Influencing the world around you to think like you

I hold that a strongly marked personality can influence descendants for generations. – Beatrix Potter

Success isn’t defined by your account balance or even the things they can purchase. This is hard to perceive in our societies because of the undue import we have placed on money in our culture – our music, crafts, religions, “love”.

Nonetheless there are some people the civilized world will never forget. People that will not be remembered for the money they had but for the indelible mark they left behind. In our recent history the simple man, Mahatma Gandhi, stands shoulder above many. He was reputed as the man that ended British rule in India. The most remarkable part of Gandhi’s weaponry was the absence of weapons. He believed unequivocally in non-violent resistance at all times and stood by that philosophy until his death in January 1948. Let us consider what his philosophy achieved in the lives of some famous people (revolutionaries in their own right):

1)   Leaders of the civil rights movement in the United States, Martin Luther King and James Lawson, drew from the writings of Gandhi in the development of their own theories about non-violence.

2)  Nelson Mandela: “Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon. Indeed, it is a weapon unique in history, which cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it.”

3)     Albert Einstein: Gandhi is "a role model for the generations to come."

4)     British musician John Lennon referred to Gandhi as an influence on his music.

5)     Senator Barack Obama: "Throughout my life, I have always looked to Mahatma Gandhi as an inspiration, because he embodies the kind of transformational change that can be made when ordinary people come together to do extraordinary things. That is why his portrait hangs in my Senate office: to remind me that real results will come not just from Washington – they will come from the people."

This then is success: Influencing the world around you to think like you and inspire to your aspirations. All successful people had this feature of success. That is what made them great folks. That’s what made them indispensable to human history.

Transition Person II: How To Be One

No matter what has happened, is happening, or will happen, there is a space between those things and our responses to them. ­– Stephen R. Covey

It is important to be a transition person. You get to stop any unwanted trait in your family, work, church, or community. In addition you have the privilege of starting new paths and traits for the next generation. In a way you become a definer of the future.

It is important but not easy to be a transition person. It takes the intentional development and use of several virtues to break a chain. A chain breaker must be disciplined, courageous, focused, creative, and consistent – among other things. Without these virtues developed in a transition person effective transition wouldn’t be possible.

Effective transition is only actualized when the people coming after you actually take to your reformed path. People may like your path, or speak positively about your ideas but they must get to the point where they actually take the steps you require of them before you can consider your transition as effective.

So how do you bring about effective transition? You must be:

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1.     Open to instructions. The person that will effectively transit must be open to new instructions he isn’t used to.

2.     Obedient to instructions. You don’t know it all. No one person does. When you receive the right instructions obey.

3.     Willing to change. You cannot be an effective transition person if you remain uncomfortable with change. Be willing to leave your comfort zone.

4.     A sower. You must sow to reap. It is a principle for growth.

5.     Patient. You should remain patient with the process. Don’t expect immediate results. Your target is the future not the present. Remember.

6.     Unafraid of being tagged a nonconformist. All transition persons are called names. Nelson Mandela was called, “The Black Pimpernel,” Jesus was called the Agent of Beelzabub. You won’t be different.

7.     Willing to pass down the baton. You will be an incomplete transition person if you don’t pass down the new baton to the next generation thereby starting a brand new change. It is said, “There is no success without a successor.”

Mentor Matters

Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn. ­– Benjamin Franklin

 The first step for every aspect of human learning is imitation. A child imitates how her parents walk, talk, laugh, play, and even fight. If there are insults flying around at home you can be sure that the child will adopt them as fast as she can. If you want to make quick progress in any field, learn to imitate.

Now, many proclaim themselves leaders in various fields but have never been mentored by someone that has gone before them. The day Novak Djokovic lost his place as tennis world number one to Rafael Nadal, he gave Boris Becker, one-time youngest ever player to win the Wimbledon Open, a call to become his trainer. He did this because he knew that to regain his top rank in world tennis he needed someone who has been there and done that.

Mentorship is a pattern for would-be champions. A mentor should be someone who would not only show you the what but also the how to achieve what you desire to achieve. In effect, that means that he or she must be a person who has done what you are trying to do in detail. Age, gender, ethnicity, and the like, may not matter when choosing a mentor. What matters is whether or not the mentor knows his or her "onions" in that area.

In choosing a mentor, there are three things that should not be ignored. The first is prior record of the possible mentor. What has the person achieved in the field? How much learning has he in it? There are times when you learn from people that have failed in the area you want to succeed in but that does not amount to mentorship. For an effective mentor-protégé relationship, you need someone who has actually succeeded in it. At the least your mentor must be someone who may have failed in an aspect of the area but have overcome his failure enough to allow for proper mentorship.

I addition, you must understand and accept your would-be mentor’s value system. You must be bold to get answers to questions like; what does she believe? What makes him compromise? Does she understand the full purpose of why she is alive? This is important. A mentor-protégé relationship does not only transfer actions and principles but the very life of the mentor gets into the protégé.

Finally, your would-be mentor must be willing to teach. You cannot learn effectively from a secretive teacher. Your mentor must be willing to show you all that you need to learn for you to succeed.