It's All My Fault Part 4

12.

How Helping Others Helps Ourselves.

It was a freezing, windy winter night in New York City. I had just gotten out of a late meeting, and was walking to catch a train home and go to sleep. Thinking about the next day's to do list, I was practically in my own world, and not really paying attention to my surroundings. "Hey man, I love your kicks!" said a voice to me from the sidewalk. When I looked back to see where it came from, I saw a man wearing tattered clothes, carrying a garbage bag, standing outside of a restaurant -- with a warm smile on his face. As I was about to say thank you, a woman walked by. "Hey lady, you have the most beautiful eyes. Can you spare some change?"

A revelation washed over me. This homeless man had a magnetic charisma about him. He had no fear of talking to anyone; and he was excellent at lighting people up. He had this amazing gift, and I felt compelled to help him harness that potential. I introduced myself, and told him dinner was on me. He was absolutely ecstatic; it was like music to his ears.

As we sat down and ate, I told him that I felt he has an amazing talent for connecting with people. Hesitant at first, he eventually began to open up. He spoke much about how he used to love to fish. The man really knew his stuff; he was like a fisherman's encyclopedia. I asked him what he could see himself doing, and he said that he thought he could be a good salesman. Suddenly, something in my mind just clicked, and I was able to put two and two together. There was a sporting goods store right down the street. I asked him if he ever considered going there and telling them that he would help them sell their fis.h.i.+ng equipment.

There was a pause.

A moment later, he put his hands over his face, and began to speak through tears. I'll never forget what he said next.

"For 11 years, I've been walking around these same few blocks just trying to get a bite, get some cigs. I ran away from my problems, man. I had my woman and two kids, and I left them. I didn't know how to deal with it. This morning, I was praying for something good to happen. I've been so caught up in the struggle that I couldn't see clearly. In 11 years, no one has ever done anything like this for me. It's time to make things right again. Tomorrow, I'm going to that store, and I'm going to find my girl. My prayers have been answered. You are an angel. I will never forget what you've done for me."

By the end, I was in tears as well. He thanked me for my help, and we went our separate ways. But to be honest, he was the one who deserved all the thanks. The chance to be a part of something bigger than myself brought me unbelievable amounts of joy; much more than I could ever get from buying something for myself. The money I spent on that meal was one of the greatest purchases I've ever made.

Just knowing that it is possible to have such a profound impact on someone's life in such a short period of time is incredible. It changes the way I look at luxury purchases. For example, would I rather buy a $70,000 Lexus, or -- a $20,000 Toyota (both of which are equally capable of getting me from point A to point B, and are actually not so different) -- which would enable me to free up $50,000 worth of my money, time and energy to help people? Though it certainly can be nice to have nice things, I've found that I gain something much more valuable from investing the bulk of my resources into uplifting others. A metal box that has a few extra features may give me some initial excitement for a week or so before it no longer makes any difference, but transforming someone's life for the better only continues to become more and more fulfilling as time goes on. It's amazing to watch someone not only turn their own life around, but then go on to positively impact others in their community as well, and know that you were able to play a role in making it possible. Witnessing the birth and outward positive ripple effect of something you've created in the world is indescribable. In the words of John Bunyan: "You have never really lived until you've done something for someone who can never repay you."

The concept of paying it forward takes some of the darkest stereotypes we have about human nature, and turns them upside down. In Vancouver, stories have emerged of an anonymous man who goes undercover pretending to be homeless, and instead rewards the people who offer to help him. Yogi Omar told the Vancouver Sun that he offered to buy the man dinner; but instead, the guy ended up giving Omar a counteroffer to pay for a month of his rent. When the guy pulled out a wad of cash, and handed it over, Omar was completely stunned. Could you imagine if even just one out of every 1,000 people alive tried something like this just once? That would put over seven million acts of kindness into motion. Though not everyone can afford to go big enough to dish out a month's rent for someone, more than anything, it's the act that counts.

