Change Your World

Change Your World Plot Summary

Introduction

Have you ever felt a deep stirring inside—that quiet voice urging you to make a difference in the world around you? Perhaps you've witnessed injustice, poverty, or simply a situation that made you think, "Someone should do something about this." The truth is, that someone could be you. No matter who you are, where you live, or what resources you possess, you have the power to create positive change. The journey of transformation begins with a single step—a decision that you will no longer wait for others to fix what's broken. Throughout these pages, you'll discover that ordinary people have changed their worlds through deliberate action and unwavering commitment. Their stories will inspire you, their methods will guide you, and their successes will convince you that when one person decides to act, ripples of change can spread far beyond what they ever imagined possible.

Chapter 1: Harness the Power of Hope and Urgency

Hope is more than mere optimism. While optimism is the belief that things will get better, hope is the conviction that together, we can make things better. Hope is an active virtue that requires courage and commitment. When we harness hope, we gain the fuel needed to create meaningful change in our world. Consider the story of Rob, who one day made a wrong turn while driving near his office in Pompano Beach, Florida. This unplanned detour led him into a small urban community called Avondale. What he witnessed there shook him to his core—drug deals in broad daylight, prostitution, gang activity, and children who should have been in school running unsupervised. The conditions mirrored some of the most impoverished slums he had seen in his global travels. Rob pulled to the side of the road and wept, not just for the suffering he witnessed, but also because this community existed mere blocks from his workplace, yet he had never noticed it before. This emotional moment transformed into purposeful action. Rather than driving away and forgetting what he'd seen, Rob immediately returned to his office and rallied his team. They researched the community, discovering alarming statistics: schools with F ratings, crime rates 776 per square mile (compared to the national average of 50), and residents facing a 15% chance of becoming victims of violent crime. His team went door-to-door, talking with residents about their needs. The top responses? Jobs, role models for children, and English classes. Rob and his organization committed to serving Avondale. They converted office space into a charter school for local children, organized English language classes, hosted health fairs, taught job skills, provided food assistance, and created mentorship programs. The impact has been profound—crime rates dropped dramatically, relationships among residents improved, and hope began to flourish. One student in particular, whom we'll call Haylee, found healing through the school when she lost her mother to drug addiction. The transformation of Avondale demonstrates how urgency coupled with hope can create lasting change. As Rob explained, "I couldn't un-see what I had seen, and no excuse could have been compelling enough to allow me to drive along my merry way." His experience teaches us that change begins when we refuse to look away from problems and instead embrace the urgency to act. To harness hope and urgency in your own life, start by identifying the issues that stir your emotions. Pay attention to what makes you angry, sad, or frustrated about your community. Then, channel those feelings into constructive action rather than resignation. Remember that we can make excuses or we can make changes, but we can't do both. Your sense of urgency, paired with hope for a better future, can become the catalyst for transformation in your world.

Chapter 2: Become a Catalyst Through Deliberate Action

A catalyst accelerates change without being consumed in the process. In chemistry, catalysts speed up reactions; in life, catalysts are people who create positive change through their ideas, actions, and influence. Becoming a catalyst doesn't require special qualifications or resources—it simply requires the willingness to take deliberate action. Norman Borlaug exemplifies this principle. Born to a farming family in Iowa, Borlaug pursued education in plant pathology. During his studies, he witnessed how food transformed starving coworkers, leaving an indelible impression on him. When experts like William Vogt and Paul Ehrlich were predicting worldwide food shortages and mass starvation due to overpopulation, Borlaug wasn't writing books about the problem—he was quietly working on solutions. For decades, Borlaug labored in Mexican fields, crossbreeding wheat varieties to increase crop yields. His work went largely unrecognized until his wheat varieties began producing three to four times more grain on the same land. By the early 1960s, Mexican wheat production had increased sixfold compared to the 1940s. When India and Pakistan faced imminent food crises, they adopted Borlaug's seeds, averting disaster. His work, now known as the Green Revolution, saved hundreds of millions of lives and earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970. What makes Borlaug's story remarkable is that he didn't wait for governments or organizations to solve world hunger—he simply took action where he could with the skills he possessed. The Nobel Committee noted his impatience with slow change, quoting him: "There is no time to be lost, considering the magnitude of the world food and population problem." Yet on the morning he received news of his Nobel Prize, he wasn't home to receive it—he had already left for the wheat fields to continue his work. To become a catalyst in your own sphere, follow these steps: First, move from good intentions to good actions. As management expert Peter Drucker said, "You cannot predict the future, but you can create it." Second, adopt what Hans Rosling calls a "possibilist" mindset—seeing both problems realistically and opportunities for improvement. Third, take ownership of your vision, even if you must start alone. Fourth, use your past successes as inspiration for future change. Fifth, invite others to join your cause by sharing your passion and asking for their input. Most importantly, focus on what you can do and just start. Maria Conceicao, who grew up an orphan in Portugal, transformed her compassion into action when she witnessed suffering in Bangladesh. Despite having no experience or athletic talent, she climbed mountains, trekked to the North Pole, and completed ultra-marathons to raise awareness and funds for children in Dhaka's slums. Her extraordinary journey proves that the true catalyst's power isn't in their resources but in their determination to act. Remember, transformation follows a simple cycle: I experience something so life-changing that I change. I share something so life-changing that you change. We facilitate something so life-changing that others change. The process begins with you, and your willingness to take action is the catalyst that can change your world.

