Making A Difference
Posted by Moses on Nov 21, 2008
In reading one of the many articles about President-elect Obama’s historic campaign, I read that of all the lines of his stump speech one line resonated the most with crowds and that was the line that stated that all citizens that served the country either in the military or through civilian service such as AmeriCorp or PeaceCorp would be guaranteed the opportunity to receive a college education. The author of the article went on to say that the crowds’ reaction to this line is to due to a nascent desire for authentic citizen that resides in the hearts of the American people.
While I agree with this assessment, I think its due to a more primal desire. I think that the majority of individuals, American or otherwise would like to make a positive contribution to their community, country or the world and would like to be recognized and respected for that contribution. This belief is supported by Abraham Maslow and his hierarchy of needs established in 1943. In his research he states that humans have different types of needs beginning with the physiological needs (breathing, food etc) and ending with self-actualization (morality, creativity, problem solving etc). Although his work has been criticized because of the absolute nature of his hierarchy, those criticisms do not detract from the concept of the being different types of needs that individuals must meet. In his hierarchy, there is an esteem need that states that all human beings have the need for self-esteem, self-respect, respect by others and respect for others. Perhaps President-elect Obama’s call for active citizenship is taping into that need.
I would argue that there are many people like me that are comfortable in their current occupation and miss the fire of their earlier idealistic years. For many of us, we lost ourselves along the way to achieving financial security. Perhaps you took a job that paid well, but was far from your heart or choose a career path that guaranteed a good living, but lacked camaraderie and shared sense of purpose. Many of us have families, mortgages and other responsibilities that will make it too difficult to transition another career. Or at least that is what tell ourselves. I don’t believe that any longer. The most important question is what to do rather than how can I do it. If it is important you will find a way.
For those that are in school, unmarried and only responsible for yourself then the answer is pretty simple, find a cause or problem you think needs solving and find a way to contribute to the solution. It may mean starting a non-profit or for profit company. I could mean that you need to join a organization that is dedicated to your cause. One caveat, if you are in school, I think it is worth while to stay. I am planning on going back to school for a Ph.D.
If you are responsible to and for others, I think your choices are the same, but the execution is different. Unless you have significant savings, you probably can’t afford to just abruptly shift careers, but you can begin to take the necessary steps to switch. First, you need to discover what you believe in. In doing so, you need to let go of you current occupation and don’t be too concerned about whether or not you have the appropriate skill set. Second, once you’ve identified a cause you want to get involved in you need to find other organizations that are addressing your cause and get involved. Involvement may mean volunteering to do something small (e.g. answering phones or calling for donations) or it may involve you providing your skills to the organization for free. No organization will turn down a volunteer whose willing to work in virtually any capacity. Third, after you’re sure that this is the cause you want to be involved in you need to look for opportunities. Opportunities are like leaves, they are everywhere as long as you’re willing to look at the world with a sharp eye. While the organization that you are volunteering with may not have opening or the ability to pay for your services their may be another organization or another niche of the cause not being addressed that you could start a commercial entity to address. There is nothing wrong with profit and service. Robert Kiyosaki (Rich Dad, Poor Dad) argues that some of the most successful entrepreneurs are those who found a cause or problem that wasn’t being addressed and felt compelled to provide a solution.
I’ve always wanted to make a difference. That was certainly a primary motivation for this site. I’ve decided recently to scale up my activities and tackle a really hard problem, namely the lack of empowerment in ordinary people. Every time I hear someone say that they could never do something that some famous person has done either in the present or the past, my first reaction is to ask why not? Why couldn’t you do the same in a similar circumstance. I think that too many people feel unempowered, that their contributions are too small to make a difference and that they lack the necessary qualities to be great. I don’t believe any of that. I believe the potential for greatness is in us all and that the only limitations are those we place on ourselves. We have been given too many wonderful gifts by our creator for it to be any different.
One of the ways that I will tackle this lack of empowerment is help ordinary people become entrepreneurs. I believe that entrepreneurship is uniquely suited to helping people become more empowered and build self-confidence. I am embracing entrepreneurship as my own vehicle to become more empowered.
I’m in the same boat as many other who have other responsibilities. In order to make to time for activities like this blog, I have to stay up late and sleep less. I know that in the end it will be worth it and that making sacrifices is important. I try to live by the motto that if something is truly important you make the time.
Tags: barack obama, empowerment, greatness, making a difference, personal development
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Site Changes
Posted by Moses on Nov 19, 2008
Over the next several weeks there will be some pretty dramatic changes to Three Sticks. The first and most notable change is the change to the name. Instead of being called Three Sticks - Personal Development for Christians with a tagline of Empowering, Teaching, Healing, the site will be known as Three Sticks - Something for Everyone with a tagline of Personal Development, Faith, Hope and Healing. The second change is less obvious in that Three Sticks while still serving a my personal blog will be part of a group of blogs sponsored by my company, Miles Ahead to empower individuals and help them become entrepreneurs. This my company’s mission to empower, heal and enrich the lives of ordinary people. Over the next several weeks, I, through Miles Ahead will be launching an initiative to encourage hope and provide a path for economic freedom.
This is not a rejection or an attempt to minimize my believe in Christ. There will still be articles about faith and Christian teachings. One of the most powerful lessons I’ve learned is that to become a successful entrepreneur, you must first understand and accept yourself. I have found that having a strong faith is essential to achieving self acceptance. However, the larger mission of the site is to help people overcome fear and enable them to develop the personal skills necessary to become successful entrepreneurs.
Reason for the Changes
In my last post, I discussed how I came to accept President-elect Barack Obama as a role model. One his traits that I admire is his willingness to take on obviously daunting challenges. Following his example, I have decided to tackle a challenge that I’m really passionate about.
I’ve long felt that the traditional model of success of going to school to get a good job is outdated. Like, Robert Kiyosaki of Rich Dad, Poor Dad, fame I think that entrepreneurship provides a viable road to financial freedom and opportunity. I believe that during this current financial crisis establishing entrepreneurship as a viable alternative to the traditional model is now even more important. In my opinion it’s time to change the model.
In order to effect this change, it’s necessary for individuals to develop themselves and learn entrepreneurial skills. Although, I could attempt to address both of these challenges in a single site, I feel like it would dilute both messages too much. Instead there will be different sites with different, but linked missions that are part of a larger initiative. Also, having by making these efforts part of a company, I hope to make it easier to develop the resources to recruit like-minded individuals to my cause.
Before the end of the year, I hope to have several other announcements that will help make the reason for these changes clearer.
Tags: Barack Obama, challenges, entrepreneur, Miles Ahead, president-elect, site, ThreeSticks
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