In Winnipeg, a friendly group of strangers at a Tim Hortons coffee shop made headlines when they serendipitously spent over three full hours paying it forward. It began when one customer at the drive-through paid for the next customer in line, and the next person continued the trend. As the chain kept going, the staff began calling out the numbers, and the customers in the store began to take notice and partic.i.p.ate as well. Manager Troy Thompson told the CBC that the enthusiasm kept the streak going; and amazingly, it reached all the way up to 228 orders in a row before the chain was broken. The great thing about a heartwarming story about generosity, though, is that it never dies. I posted an article about this story on Twitter nearly a year after it had occurred, and I received a reply from Peter Milicevic of Calgary; who responded that he was one of the people who was given a free coffee and bagel that day. Minutes later, Katrina Murphy of Brisbane saw our conversation, and replied that she was going to start a new pay it forward chain at a coffee shop in her local area the next day. It's amazing to think about how connected we've become through technology, and how a story like this could never have occurred in any other time period in all of human history. A person in the United States reads an article about people doing random acts of kindness up in Canada, and shares it. A person from Canada finds the tweet, and mentions that he was involved in the story. Another person from Australia gets inspired by this, and restarts the chain of kindness again in a new location. Through this chain of events involving complete strangers from three different countries, somehow, another random stranger living 9,500 miles away from me, on a different continent, in a different hemisphere, whose name I do not know, and who I will likely never meet -- received a free cup of coffee to brighten their day. For some strange reason that I cannot explain, actions like these create a bond that elevates us from mere strangers who don't care about one another into something greater. As we continue to share stories like these, and bring them into the public consciousness, it will only inspire more and more people to join in continuing this chain, and becoming part of the story.

Another brilliant example of paying it forward that has spread in a substantial way is the concept behind Karma Kitchen, based out of Berkeley, California. It began as a social experiment created by a group of friends, to see if a restaurant could be run entirely on generosity. Run completely by volunteers, Karma Kitchen is a restaurant where the menu does not have any prices, and the check reads $0.00 every time. The footnote on the check reads: "Your meal was a gift from someone who came before you. To keep the chain of gifts alive, we invite you to pay it forward for those who dine after you." This sounds like a plan that could never work, right? The core principles of traditional economic theory often make it seem as if humans are only motivated by their own financial interests. But perhaps that doesn't tell the whole story. Perhaps there is a threshold of basic needs beyond which human beings would rather gain satisfaction through the building of community ties than from chasing additional greenbacks. Perhaps this is why, over the past several years, Karma Kitchen has begun to branch out into new locations. In Hayward, California, 20 miles south of Berkeley, another branch of the Karma Kitchen has become operational. Additional locations have also opened up in Was.h.i.+ngton D.C., Chicago, Tokyo, and Ahmedabad. Collectively, these restaurants have successfully used this model to serve over 40,000 meals, and have received over 30,000 hours of service from volunteers. Karma Kitchen restaurants are pus.h.i.+ng our world forward; actualizing their vision of creating a future that is based on trust and abundance, rather than transaction and scarcity. What would a future look like in which more and more industries began testing out and implementing this gift economy type of model?

Paying it forward is such a simple yet powerful idea that any one of us could potentially be implementing in some way, right now, today. Think about how many potentially unhappy, stressed, heartbroken, angry, abusive, or violent individuals could be compelled to reconsider their views and level of faith in humanity simply because one kind stranger went out of their way to help them without expecting anything in return. Each one of us has the ability to decide every day about whether we are going to act from our higher self or our lower self. If you haven't been able to find a good reason to believe in humanity yet, then harness all of your power and creativity to create one. You are just as much a part of human nature as everyone else. If we want to live in a better world, but see others that are not acting in a way that is aligned with their highest selves, that's even more of a reason for us to step up and lead by example. Consider this: you have just as much potential to alter reality as anyone who has ever lived. Look within. You are a sleeping giant. See the tidal wave of potential you have to create something spectacular in the world. Right now, there are people out there who are desperately looking for someone to give them hope; to help them believe again. You can be that person.