Chapter 3: Build Collaborative Teams for Greater Impact

When it comes to creating meaningful change, the adage "one is too small a number to achieve greatness" rings absolutely true. While individual effort can spark transformation, collaborative teams exponentially increase impact. Working together isn't just beneficial—it's essential for tackling complex challenges and creating sustainable change. This principle came to life during the COVID-19 pandemic when Sam Yoder, owner of Berlin Gardens in Ohio, received an unexpected call. His outdoor furniture manufacturing company had been ordered to close as a non-essential business, but a printing company called TKM Print Solutions reached out with an opportunity. Medical workers desperately needed plastic face shields, and while TKM could provide materials, they lacked manufacturing capacity. Could Sam's team, experienced with plastic furniture, help produce these critical supplies? Though the challenge seemed daunting—producing 150,000 masks in just five days—Sam gathered his management team to create a test production line. With approval from Connecticut hospitals, they called in employees and began manufacturing. Working together, they produced nearly 90,000 shields by the initial deadline, with production eventually reaching 30,000-35,000 shields daily. At peak efficiency, they created one shield every fifteen seconds. The collaborative effort transcended business operations. Sam's employees, normally scattered across seven buildings, worked together in a single facility, rekindling friendships and sharing ideas for process improvements. Community members brought food for workers and volunteered their evenings to join the assembly line. As Sam observed, "The only thing that limits us in a time of crisis is our lack of creativity. That and recognizing that we all need one another." To build effective collaborative teams, first embrace the shift from "me" to "we" thinking. Richard Barrett describes this transformation as moving from "What's in it for me?" to "What's best for the common good?" Research supports this approach—the Association for Training and Development found that you're 65% more likely to meet a goal after committing to another person, and 95% more likely with an ongoing partnership. Next, focus on who you collaborate with rather than how. Seek partners who share your passion for the cause and are willing to work alongside you. As Brené Brown noted after reflecting on Theodore Roosevelt's "Man in the Arena" speech, "The people who love me, the people I really depend on, were never the critics who were pointing at me while I stumbled... They were with me in the arena. Fighting for me and with me." When building your team, look for those who share your values. The "Law of Identity" states that shared values define the team. This creates alignment and effectiveness, allowing everyone to focus on what unites rather than divides. A powerful example comes from Paraguay, where rival soccer teams Cerro Porteño and Club Olimpia set aside fierce competition to share values training programs throughout their organizations, recognizing that transforming their communities was more important than their rivalry. Finally, move beyond mere cooperation to true collaboration. While cooperation means not working against each other, collaboration means actively working for each other toward a shared vision. This requires five important agreements: a common agenda, a shared measurement system, contributing activities, continuous communication, and a support team. Casey Crawford, former NFL player and founder of Movement Mortgage, demonstrates the power of collaboration in addressing complex social issues. After creating a successful mortgage company built on valuing people, he established a charter school in an underserved community in Charlotte. This initiative expanded to include healthcare services through partnership with a local hospital system and affordable housing with a nonprofit developer. As Casey observed, "Problems in America are too large for any organization to tackle alone... But great organizations working together with the right leadership makes me hopeful about what can be done."

