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How to Change the World

By on May 16, 2010 in Living Your Truth

A few weeks ago Pace & Kyeli of the Freak Revolution interviewed me for their World-Changing Writing Workshop, and asked me a question no one has asked me before:

“How will Live Your Truth change the world?”

The problem is I don’t think of it that way.

The great work of my life is not to go out and force a revolution. It’s not to make people change.

The great work of my life is to live my own truth.

To take massive, inspired, uncomfortable action. To be 100% myself, 100% of the time. To speak what everyone thinks but no one says.

And to do all that in public.

As a visible example of how it can be. Of the potential anyone has to create a life, to create a business, that is a natural expression of who they really are.

That’s all I have to do.

That’s all I can do.

The revolution happens because my example is infectious.

Something about what I am doing, the truth that I speak, the person that I am, wakes people up.

Wakes them up to the fact that there is more to life than living the should’s, that there is more to life than conforming to expectations, that there is more to life than paying the bills and buying the stuff and finishing the to do list.

That there is a real world.

And once you’re aware of the dissonance between who you really are and this bullshit you let yourself conform to, once you’re aware of the potential for relationships based on loving the entirety of a person instead of who they should be, once you’re aware that you can have the life you always wanted but didn’t think it was okay to have – you are changed forever.

Once you know, you can never go back.

As soon as you know, by your very existence, you become another example of what’s possible.

And you, in turn, infect everyone in your world.

To change the world, you don’t have to change the world.

To change the world, all you have to do is live your truth.

#thatisall

What does “change the world” mean to you? How are you (or do you want to) change the world?

I’d love to hear your thoughts & comments below!

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  • meganmatthieson

    I love being first. #butthat’snotall I’m going to forward this to everyone in my family. What else is there for me to teach them? Thank you Elizabeth, for being true to yourself, for walking the walk and sharing it with us.

    • http://elizabethpottsweinstein.com ElizabethPW

      megan – thanks so much. just doing my job. :)

  • Pingback: Tweets that mention How to Change the World | ElizabethPW -- Topsy.com

  • http://talkingshrimp.com/blog LBelgray

    I think “change the world” has such a big, sweeping sound to it that we think we need to come up with a cure for cancer, or fix the ozone layer, or give all of Africa porridge and mosquito nets in order to achieve it.

    But we can change the world by changing just one person. And just as you said, not by making them change, but by inspiring them, rubbing off on them.

    My change-the-world scheme? Admit everything that’s bananas about myself so that other people feel normal, and know that they don’t have to pretend they’re perfect. Show – by example – that you can be a bold achiever and a success even if you feel like a born scaredy-cat and couch potato. And that failing sometimes doesn’t make you a failure.

    If that changes one person, then in my book it changes the world. Butterfly, flap wings, blah blah blah. All true.

    • http://elizabethpottsweinstein.com ElizabethPW

      Laura – frak yes, exactly.

      I still get intimidated by those kids who are like bringing a million nets to africa or some shit. Like if I’m not up for a nobel peace prize, I must not be doing something important.

      It’s such a relief to admit that I’m a crazy person. And the more that I share that side of myself, the more I realize that everyone I like is also crazy. And scared. And everything.

  • http://twitter.com/PaceSmith Pace

    *wild applause*

  • meganmatthieson

    I love being first. #butthat'snotall I'm going to forward this to everyone in my family. What else is there for me to teach them? Thank you Elizabeth, for being true to yourself, for walking the walk and sharing it with us.

  • http://www.taru.com Taru Fisher

    In my experience, it is only possible to change ones self, and in so doing, inspire others to make their own changes. I always get the image of the ripple in the pond that’s created after we throw a stone into it. The ripple spreads out on the water; the stone not, it’s the catalyst. I’m here to create ripples by showing up, being present, being who I really am, and watching what happens to me and the others I’m with.

    In my world, that’s how change happens; one person at a time.

    • http://twitter.com/orangemathtutor Jane Vedell

      me, too. What Taru said!

  • brittmichaelian

    YES! Changing the world starts with changing ourselves and being who we truly are- living our truth. Now that said, there are some things that not everyone needs to know about me- especially online. I am not sure if I would fall under the conformist label as much as… to some degree, I just like privacy. So, for me, being private is part of who I am.