One time, I walked onto a semi-crowded New York City train, and called out to gain everyone's attention. Naturally, most people were disinterested and looking away; because in their paradigm of reality, the only people on the subway who call out to others are trying to take value, not give value. I was intent on rattling the foundations of that type of scarcity-based belief system. As such, I immediately informed the group that I was not there to ask for money, and that I was not there to try to convert them to some type of formal religion. I told them that instead, I wanted to change things up a bit, and start a new trend on the subway based around giving. I pulled out a Metrocard from my pocket that was worth $104, good for a free month of unlimited subway rides, and offered it up for grabs to anyone who wanted it. To my surprise, at first, no one responded. It seemed almost as if they believed it was too good to be true; as if there was no way someone would just be giving something like that away for free with no strings attached. A bit startled, I chuckled and said: "No one? No one wants a free unlimited Metrocard? It's brand new, still enclosed in the wrapper." At that point, two women (who seemed to be friends) looked at each other, and one of them said: "I'll take it." After I handed it over to her, the train was coming to a stop. As I headed towards the door, waiting to exit, I began to feel the overall demeanor s.h.i.+ft from one of apathy and skepticism to one of awe and disbelief. A few people began talking to one another, trying to comprehend what they just saw. "Did that really just happen?" said one woman. Another just said: "Wow." I walked off of that train feeling like a million bucks. Of the 100 or so people who randomly happened to be in that train car at the time, it is my hope that this act gave someone an exciting story to talk about with their loved ones when they got home that day. With all of the messages of fear and hatred blasting out towards us from so many different directions, perhaps it's time for us to take it upon ourselves to begin to change the storylines. We are the ones creating the stories that shape the culture of planet earth.

Many times, the thing that can stop us from making progress in becoming more generous with our time and resources towards others is the mental construct we create in our minds about the world. We often act as if we are stuck in the proverbial traffic jam as if it's something completely separate from us, but the truth is that we are the traffic. It's like a chicken and egg game. We cannot expect the world to first become utopian before we begin to believe and act accordingly. That is backwards. That would be the equivalent of believing that a street will never be clean, because others will never stop littering, and littering ourselves as a result out of apathy. In that scenario, our littering and apathy would be no less of an issue than anyone else's. As a matter of fact, the mindset that causes us to act that way is the very problem. Sadly, if we think that way, we become the cause of the very thing we don't want to see. Our own littering is what contributes to creating dirty streets. On the other hand, we can stop throwing trash on the ground. If we wanted to go a step further, we could grab a garbage bag, and begin cleaning up. If we wanted to go yet another step further, we could organize a crew of likeminded people to do s.h.i.+fts every week, to ensure it was always nearly 100% clean. And if we really, really wanted it to happen, we could sleep out on the street with a sign that said: "I will sleep here until everyone on this street stops littering." We are far more capable than we give ourselves credit for. Before any new paradigm can ever permeate the world, the believing and taking action steps must always come first, because those are precisely what make it possible.

When we look around the world we live in today, there are so many things that should be, for all intensive purposes, statistically impossible. The chances of every single one of our ancestors surviving long enough to pair up and give birth -- leading all the way down to us being alive at this point -- should be impossible. Open-heart surgery and artificial limb replacement should be impossible. Sending radio waves through the air and sending people to outer s.p.a.ce should be impossible. It should be impossible for over 300,000 people to be able to live on one small island in Iceland, and all peacefully coexist for time periods that stretch beyond a full year without even one murder taking place. And yet, despite all odds, humanity has shown that we are fully capable of making all of these things possible.

Though we've all likely had the concept of maximizing our own wealth at all costs (towards infinity) beaten into our minds over the years, I'd like to look at this idea from a different angle that you may have never considered before. Here's a hypothetical question: How much money would be too much for you to ever want to have? For example: If you were to make a list of everything you've ever wanted to buy for the rest of your life -- for yourself, for your family, and for your friends -- and add it all up -- what is the number that is $1 above this amount? At what point would you say: "I have enough. I'm done. The concept of earning more money is no longer useful or necessary for me to satisfy any of my needs." This scenario probably seems so foreign that it may be hard to even visualize it, but doing so can be extremely beneficial. Everyone has some limit. Some will be much higher than others; but eventually, with an unlimited checkbook, there is a level at which consumption for consumption's sake would inevitably begin to feel empty and boring.