Chapter 4: Create a Movement Through Shared Values

Movements begin when people rally around a cause that inspires them to take collective action. These movements, whether small or large in scale, bring awareness to problems, mobilize leadership, and inspire positive change. But what exactly motivates people to come together and champion a cause? People naturally seek connection with others who share their purpose. They want to be part of something larger than themselves—a story that allows them to express their deepest desires and highest aspirations. This is evident when people wear colored bracelets for awareness campaigns, dress in pink during Breast Cancer Awareness Month, or participate in viral challenges like the Ice Bucket Challenge. When enough people who share the same values follow their desires to make a difference and join to do it together, a movement is born. However, movements often fail when they lack unity around a clear purpose. Consider Occupy Wall Street, which began in 2011 when two hundred people gathered in New York City's financial district to protest income inequality. While they physically occupied the same space, they lacked a unified cause, focusing on disparate issues ranging from minimum wage to climate change to student debt. According to the Atlantic magazine, "Occupy was, at its core, a movement constrained by its own contradictions: filled with leaders who declared themselves leaderless, governed by a consensus-based structure that failed to reach consensus, and seeking to transform politics while refusing to become political." For a movement to succeed, it must center on positive goals rather than merely opposing something. The civil rights movement under Martin Luther King Jr.'s leadership provides a stark contrast to Occupy's approach. Beginning with the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955-56, King's leadership provided direction and moral clarity. The Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which he helped form, framed civil rights as a moral issue and coordinated mass nonviolent protest campaigns that led to significant legislative changes. Transformation movements operate through several key mechanisms, which can be visualized as: A waterfall (top-down)—Transformation begins with influence flowing from leaders downward. When OneHope, Rob's organization, was invited by the Soviet minister of education to distribute materials to 58 million children across the USSR, it was only possible because a leader at the top gave permission and lent their influence to the initiative. A ladder (bottom-up)—While influence flows down, transformation climbs up as people improve their lives and rise to new levels. When individuals are encouraged to dream and empowered to climb the ladder of success, they can begin making things better for others, transitioning from survival thinking to significance thinking. A heart (inside-out)—True transformation starts in the heart of an individual through embraced values and flows outward into behaviors and communication. As facilitators of transformation tables often repeat, "La transformación está en mí" (transformation is in me). Joined hands (side by side)—Partnership becomes increasingly vital as challenges grow. Even those from vastly different backgrounds can find common ground, as demonstrated by English missionary William Carey and Hindu reformer Raja Ram Mohan Roy, who partnered to end the practice of sati (widow burning) in India during the 1800s. A table (few to many)—Movements don't begin with masses but with a few people sitting together as equals. In Costa Rica, Juanita García, who had dropped out of school as a child to support her family, joined a transformation table and discovered "that my story could change if I anticipated opportunities." Her success inspired her husband to pursue education and motivated her to facilitate transformation tables for other women. A bridge (here to there)—The ultimate goal of any movement is creating a better future. Good values create growth, growth creates transformation, transformation creates movement, movement creates change, and change helps us cross over into a better future. To participate in a movement that creates lasting change, identify which of these pictures resonates most strongly with you—it may reveal your primary role in transformation. Most importantly, understand that positive change requires building everything on good values, the foundation of any successful transformational movement.

Chapter 5: Transform Lives One Table at a Time

After decades of trying different approaches to create positive change—counseling, teaching, training programs, conferences, books, and various media—one conclusion stands out above all others: transformation happens one table at a time. The most dramatic, penetrating, and long-lasting changes occur when small groups of people gather around a table to learn, share, and grow together. For the past nine years, transformation tables have become the centerpiece of community change efforts. These small groups—usually four to eight people—gather regularly to discuss and apply good values to their lives. So far, 1.3 million people have participated in 200,000 transformation tables, with remarkable results. At Patsy, a forty-year-old restaurant chain in Guatemala, owners implemented transformation tables for their 600+ staff across 23 locations. The impact was significant: library material usage increased 400%, one in ten workers continued their education, and 99% credited the values they learned with increasing their personal and professional satisfaction. The power of transformation tables lies in several key principles. First, they start small. Big movements begin with small gatherings—even just four people—who commit to growing together. Second, they provide common ground where connections are made, relationships built, and trust formed around shared values. Tina L. Singleton, founder of an organization called Transformation Table, discovered this power when she began hosting dinners that brought together diverse strangers to share meals in Charleston, South Carolina. Her experience showed how sitting together creates proximity (impact happens up close, not at a distance) and a growth-oriented environment. Third, transformation tables help re-form and reinforce people's identities. As James Clear explains in Atomic Habits, "Your identity emerges out of your habits... your habits are how you embody your identity." When people meet regularly to examine, discuss, and apply good values, they change how they think about themselves. Charlie Wetzel, who helped write many of John Maxwell's books, experienced this when quitting smoking after 15+ years. The breakthrough came when he stopped thinking "I'm a smoker trying to quit" and started thinking "I'm a nonsmoker." This identity shift made all the difference. Fourth, transformation tables connect awareness to application. Participants learn about a value, examine themselves in light of it, evaluate their current status, share their assessment with the group, commit to specific actions for improvement, and hold each other accountable. This process creates lasting change because it moves beyond knowledge to application in a supportive environment. Fifth, transformation tables provide a way to track transformation. When people commit to learning specific values with the same group weekly, they can see their progress over time. Like Benjamin Franklin, who carried a "score sheet" of thirteen virtues he wanted to develop, table participants can measure their growth in values like attitude, integrity, responsibility, and generosity. The keys are consistency (making growth a daily priority) and alignment (ensuring the values help you become the person you want to be). Finally, transformation tables help people do life better together. When participants gather regularly, new relationships form, perspective is shared, trust is given, vulnerability is appreciated, and lives are changed. Verónica Chávez exemplifies this transformation. Growing up the oldest of twelve children with alcoholic parents in rural Guatemala, she was forced to leave school at twelve and work as a maid. Through persistence, she eventually became a receptionist and joined a transformation table. There, she learned about forgiveness and realized she needed to heal her relationship with her parents. After reconciling with them, she pursued higher education and became the first woman from her community to graduate from university. Now she inspires others: "Learning values at the table has changed not only my life, my family, and my community, but it will change future generations." The table doesn't have to be literal—any place where three or more people gather honestly can become transformational when good values form the foundation. Through this simple but powerful process, people develop new relationships, discover beliefs, share perspectives, find answers, practice values, form good habits, restore broken relationships, and ultimately change their lives.

