Let’s shake up the world around us!
We’ve already talked about the different shake-ups we can apply as we train for change:
But I’ve recently considered that there’s a third level of shake-up:
- Shaking up the world.
This idea came to me as an outgrowth of thinking about micro and macro perspectives.
Sometimes we tend to think that as individuals we have limited opportunity to impact the world. But if you think about the idea that several micro actions (on the individual level) can combine to create a macro (world level) effect, it begins to feel like we might have more power than we thought. Investing time, effort, and passion toward growing as individuals can certainly have an impact on society as a whole.
Individuality
It has been no secret that this project was born from personal experience and that so far it has had a very individual focus. The journey of discovering ourselves and the path of personal growth to find our WOW are two methods to gain or regain control of our lives and our well-being.
The HOW of Comfort Zone Shake-Up suggests that we:
- Start from ourselves
- Know and expand our various comfort zones
- Find our WOW
The HOW is about each of us in our uniqueness and individuality; it represents the micro perspective. (Remember my approach to micro and macro using Google Maps?)
Speaking from this micro perspective means on the one hand recognizing, respecting, and celebrating our differences. However, we must also have an awareness that the macro—the world around us—is born from the union of many micro contributions.
The world around us
The world around us, in all its complexity, all its various shades and forms, may seem an abstract entity, something that does not touch us closely and does not enter into our daily dynamics. The world around us represents the macro, but it can be apprehended more easily by understanding that it is made up of many micros.
Everything related to our personal sphere, our way of shaking things up, our path of personal growth—in short, our micro contribution—has an impact, and it is influenced in turn by everything related to the macro, the world of which we are a part.
Shake up the world around us
Shaking up the world around us means connecting the dots between micro and macro. It means reflecting on the power we have as individuals to influence the world in which we live.
Too often our individual behaviors do not have the right amount of awareness and the right perspective. Just as we can do so much to gain or regain control of our lives on an individual level, we can also do so much more to gain or regain control of the world we live in.
All our behaviors at the micro level define the world around us. The world is not an abstract entity that is disconnected from all of us and our daily lives. The world depends on us—on our attitudes, on our mindsets, on our individual behaviors—far more than we think and more often than we realize.
Improve ourselves to improve the world
The responsibility is in our hands. This is the reason I feel a strong need to expand the Comfort Zone approach. In one of my first articles I talked about individuality and empowerment, saying that Comfort Zone Shake-Up, in its roots, thrives on individuality and empowerment.
Individuality – the complex of singular qualities of each of us
and
empowerment – the possibility we have to improve our lives can be associated not only with our individual personal development and growth but also to the world’s development and growth.
I believe the time has come to expand the approach and talk about the power and possibility we have to improve our lives and improve the world. Let us stop thinking that someone else will take care of it, that it’s not our responsibility, and that we cannot do anything to make an impact in the world. We can do so much—and it’s always a question of our comfort zone.
It’s not about jumping out of our comfort zones. It is about giving value to small steps, incremental gains, and individual moments in our lives to expand our various comfort zones.
Let’s start shaking it up. Let’s start practicing. Let’s start growing. We can change ourselves to change the world!