Change Your World: How Anyone, Anywhere Can Make A Difference

Today, we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, who forever changed our world! 

Have you ever thought about changing the world?  When I was growing up, I heard often about the “starving kids in China” or the impoverished in Ethiopia. 

In 2018 the Brookings Institute reported, “Something of enormous global significance is happening almost without notice. For the first time since agriculture-based civilization began 10,000 years ago, the majority of humankind is no longer poor or vulnerable to falling into poverty. By our calculations, as of this month, just over 50 percent of the world’s population, or some 3.8 billion people, live in households with enough discretionary expenditure to be considered ‘middle class’ or ‘rich.’ About the same number of people are living in households that are poor or vulnerable to poverty. So, September 2018 marks a global tipping point. After this, for the first time ever, the poor and vulnerable will no longer be a majority in the world.”

Wow—that’s significant change in the world.  John Maxwell argues that “changing the world happens one life at a time.”  He and co-author Rob Hoskins wrote Change Your World: How Anyone, Anywhere Can Make A Difference earlier this year because they’re committed to helping people like us become a light of hope within our communities.

The people who change the world are those who want to and don’t wait to. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “That which we persist in doing becomes easier for us to do; not because the nature of the thing itself has changed, but that our power to do is increased.”

A wise coach once told John Maxwell, “Excuses are like armpits. Everyone has them and they all stink.” The reality is that we can make excuses or we can make changes, but we can’t do both.

Click here to learn more about how to Change Your World

Happy National Fast Food Day!

100 years ago, the first fast food restaurant opened in Wichita, Kansas: White Castle. They sold hamburgers for a nickel each; allowed customers to see how their food was being prepared; and served their food quickly and efficiently. These three factors made the company very successful, so several competitors tried to copy their model.

Also in 1921, the Pig Stand in Dallas, Texas initiated the “drive-in” because “people with cars are lazy and they don’t want to get out of them.” Truer words than that have never been spoken!

Over the last 50 years, the Fast Food industry in the United States has exploded:

  • In 1970, Americans spent approximately $6 billion dollars on fast food
  • In 2017, the industry exceeded $200 billion in sales
  • This year, it’s estimated that Americans will spend over $225 billion

Fast Food culture and leadership has caught my eye before.  Check out my post summarizing Dee Ann Turner’s It’s My Pleasure: Chick-Fil-A’s Compelling Culture.

Today, it’s appropriate to take a look at Popeye’s Louisiana Kitchen and the story of Cheryl Bachelder, their former CEO, who saved that Fast Food restaurant.  She is described as a “Dare to Serve” leader—a different kind of leader, with a rare combination of traits, courageous enough to take the people to a daring destination yet humble enough to selflessly serve others on the journey.  We can all learn from her approach to leadership.

Click here for a summary of Cheryl Bachelder’s Dare to Serve