Let's keep going with this idea of getting everything you've ever wanted, even beyond just the monetary aspect. After every mean kid from grade school apologized and admitted that they were wrong for underestimating you, after every goal is accomplished, after every chip on your shoulder was removed, and statues were created in your image -- what would you do next? What would be left to strive for? What goals would be left to achieve after you'd already collected every single one that was meaningful to you?

If you ever got to that level -- beyond money, beyond consumption, beyond personal achievements, beyond ego, beyond having to prove anything to anyone -- how would you derive meaning and joy out of life?

The reason why I ask is because this visualization can become like a video game cheat code for your life; allowing you to skip a bunch of intermediate levels that you truly have no interest in playing. While you're stressed out and feeling worthless because you've yet to achieve some high mark that you've set for yourself, it's possible to realize that even if you did achieve it, there would be a point afterward whereby that achievement would no longer even be that important to you. After it was over, you would wake up one day realizing that you're still the same person who breathes air, eats food, and puts their pants on one leg at a time. No matter how grand the goal, eventually it too would pa.s.s, and become old news. So, when you reach that maximum limit, when you have that excess money that still sits on top of everything you've ever desired -- more than you could ever imagine -- what would you decide to do with it? If spending it on things for yourself no longer made you happy, if h.o.a.rding it no longer made you happy --what would you do with it?

You could spend it on other people in need. You could give them experiences of liberation that they've never had before. You could feel fulfilled just from witnessing them go through it for the first time, and be reminded of what it felt like going through it for the first time yourself; bonding you closer together, and knowing that your actions made it possible. You could focus completely on making people laugh and feel joy; you could relieve pain and stress; you could help them discover new levels of freedom. You could use your greatest core attributes to move people's emotions. It's similar to the act of bringing a young child to the amus.e.m.e.nt park for the first time. Though you've already experienced all of the rides, and may have moved beyond the stage where you feel the need to ride them anymore, you can now gain pure enjoyment just from watching their face light up as they get their moment in the sun. And since these acts are so pure, and stem from the core of what makes you who you really are, they can never run out.

This is the endgame. In the longest of long runs, it's where we're all headed. And the great news is that once we truly understand this, we can sidestep all of the intermediate phases of needing to prove something to feel complete. It's there right now. Deep down, the main reason why we purchase most luxury items is because we love the perceived respect and recognition we get when we can show others that we have acquired them. But -- if we instead use those same resources we have in an effort to give something of true value away to someone else who needs it even more than we do, we may find that we get even more of the respect and recognition that we were seeking. When we start doing things this way, we can discover that the joy and purity of performing the act alone is more than enough reason to do it, and the recognition doesn't really matter as much. A sense of true purpose, a life mission, can replace the old self which once upon a time yearned so strongly for a much more shallow level of acceptance. And surprisingly, through this process, we can finally discover what it truly means to love and accept ourselves. This is the next step in our evolution as human beings. I don't know if it's possible to make one hundred other people smile without also feeling happy ourselves. Through the process of helping others, in turn, we end up helping ourselves as well.

13.

Moving Towards the Future.

What was the greatest party or music festival you've ever been to? Have you ever been to an event in which you felt completely immersed in positivity? Have you ever been out on a dance floor with a bunch of strangers fully engaged with the music and realized that in that very moment, all seemed right in the world? It didn't matter what each person's skin color was, what their religious beliefs were, or what political party they believed in; all that mattered was that you were all there enjoying the atmosphere together. Like many others, I personally love going to events like these, because they serve as important reminders; giving us a preview of what type of world is possible when everyone has all of their needs met. They have shown me that people who have their physical and psychological needs met don't have any reason to want to drag others down; and instead want to lift them up.

With an atmosphere that electrifying, we can realize what's really important in life. Why not try to create lifestyles in which we can maintain this positive mindset and genuine way of existence as often as possible? Isn't this what we're all really seeking? Knowing that this is possible, why would anyone want to waste their time with hatred and oppression? Why would anyone even want to hold on to billions dollars, when they could instead use it to meet even more people's needs allowing them to join the party too?

