you are passionate in and have something to offer. You will be surprised to find that this selfless contribution accelerates yourself in other areas. People remember you more and in a better light. Be nice. Contribute.
Warwick’s publisher of his book The One Minute Presenter have pledged that for every copy sold, a book will be bought for The Library Project who install library in schools for orphans and under-priviledged children across China.
If you are the kind of person who is always looking to improve yourself: welcome! I have dedicated the last 10 years of my life to getting myself into a space where I can say that I am getting healthier, happier, wealthier and am giving back more to society than I was 10 years ago. I hope to say the same thing in another 10 years time.
The Change Catalyst is a concept I came up with when I was thinking through the major transition points in my life (coming to Asia, quitting alcohol, becoming vegetarian, leaving the corporate world) and I always felt that although I eventually made my change happen, it would have been great to do it a little quicker.
Hence the idea of a catalyst. A catalyst according to The New Choice English Dictionary is “A substance, which accelerates or retards a chemical reaction without itself undergoing any permanent chemical change.” In fact some catalysts (enzymes for example) can accelerate the rate of reaction between 106 and 1012 times - that’s the equivalent of accelerating a life span of 100 years into the space of a second!
Wow! Wouldn’t it be cool if you could speed up your own personal development by even a fraction of that. I hope that The Change Catalyst will help you get to where you need to go a little bit quicker.
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