Chapter 6: Measure What Matters for Sustainable Change

Imagine bowling without pins. How long would you continue rolling the ball down an empty lane? Without something to aim for and a way to measure success, even enjoyable activities quickly lose their purpose. The same principle applies to efforts to change your world—measuring outcomes is essential for sustainable transformation. Tom Rath, author of Life's Greatest Question, emphasizes connecting our daily efforts to how they contribute to others' lives. Research shows that when people see the direct impact of their work, it dramatically improves both their performance and satisfaction. Cooks who can see the people they serve increase customer satisfaction by 10%. When both can see each other, satisfaction rises 17% and service is 13% faster. Lifeguards who read stories about lives saved become more vigilant. Fund-raisers who hear from beneficiaries raise more money. This insight—that measuring impact matters—transformed how Rob approaches community transformation work after a sobering experience in Swaziland (now Eswatini). His team had implemented character education programs throughout the country's schools, reaching large numbers of students. Yet during a filming visit, they discovered a disturbing reality: HIV/AIDS rates were rapidly increasing instead of decreasing, to the point that the United Nations projected Swaziland could become the first extinct nation if the problem continued escalating. Despite numerous organizations working to address the epidemic, the situation was worsening. The harsh realization that "we were working hard, but hardly making a difference" led Rob to develop a framework called the Five Ds to ensure his efforts created measurable positive change: Discover—Find what's really happening and who's already addressing the issue. This requires honest research that acts as a mirror showing the true situation, even when the reflection is uncomfortable. During his work in Swaziland, Rob discovered an organization called Teen Challenge that was already providing safe transportation for students, allowing him to partner rather than duplicate efforts. Design—Create a strategy that begins with the end in mind and builds on strengths. As Bill Gates noted, "A mission is directional. An objective has concrete steps you're intentionally engaged in and trying to attain." Good design requires identifying your target, the steps needed to reach it, the people and resources required, and a realistic timeline with checkpoints. Deploy—Implement your plan by starting small, failing soon, and adjusting often. Walt Disney advised, "The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing." Small initial steps make it easier to track progress and change course if something isn't working. This allows for evidence-based programs with documented outcomes. Document—Measure progress to ensure activities contribute to desired outcomes. As W. Edwards Deming said, "In God I trust; all others must bring data." Documentation answers critical questions: How many people did our plan impact? How did they change? What specific difference did the change make? Why did the change occur? Dream—Start the cycle over, expanding what works and abandoning what doesn't. This circular process creates a flywheel effect similar to what Jim Collins described in Good to Great—momentum builds with each cycle until breakthrough occurs. This process works on any scale from small to large and can be repeated to create growing impact. Missy Hammerstrom demonstrated this when she visited a school in Louisville, Kentucky, and a student asked for her apple to eat later that night. Recognizing that children weren't getting enough food at home, Missy began packing backpacks with food in her garage for donation. This small action grew into Blessings in a Backpack, which now feeds 87,300 children every weekend across the country. Whether you're improving family life, enhancing your community, or creating global initiatives, measuring what matters ensures your efforts produce the transformation you desire. As John Doerr, who helped Google implement its objectives and key results (OKRs) system, observed, "Ideas are easy. Execution is everything." By applying the Five Ds framework, anyone can create lasting positive change by measuring what gets done.

