You don’t make a difference by judging; you make one by taking action

We have become great observers and brilliant detectors. We see what is wrong. We can identify what is missing. We understand that things must change.

THEN WE WAIT.

Wait for someone else to speak up, to suggest the change, to have the difficult conversation.

Even when it comes to stuff pertaining to our own well-being, we behave as if someone else is in charge of our lives. We behave as if we didn’t go purchase the snack, bring it into the house, and choose to eat that versus something perhaps more nutritious.

So basically we share our observations – declare that “they” or “the proverbial we” should do something about it…and then we do nothing.

I say we, because we are all guilty of this.

We also participate in a sport called ‘let’s hate the doers’.

When we hear for example that Jeff Bezos’s net worth is around 114 billion, Bernard Arnault and family – 144 billion, Elon Musk – 190 billion, we feel sick. “Do they need all that money?” we ask. Then we begin trying to figure out what they should be doing with the money they have because it is unfair, that they should have so much and perhaps should ‘share the wealth around’ as it were.

Have I felt like this? ABSOLUTELY!

Have I ever said, “…the rich just keep getting richer, and the poor…poorer” – without a doubt I have!

I have always been more than a little curious about success, making money, and becoming wealthy. It has been a lifetime knowledge and experiential pursuit.

Here’s where I’m at today.

We are not meant to be only consumers, we are also, each and every one of us, meant to contribute.

Right now, you are living off the fruits of millions of people in the past who have made your life incomparably easier through their struggles and inventions. You have benefited from an education that embodies the wisdom off thousands of years off experience. It is so easy to take this all for granted, to imagine that it all just came about naturally and that you are entitled to have all these powers. That is the view of spoiled children, and you must see any signs of such an attitude within you as shameful.

ROBERT GREENE

I must admit, I never really looked at it that way, but now that I have, – my paradigm has shifted.

The other thing we sometimes do is to complain, especially in the creative sector, that there is not enough diversity. That we keep hearing the same music, the same commentary – nothing is really changing.

Consider that there are two groups: contributors and consumers.

If the consumer group just keeps getting larger and larger while the contributor group gets smaller as contributors die and are not replaced, how then can we expect diversity in culture?

We can only get this when we ourselves contribute in a way that reflects our uniqueness.

We need to embrace what makes us different. Stop listening to the opinions of others. Question everything and get into the game of life, by taking action.

More of ‘the music in you’ – less talking. More action – less complaining. More contribution – not just consumption. Perhaps then we can truly be the change we seek, and create that change we need.