Everyone loves “big.” Don’t believe me?
When was the last time you said “no” when you were asked whether or not you wanted to make your fries and drink a large at your favorite fast food restaurant?
How about the time when you opted for the larger pizza because it was the same price as a medium? And came with free delivery?
Or how about when you got mad that your favorite TV had an hour-and-a-half long episode instead of its normal 30 minute length?
Don’t try telling me you don’t love Costco.
We’re naturally inclined to gravitate toward big things, things that move the needle in life and make other people pay attention. And, if you have a bent towards helping others in any capacity, you may feel a deep desire to solve big problems that plague the people you care about: hunger, poverty, opportunity, loneliness, etc.
I hate to break it to you, but you can’t save the world. I know you recognize that, but I also have a feeling you still think you can make a dent in the issue by continuing to do the same things you’ve been doing for years.
After all, Albert Einstein was right when he said, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
If you want different results, you need to do different things. If you want to make a change in this world, you have to change what you’re doing.
Stop trying to change the world. Focus on trying to change your world instead.
I promise you this isn’t a contradiction, or just a pithy & catchy saying to help you keep things in perspective. If you want to make a difference, you have to start with you.
You know the saying, “A rectangle isn’t always a square, but a square is always a rectangle?” In thinking about the world versus your world, your world, the things in and around you that you can influence, is always part of the world at large, but not always the other way around. You may have an audience with 7 or 10 people, but not 7 billion. You may lead a team, or even a company, but not a nation.
Your world, the people, places, and things in your sphere of direct influence, are arguably more important than the world at large. It’s the context in which you exist, make decisions, and deal with the results. And it’s only when you seek to improve your context that others’ contexts can improve from your actions, too.
That’s the whole point of focusing on changing your world first and foremost. When you change your world, others see the hard work you’re putting in and trust your influence. They do what you’re doing, and they repeat the process until (hopefully) the whole world is doing what you initially did: putting in the hard work.
If you shift your focus to primarily changing your world, what could happen?
If you focus on intentionally improving your health through controlling your eating and exercising, other people will see the effects in your life and will want to make that same change in theirs.
If you focus on self-control and self-discipline to say yes to the right things and no the wrong things, others will see how free you are from the things that drain and distract you and will want to say yes and no too.
If you focus on intentionally pouring into your family, other families see how impactful that work is on the quality of your relationships and will want to do the same.
If you’re a Christian and focus on intentionally spending time with God each and every day, others around you will see how much better life is with Him and, along with your sharing of the Gospel explicitly, want to live differently.
Take heed, lest you ignore the heart behind changing your world: it’s all about the right motivation. If your main goal for changing your world is to get applause and be recognized, then you’re going to burn out pretty quickly. People will see through your attempts and lose whatever trust they put in you.
Your motivation should be to grow into a better you. Do the work like no one’s watching and like no one will ever notice.
So quit trying to change the world. Focus on changing your world, and the rest will follow suit.