    Now, as far as changing the world- I am a big believer in leading by example. The world needs role models and so do my kids! I’ve made mistakes and learned from them. No one is perfect, but I take my role as a mother very seriously and I am very honest with my kids about the fact that I don’t know everything (even though I secretly love that they think I do). So, for me… changing the world starts with being true to myself and raising happy and loved kids. More than any amount of money that I can make- that’s my top goal.

    Thanks for living your truth, EPW- and for sharing your journey with the rest of us! You are making the world a better place :)

  • http://talkingshrimp.com/blog LBelgray

    I think “change the world” has such a big, sweeping sound to it that we think we need to come up with a cure for cancer, or fix the ozone layer, or give all of Africa porridge and mosquito nets in order to achieve it.

    But we can change the world by changing just one person. And just as you said, not by making them change, but by inspiring them, rubbing off on them.

    My change-the-world scheme? Admit everything that's bananas about myself so that other people feel normal, and know that they don't have to pretend they're perfect. Show – by example – that you can be a bold achiever and a success even if you feel like a born scaredy-cat and couch potato. And that failing sometimes doesn't make you a failure.

    If that changes one person, then in my book it changes the world. Butterfly, flap wings, blah blah blah. All true.

  • http://elizabethpottsweinstein.com ElizabethPW

    megan – thanks so much. just doing my job. :)

  • http://elizabethpottsweinstein.com ElizabethPW

    Laura – frak yes, exactly.

    I still get intimidated by those kids who are like bringing a million nets to africa or some shit. Like if I'm not up for a nobel peace prize, I must not be doing something important.

    It's such a relief to admit that I'm a crazy person. And the more that I share that side of myself, the more I realize that everyone I like is also crazy. And scared. And everything.

  • http://twitter.com/PaceSmith Pace

    *wild applause*

  • http://www.taru.com Taru Fisher

    In my experience, it is only possible to change ones self, and in so doing, inspire others to make their own changes. I always get the image of the ripple in the pond that's created after we throw a stone into it. The ripple spreads out on the water; the stone not, it's the catalyst. I'm here to create ripples by showing up, being present, being who I really am, and watching what happens to me and the others I'm with.

    In my world, that's how change happens; one person at a time.

  • brittmichaelian

    YES! Changing the world starts with changing ourselves and being who we truly are- living our truth. Now that said, there are some things that not everyone needs to know about me- especially online. I am not sure if I would fall under the conformist label as much as… to some degree, I just like privacy. So, for me, being private is part of who I am. But, as far as changing the world- I am a big believer in leading by example. The world needs role models and so do my kids! I've made mistakes and learned from them. No one is perfect, but I take my role as a mother very seriously and I am very honest with my kids about the fact that I don't know everything (even though I secretly love that they think I do). So, for me… changing the world starts with being true to myself and raising happy and loved kids. More than any amount of money that I can make- that's my top goal. Thanks for living your truth, EPW- and for sharing your journey with the rest of us! You are making the world a better place :)

  • HannahCB

    Changing the world starts with changing *your* world and living your values. When you do that, you know you’re surrounded by people you want in your life and living the life you want, not the life you think you should live. A great post with a great message, thanks Elizabeth :)

  • http://twitter.com/orangemathtutor Jane Vedell

    me, too. What Taru said!

  • HannahCB

    Changing the world starts with changing *your* world and living your values. When you do that, you know you're surrounded by people you want in your life and living the life you want, not the life you think you should live. A great post with a great message, thanks Elizabeth :)

  • http://www.SoulPowerWisdom.com Bonnie Hutchinson

    Thanks for this, Elizabeth. I was thinking that very thing — “when you live your truth, your authentic presence changes the world” — and your wrote it! Plus, my Self is the only thing I have the power to change!
    I think you’ve changed a lot of people’s worlds just in the past year by your guts and integrity and living your truth. Thanks for being a pathfinder.

  • http://www.SoulPowerWisdom.com Bonnie Hutchinson

    Thanks for this, Elizabeth. I was thinking that very thing — “when you live your truth, your authentic presence changes the world” — and your wrote it! Plus, my Self is the only thing I have the power to change!
    I think you've changed a lot of people's worlds just in the past year by your guts and integrity and living your truth. Thanks for being a pathfinder.

  • http://twitter.com/bradgarbus Brad Garbus

    Reminds me of this amazing quote:

    “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us, it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
    -Marianne Williamson