Maybe it’s time for a rebellion of a different sort.
“What do you need? What do you want? What do you desire? Chase after these things!” That is what the world tells us. Everywhere we turn, we are being told to go get it for yourself! “Other people have it! You deserve it!” The world we live in is full of people who are just like us. They are chasing the things or the experiences that will fulfill their needs, wants and desires.
But look at our society. While we keep chasing those things or those experiences, we are walking right by people or situations that could benefit from our time and attention. Taking our time to give attention to someone else or some situation we see is inconvenient. It gets in the way of our pursuit of the other stuff. If we don’t keep going, we may not get that other stuff. We may get there too late, or someone else may get it!
Isn’t it amazing that we will get up early and wait in line for the newest edition of a smartphone? But if we are asked to get up early to help a friend in his garage or volunteer at a shelter, we don’t have time for that.
The world pushes us to be self-focused and self-absorbed. Being selfless means we have developed a habit that combats the world’s influence. Selflessness means that we put the needs of others before our own needs, desires or convenience.
Many of us have a little bit of a rebel streak in us. There was no doubt during high school and my four years at West Point, I held onto a rebellious side. I did not want to conform too much. I wanted to be my own person and show that the institutions did not have total control over me.
Well maybe it’s time for a rebellion of a different sort. Maybe all of us who wanted to be rebels when we were younger can again push the envelope. Maybe we should all recognize that exercising Selflessness is a total rebellion against our society as it currently stands. Maybe an army of people who thumb their noses at society and say “No more!” is what we need to change our society. Maybe all we need to do is start where we live and where we work to make change happen.
If an army of leaders – Leaders of Character – decided to put the needs of others before their own needs, desires or convenience, the current systems would begin to break down. The chase for the next great thing or experience would be replaced by the actions of people committed to something bigger than themselves. Our attitudes would change from people being dissatisfied with all that we have, and become selfless Leaders of Character who desire more for the people around us and the people who don’t have what we have.
Watch the people who spend more time serving others and you will likely see the most satisfied and cheerful people you will encounter this week. Meanwhile, those of us who are still chasing our needs, desires and convenience are dissatisfied and negative.
Dig Deep Questions:
What is a simple way you can serve someone else this week?
Who else can you invite to join you?
Making a shift towards taking responsibility and living with Selflessness is a lifelong journey. We want to partner with you as you practice the habit of Selflessness daily, which is why we have created our Habits of Character Action Guides.
The Selflessness Action Guide offers you a month of daily, interactive training complete with a daily reading, dig deep questions, weekly processing guides and instructions on how to use the guide both individually and with your team. The Selflessness Action Guide is now available here.
We are behind you, championing for you, your teams and your organizations as you become the leader you wish you had. We want to come alongside you as you grow to confidently answer “yes” to the question, “Would you follow you?”
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