Think hypothetically, and suspend your judgment for a moment: Imagine that we were to create the world's biggest festival; big enough to be capable of including over seven billion people, and taking place in every city around the world at the same time. Imagine that it wasn't just a one-day or one-weekend event, but something ongoing that never ended. Imagine that everyone's basic needs for food, water, clothing, shelter, energy, and sanitation were met through technological automation, and so no one ever had to leave this party unless they wanted to. Just for reference, let's give this festival a name: The Forever Love Life Festival. Imagine the freedom and happiness that would arise from living in this way. People would be completely free to self-actualize, discover their greatest strengths, and contribute value to others in a way that feels natural to them. If we were able to create a way to ensure that everyone had a place to live without fear of getting evicted, and had enough to eat without fear of starvation, how much less likely would we all be to work for companies that hurt people? How much less likely would we be to do unethical things that go against what we feel deep down is best for the greater good? How much less likely would we be to destroy the earth, angrily lash out at others, or feel the need to fight wars and kill our fellow humans for natural resources or political reasons? When we come from a place of scarcity -- the lack of basic resources needed to survive, the lack of love and acceptance, the lack of freedom to speak our minds and be who we naturally are -- we become so hyper-focused on meeting our own needs that we don't stop and think about the negative impacts we may be creating for others in the attempt to get them.

Alternatively, when we do have all of our needs met, we don't have any reason or desire to bring negativity into the world. When we feel completely fulfilled, all we want to do is pull others up and share that experience. There is a common proverb that says: "misery loves company." I believe that the opposite is also true: positivity loves company as well. The main issue is that we tend to ignore these concepts when we attempt to solve our large-scale problems. The miserable and the blissful people are all part of the same world. We're all in this together, and our destinies are intertwined. We can't just ignore the problems of those who don't have their needs met, or try to restrain them, or try to build fences to keep them away, hoping that the problems go away on their own; because it often comes back to hurt us all in the end. As Martin Luther King Jr. said: "A riot is the language of the unheard." Rather than trying to suppress the concerns of the unheard, a better approach is to actually listen to what they have to say, discover what they want and what they need, and work together alongside them to find a way to meet their needs. This is a much more effective strategy to eliminate problems in the long run, and create a better future for us all.

Right now, for the purposes of problem solving, a large chunk of our resources are being spent very inefficiently. Rather than focusing primarily on crisis prevention and damage control, we should begin to s.h.i.+ft our focus towards empowering those in need. This methodology serves to minimize the number of crises that happen in the first place, and eliminates problems before they happen. An empowered person who is capable of meeting their own needs is extremely unlikely to attack others, because they don't have any reason or desire to. Think about how much time, how much money, and how much of our collective physical and mental resources we allot towards trying to prevent violence and lawlessness from spreading. We spend so much money on prisons to punish those who break the laws, so much on security to spy and search people, and so much on weaponry and military spending. Obviously, in the world we live in today, there certainly are needs for prisons, and security, and military. Yes, we do need to defend ourselves, and we do need to create consequences for people who infringe upon other people's freedoms. But we've become so heavily invested in these measures and so eager to engage in instant knee-jerk reactions to incidents that we rarely dig deeper to discover the true root of what actually causes these problems.

Our reactivity and paranoia has caused us to go completely overboard with this security-centric type of spending. For example, even though an argument can be made that having nuclear weapons is necessary for defense purposes right now, is there any legitimate reason for any country to ever need to have 5,000, 10,000, or 30,000 of them? Let's be honest with ourselves. Does that really make a country any safer than only having 4,000, or 3,000, or 2,000? Having 300 nukes is already more than enough to demolish the capital city of every country in the world. If it ever got to the point where a country was involved in a conflict in which they had to use more than 300 nukes, it would be way beyond the point of realistically using the other nukes as leverage to scare others in order to prevent them from attacking. How many planets are we trying to blow up, exactly? Do we need this many bombs just in case we go to war with Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn as well?

