Ever caught yourself throwing a pity party and pointing fingers for the world's problems? Today, I, Travis Maus, guide you through the power of personal responsibility and how confronting our own biases and inaction can lead to profound societal contributions. We're breaking down the infinite game's principles and challenging the status quo of blame to encourage a movement of individuals who are 'for' something rather than 'against' everything.
Ever caught yourself throwing a pity party and pointing fingers for the world's problems? Today, I, Travis Maus, guide you through the power of personal responsibility and how confronting our own biases and inaction can lead to profound societal contributions. We're breaking down the infinite game's principles and challenging the status quo of blame to encourage a movement of individuals who are 'for' something rather than 'against' everything.
📖 To access Travis' complete book list, visit his storehere
Speaker 1:
You. This is Unleashing Leadership, and I'm your host, travis Moss. And welcome to my favorite day of the week. It is quote day, and today we are going to deal with our personal pity parties, and our quote for the day is by Rumi, one of the world's greatest historical poets. Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself. I like to say that if you want to change the world, be the change that you want to see. Start there.
Speaker 1:
A lot of people talk, a lot of people blame, a lot of people demand. Not a lot of people actually do and fewer still are going to do something that has any kind of lasting significance. When we look around, it's easy to see the things that seem broken in the world. We have pollution, violence, addiction, fraud, poverty, anger, war, whatever. And it's easier still just to point the finger and say those people over there, they are the problem, those one percenters, those privileged people, those athletes, those millionaires, those people in charge, those millennials that don't want to work, those baby boomers who don't understand. Whatever group, whatever category you want to put into, it's really easy, isn't it, to wave the finger and say that group of people. That's the reason why. That's why we got the problems that we got.
Speaker 1:
Whatever the problem is, think about what bothers you about society today. Now think about whose fault is it? Tie back to the infinite game. One of the five principles that just cause is being for something, not against something. When you thought about something that really bothers you, do you immediately go to who's at fault? That doesn't necessarily mean that you are against someone or something. I'm not trying to set you up here and kind of blame you for something that you shouldn't be blamed for, but it could just mean that you're pointing out the obvious. But it's what you do next. So you look at it, you kind of decipher it to yourself and you say this is the problem. This is kind of what the cause of the problem is. Do you think that you need to do something different? Or do you go to man, they need to do something different, or they just need to get out of the picture altogether and let the smart people come in and fix the problem, free up some room for the ones of us who know what's supposed to happen can happen. Do you look inward and do you think man, what can I do to help this situation? What can I do? What type of control do I have?
Speaker 1:
A lot of people talk about intolerance. They're intolerant. I can't even get them to talk to me and at the same time, they then shut off any willingness to communicate with the other person or the other party. I won't even consider their views or their beliefs, because they're bad people. They do bad things what they really do. That was bad. They did it different than I do. They believe something different than I believe. Their behaviors are different than mine. Who's really the intolerant one? They're intolerant, yeah, and so are you.
Speaker 1:
People say I would be part of the solution, but I just cannot work with those people. If you cannot work with those people, whoever those people are, chances are you're never going to be part of a solution, but you will be part of perpetuating the problem. Have you ever heard someone say I'm helpless in this situation? I do what my boss tells me or I'll lose my job. Listen, they are aware of it's you. You're not helpless. You can get a different job.
Speaker 1:
If that is the expense of doing what's right, it's just the industry or the system. I don't have any control over it. I've been cast this deck of cards. This is the biggest cop out that people use to protect their weak ass personal pity parties. It is easier to be and stay a victim than to get up and start fixing yourself. You're not where you want to be. Get up and start moving in the direction of where you want to be. You do it. Don't wait for somebody else. I don't make enough money.
Speaker 1:
What are you doing to make more money, then? What are you doing to get more educated or more skilled? What are you doing to have a better attitude so that people will want to hire you? What are you doing to find? Maybe you don't like your profession. You still got skills that allow you to perform in your profession. What other professions do those skills apply to? What are you doing first and foremost, why should I have to change when so many people are stacking the deck against me, when so many other people don't have to? If I want the world to be better, if I want those people around me to be better, who do, I think, is going to show them how to be better? Who's going to set the example? You can be that person, but you have to start with you before you can help anybody else.