Chapter 7: Keep the Conversation Going for Lasting Impact

"I live on the other side of yes," said Larry Stockstill during a brainstorming session about potential partnerships. "That's where I find abundance and opportunity. It's where I become a better and bigger self. The opportunity of a lifetime must be seized within the lifetime of the opportunity. So I try to say yes whenever I can." This positive perspective—seeing life as full of possibilities and expressing it affirmatively—creates a flow of opportunities that might otherwise be missed. Living on the "other side of yes" means believing in possibilities, having hope in every situation, and speaking positively. Instead of asking "Can we?" you start asking "How can we?" Making a difference becomes not a matter of if, but when and how. This positive communication becomes a catalyst for community transformation. Roy Moore experienced the power of transformative conversations when he received a shocking call about his thirteen-year-old son Matthew: "You need to come get Matthew. He wants to end his life." This was incomprehensible to Roy—Matthew was bright, hopeful, and seemingly thriving at his boarding school. After bringing Matthew home, Roy and his wife Lisa learned that other boys had been bullying him severely. Despite their efforts to help—therapy, a new school, continued support—Matthew's condition worsened. When he calmly told his mother, "I'm going to miss you," they realized he had developed both the intent and plan to take his life. They immediately placed him in a residential treatment facility, where he spent a year recovering. During family therapy sessions, Roy heard stories of other children being bullied to the point of suicidal thoughts. He began asking broader questions: How widespread was this problem? Who was addressing it? Why didn't more people know that over a million children attempt suicide yearly in the United States? His research revealed that bullying had evolved—unlike in previous generations, today's bullied children find no escape at home due to social media and smartphones. Finding no organizations effectively addressing this crisis, Roy founded Be Strong, focusing on positive communication to reduce bullying, help victims overcome it, and prevent suicides. The organization operates through four channels: hosting large events (reaching 1.25 million students in a single 2019 simulcast), recruiting student leaders to start school clubs, offering resilience training programs, and developing an app connecting kids to emergency services. In just five years, Be Strong established student representatives in forty-eight states and clubs in hundreds of schools across thirty-five states. To create lasting impact through transformational conversations, start with reality. Acknowledge problems without denial or delay. As Peter Drucker wrote, "A time of turbulence is a dangerous time, but its greatest danger is a temptation to deny reality." While others ignore problems or merely complain, transformation agents face them directly and take action. Next, use conversations to generate better ideas and solutions. Dialogues always outperform monologues, and conversations involving multiple people (polylogues) produce even better results. When diverse perspectives come together, good ideas become great ones. The defining characteristic of any transformation conversation is hope—not wishful thinking or mere optimism, but active hope. Psychologist Shane Lopez clarifies: "You're optimistic if you think the future will be better than the present... You're hopeful if you think that the future will be better and you have a role in making it so." Hope combines realistic thinking, desire for improvement, energy to act, and personal responsibility for creating change. Storytelling is another powerful element of transformation conversations. Stories move people emotionally, communicate deep truths, stick in memory, and inspire action. Research shows stories are remembered up to twenty-two times more than facts alone. When people share their transformation experiences—like Gaby Teasdale catalyzing change in Paraguay or Yomila Cos overcoming fear through the value of attitude—they provide testimony that inspires others to seek similar change. Finally, transformation conversations provide supportive community and activate potential. When Roy Moore's son Matthew was asked years later what he thought about all the young lives saved through Be Strong, he said, "He would gladly go through it again knowing what's come out of it." This extraordinary perspective demonstrates how transformational conversations moved a personal tragedy into a movement helping thousands. By engaging in these conversations both as inspirer and inspired, mentor and mentored, storyteller and listener, you keep the dialogue going that fuels lasting change. When we share our journeys of growth and help others reach their potential, we create ripples of transformation that continue long after our initial conversations end.

Summary

The journey of transformation is both deeply personal and inherently collective. Throughout these pages, we've seen how ordinary individuals—from Norman Borlaug quietly working in Mexican wheat fields to Verónica Chávez becoming the first university graduate from her village—have created extraordinary change by taking deliberate action based on good values. Their stories remind us that transformation always begins with a single person willing to step forward, but it grows through collaboration and shared purpose. The power to change your world lies within your grasp today. As we've discovered, "Transformation happens one table at a time" when people gather to learn, grow, and hold each other accountable. Whether you choose to facilitate transformation tables, create your own initiative like Missy Hammerstrom's Blessings in a Backpack, or join an existing movement, the key is to start now with what you have where you are. Remember that hope without action remains merely wishful thinking, but hope coupled with deliberate steps creates the momentum that transforms lives, communities, and ultimately, our world. Your story of transformation begins with a simple decision: I will no longer wait for others to create the change I wish to see.

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John C. Maxwell

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