In totality, the entire world pays out over $1.5 trillion dollars each year towards military spending. Any way we slice it, frankly, it's not only illogical, but an extremely inefficient and damaging way to spend our valuable resources. Even after all of this spending, have we become completely safe and immune to war and violence? If we increased military spending tenfold globally, and collectively spent $15 trillion a year, would that eliminate all threats, and ensure that all violence would drop to zero? Or, would we be in the exact same place we are in right now, except much more paranoid, much poorer, much more stressed out from the further crumbling of infrastructure, education, roads, and other public services, and no less likely to be susceptible to violence? We need to come to terms with the fact that full security from danger is an illusion that we can never achieve; and beyond a certain threshold, more security spending has a very marginal effect on increasing our safety. It would be much more effective to spend that excess money in ways that could eliminate the problems before they begin. What's even worse is that from an economic standpoint, building up these security-centric industries becomes such a heavy component of the workforce that eliminating them creates a new problem: more unemployment. This means that those who pay their mortgages through imprisoning people, spying on people, and fighting wars will need to continue finding people to imprison, spy on, and bomb to keep being able to put food on the table. It's madness. In the long run, we cannot truly prevent others from hurting us in some way. We can only help create a world in which they have no reason to want to.

By properly diverting even a fraction of the resources from security-centric initiatives towards initiatives that empower people, we can eliminate the need to have such large defense budgets in the first place. In the United States, Project On Government Oversight released a 2011 report identifying $586 billion in potential national security spending cuts over a ten-year period. Could you imagine if every country in the world decided to divert 25% of their defense spending to be invested in local leaders who wanted to create different versions of the Crowdfunding for Cities initiatives from chapter ten? Can you even begin to imagine how much faster we could start solving all of our biggest problems with an extra $375 billion per year to go towards developing these types of projects? To put that number in perspective, the UNESCO Education For All Global Monitoring Report states that with an extra $26 billion per year, we could provide primary education to every child on the planet who does not currently receive it. All of this military spending comes out of us global citizens' tax dollars why aren't we making a stronger push to allocate some of it towards more productive means that increase our quality of life in the big picture?

In order to make the transition from our current state into the future vision of life as a grand festival --an abundant paradigm in which everyone has their basic needs met -- it can be valuable to start from the end, and work backwards. At this point, we haven't yet developed the technological and logistical capabilities to completely automate the process of providing for everyone's food, water, clothing, shelter, energy, and sanitation needs at low cost, so the innovative future breakthroughs in areas such as robotics that emerge will represent the phase right before the final vision can be actualized. However, in moving back another phase before that, we've already begun making many of the breakthroughs necessary to begin the transition away from full dependency on excessive consumption, the fiat currency based financial system, and an artificially scarce resource distribution methodology for survival. A hybrid economic system comprised of versatile global citizens capable of both partic.i.p.ating in financial markets and creating their own basic survival needs becomes much more stable and balanced; and much less p.r.o.ne to volatility, inequality, corruption, and exploitation. We've already got the tools necessary to begin living more self-sufficient, minimalist lifestyles; and the emergence of the sharing economy is aiding the process of resource conservation.

Naturally, in this transition phase, the majority of the groups of people that are most willing to move from the consumption paradigm to the creation paradigm are the ones who are doing it out of financial necessity. Those who have recently left high school or college and haven't been able to find adequate work --who don't have any children or mortgages -- are the prime candidates capable of relocating geographically, taking on leaders.h.i.+p positions, and spearheading the charge. As we begin to crowdfund our downtrodden cities back to life -- and witness the emergence of completely new types of cities the next waves of people who will be able to join this movement and reap the benefits include the long-term unemployed, those who have fallen victim to foreclosure, and the homeless community.

One of the great things about this Crowdfunding for Cities model of social change is that it has the capacity to build momentum as slowly or as quickly as the members of the general public are willing to embrace it. For those who are still most comfortable in the traditional consumption paradigm, traditional employee paradigm, and traditional city paradigm, they are not forced to make radical changes right away if they don't feel comfortable in doing so. Everett Rogers' theory of diffusion of innovation states that there is a process by which new ideas are adopted: the first group that buys into the idea is called the innovators; then comes the early adopters, the early majority, the late majority, and the laggards. Before a new idea picks up steam and becomes trendy, the innovators and early adopters will first bring it to life, and show the early majority why it is superior to the status quo. In this instance, the main benefits will entail more meaningful and purpose-driven types of work, more freedom to self-actualize and discover pa.s.sions, more channels to foster creativity and sharpen critical thinking abilities, a stronger sense of community, and a more socially conscious type of lifestyle. As time goes on, and more and more jobs continue to get squeezed out by automation, outsourcing, the obsolescence of particular industries, market volatility, and executives seeking to maximize shareholder profits by cutting employee salaries and benefits, more individuals who become disillusioned with business as usual and a life of temp jobs will be willing to test the waters of this new paradigm. In the interim phase, during this transition into the future, both types of cities and ways of living will be able to coexist.

