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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Overcoming Limits and Finding a Role Model
Posted by Moses on Nov 17, 2008
I know it’s been a little while since I’ve written. I’ve been spending a lot of my time dealing with regular family stuff and re-evaluating my life. I like to take a little time out every year, usually around my birthday to assess where I am in life. Watching Barack Obama become the first African-American President of the United States seemed as good a time as any for a young, ambitious African-American male to review his life.
Before I get too far ahead of myself, I need to spend a little time describing the evolution of my reaction to the election of Obama. At first it was no different than many other Americans. I was speechless. As I stated in my earlier post, I didn’t think it was possible for Americans to elect a black president in my lifetime. Later, I found that it had changed. His election forced me to rethink many of my assumptions about race, self-imposed limitations and freedom. I began subconsciously to compare myself to President-elect Obama, specifically his ability to transcend race and his apparent and deep understanding and acceptance of himself. I doubt that I’ve seen someone so comfortable in their own skin as he is.
As has been my habit in the past, I got a little down on myself. I know it seems unreasonable, but like many people who grew up in a family where being perfect was the accepted norm and anything else was considered failure, I at times have difficulty cutting myself a little slack. As much as I admired and respect President-elect Obama, his achievements would seem to make whatever I did pale in comparison. I know it seems ridiculous, but I couldn’t help but compare myself to the man and feel as though I had come up short.
In many ways, I was repeating my pattern of limiting myself. Instead of being inspired by President-elect Obama, I was setting his accomplishments (fully acknowledging their historic nature) as the limits of what could be achieved.
It took me a little while to realize that rather than comparing myself to President-elect Obama, I should consider him as role model. Someone to both admire and learn from. This is something new for me. I grew up with few role models.
And, in the case of Obama there is much to admire. He has many admirable qualities that are worth emulating:
1. His sense of mission to help others
2. His sense of hope for the future
3. His cool demeanor especially in the face of crisis
4. His desire to leverage the best of everyone
5. His ability to inspire others
6. His nearly complete understanding of himself
It’s in many ways liberating to have a role model who will blaze a path that you can follow and hopefully surpass. Whatever road that I choose to follow, I will be immeasurably better off because of President-elect Obama’s historic victory. I am slowly learning that the only limits that exist are those that we put on ourselves.
Tags: barack obama, limits, president-elect, role model
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