14.

End Poverty or Die Trying.

It was nearly seven years ago when I first decided that I was going to take a detour off of the beaten path of life to discover what else was out there in uncharted territory. I knew deep down that there had to be more to life than the world I saw, and I knew that I would stop at nothing to find the answers I was seeking. Throughout human history, countless people have sacrificed their lives and suffered immensely in order to allow the world to evolve to its current state for our benefit. From Socrates choosing to drink hemlock to prove that the threat of death could not prevent a person from choosing their own beliefs, to Nelson Mandela spending 27 years in prison to end apartheid in South Africa; we are, in the words of Isaac Newton, standing on the shoulders of giants. The heroic leaders of our past have conspired to put us in a position where we are now able to pursue the peak levels of freedom, happiness, and the actualization of our highest potential to make life better for others. Because of this, I firmly believe that allowing fear to prevent us from doing what is in our hearts is nothing short of a tragedy.

I am a mere link in this chain; doing my best to build upon the breakthroughs of those who came before, so that I can leave this place better off than when I arrived for those who will come next. All of that being said, I still could not in a million years have predicted what life was going to have in store for me during the course of this journey. Looking in the rearview mirror, I can clearly see how every painful setback was necessary in its own way to give me the tools and courage to light the way for others. And now, it's time to take things to the next level.

Though I've used the previous chapters to lay out a roadmap for a better future, at the end of the day, these are nothing more than words on a page. A person can spend twenty years reading books about how to ride a bike, and learn all of the parts and terminology like the back of their hand; but if they don't ever physically get on and practice, they do not know how to ride a bike. Likewise, right now I've organized plans that we can absolutely use to revitalize our world, but there is a big difference between understanding ideas intellectually and implementing them. Social change comes about through a change in the way we operate in the world. This is why it is of the utmost importance that we avoid the pit of paralysis of a.n.a.lysis, and be sure to move forward with taking action. Too often, we spend too much of our precious time and energy in endless debates and arguments with people who disagree with our ideas, trying to convince them that they are wrong. This is not a very effective use of time. Whether or not everyone agrees with us does not make an idea valid or invalid, the only thing that makes it valid is executing it and seeing the results. While there are some cases where lengthy debates are unavoidable, I'd estimate that the vast majority can and should be sidestepped. Can you imagine what would have happened if Orville and Wilbur Wright lived in the internet age -- and wasted all day fighting with every doubter and hater in comment sections online about why their idea was sound -- instead of just building the airplane? If every innovator did this, we'd still be in the Stone Age.

Anytime we try to improve upon the status quo, there will always be some people who resist. But we can't let this distraction consume us. We've got to rise above it. We cannot create something new and excellent without at least some criticism from those who don't like it for some reason or another. I recently watched a video on YouTube about William Kamkwamba, who is easily one of the most inspirational people I've ever heard of. When he was only 14 years old, his home country of Malawi faced a severe drought, which killed off many crops, and caused many people to begin starving to death. He was forced to drop out of school, because his family could no longer afford to pay for the school fees. Him and his family were only eating three spoons of nsima (cornmeal product) each per day, and were entering a state of severe malnutrition. Rather than giving up hope, William decided to go to a library. Despite the fact that he was not fluent in English, he picked up an old physics textbook and was able to comprehend the concepts through looking at the pictures. Through this process, he learned that it was possible to build a windmill to pump water, which could be used to irrigate crops and prevent starvation. He then went to a junkyard to gather up old bicycle parts and pipes to attempt to build himself a windmill. Everyone -- including his mother -- thought he had gone crazy, and thought he was wasting his time. But somehow, against all odds, he found a way to make it work. He used nails and wiring to create lights for his home, with a circuit breaker, and people from all over the region began coming to his house to charge their mobile phones. This led to him becoming an international sensation. Even though this is one of the greatest stories I've ever heard, and even though it receives tons of positive feedback, somehow, it still has a bunch of negative comments and down-votes as well. If there are some who will find a reason to criticize the amazing work William has done, I don't think anyone can ever be immune from it. It's just something we can come to accept, and minimize the amount of attention we give it.

As our main goal is to create a better world, the most important item of business for us is to implement and replicate the best ideas we can find. Yes, they won't all be clean and perfect fits on the first try, and mistakes will always have to be made during the innovation process to discover how to make a system work optimally. But again, taking action is the most important step. If you think someone else's idea is bad, don't spend months arguing with them; just improve upon it, create a better one, and work towards executing it independently. There can be more than one right answer to a problem. If, collectively as a species, we always put all of the brainpower we use to tell people why their ideas won't work into constructively improving upon them instead, we'd have abolished poverty centuries ago.

If you're interested in organizing a group to implement ideas for social change, and using them to rebuild our society, a great place to begin would be to use Meetup (www.meetup.com) to start a Crowdfunding for Cities discussion group, and bring together all of the changemakers in your local area. If you're looking to bring together groups of people from different backgrounds and cultures, and don't know where to begin to find common ground, creating a weekly or monthly international food night is an excellent way to begin to break down the barriers. Have each person bring their favorite dish, and create an inviting environment that allows bonds to form and grow naturally. At times, we may feel as if we're not ready to be leaders, and so we sit on the sidelines and wait for someone else to step up and take charge. At the same time, many others feel the same way, and this is how opportunities slip away. You might be asking: "Why me? What makes me qualified?" And to that I will say: "Why not you?" There is so much good to be done in the world, and becoming a leader has no age or knowledge requirements. You just have to give yourself permission. I'd rather have one person with a giant heart, strong work ethic, moral courage, and a willingness to learn and grow over a dozen minimally interested PhDs any day of the week. When we truly care about helping people, the purpose becomes bigger than us. Though we may want to avoid negative criticism, or the risk of failing publicly, the upside of transforming and saving a life is so powerful that it outs.h.i.+nes all of the bad. If you told me right now that I could save 100 lives, and all I'd have to do is get publically embarra.s.sed to make it happen, I'd do it in a heartbeat. There is something about taking on a mission bigger than ourselves that can cause us to summon courage that we never knew we had before. I would never have been able to write this book if I didn't wholeheartedly believe that someone, somewhere would read it and feel that it made them a better person.

I am a big believer that actions speak louder than words; and so to create maximum impact as a leader, it's vital to lead by example from the front line. As such, I am about to do something groundbreaking that goes beyond anything I've ever done before. Starting this summer, I will essentially be going homeless for an entire year. Over the twelve-month period, I am going to be traveling from Canada down to Mexico, primarily by foot. I'll be focusing my energies predominantly upon building support for gra.s.sroots initiatives and serving those who need it most. I will be spending time in every major city along the way, including Vancouver, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Tijuana. When I'm walking between cities by foot, I'll camp out under the stars. When I'm in the cities, I have faith that through interactions with kind strangers, I will find places to sleep at night. The name of this initiative is the Seven Cities Walk. My objective is to call upon all citizens of the world to join up, so that we can work together towards ending global poverty.

During the course of my travels, I am going to be looking to identify communities that are ripe for change, and collaborating with local organizations and leaders interested in increasing their impact. I'm going to be looking for individuals interested in creating Crowdfunding for Cities initiatives, and I plan on launching and directing my first one after the walk is completed. If you live on the west coast of North America, or are interested in taking a trip there, you are invited to join me on this journey, take part in a community service initiative, and come along for a section of the walk. If you're in a different part of the world, follow along on social media, and take charge to replicate the biggest impact ideas you can come up with in your local area. It's time to change the conversation about what's in style in our world. Let's end poverty, or die trying.

end.