How many of you are going to change the world?

Over the past year, I have had the opportunity to see Oliver DeMille (http://oliverdemille.com/), speak a couple of times and have read his books, Freedom Shift and 1913. In November 2011, he began his speech by telling a story of a successful businessman going to a major university and giving a speech on “Becoming a leader of the 21^st Century”. This link is DeMille telling the story which I would encourage you to listen. What you will hear is that 6 people in a stadium full of 15,000 – 20,000 raised their hands when asked the question, “How many of you are going to change the world?” The speaker then invited these people to come down front and proceeded to conduct a seminar on “Becoming a leader of the 21^st Century” while the rest of the stadium including the President of the university were invited to leave. DeMille made his point quite well by sharing the story and asking a stadium full of people to whom he was speaking the question: “how many of you are going to change the world?”

So, what does it look like to “change the world”? DeMille is one of those people that when he speaks, everyone intensely listens. In a word, DeMille’s purpose in this world is “freedom”. In his book, Freedom Shift, DeMille states:

“Americans enjoy a legacy of freedom and prosperity that is perhaps without equal in the history of the world. The pride we have traditionally felt over the idealism, vision, heroism, and sacrifice of our Pilgrims, Founders, and those that followed them is a part of our national heritage.

And yet it seems that it is no longer alarmist to assert that we are in grave danger of losing the freedom and prosperity that were won at so terrible a cost. Strangely, though, our culture of idealism, heroism and sacrifice is not lost.

Our people still show a great capacity for moral courage, tenacity and altruism. There are still those among us who are willing to take risks, endure hardships and make difficult choices. We still take our hats off when the flag goes by. We honor the sacrifices of our military brothers and sisters; we show compassion to the less fortunate. Why, then, are we sliding virtually unchecked down the slippery slope of cultural and societal decay?

Why are we losing our freedoms?”

In his November 2011 speech and his book, Freedom Shift, DeMille talks about the fact that every hundred years, give or take a few, there is a major world shift for or against freedom. The last major shift in American was during the period of 1913 to 1936. DeMille outlines four specific events which transpired (3 – 1913 and 1 – 1936) which shifted America in the direction of “force” or less freedom. I’ll let you read his books and listen to his speech to better understand what these four events were and how they have changed our world. DeMille states, that what he is sharing, you’ll likely not hear on the news, learn in schools, or other public media.

DeMille believes, which many tend to agree, that we are in the midst of another “world freedom shift” which will happen within the next 10 – 12 years. This shift will either take us dramatically further away from the freedoms our country was originally founded or be a “turning point” restoring many of the freedoms we’ve lost to date.

So, the question comes, what will it take to insure this world shift is “for freedom”? DeMille says, it will not be easy, however, it’s not as difficult as many would have it to be. He emphasizes that the events of 1913 were originated by a very small percentage of the population, 3% – 5% or even less. It’s his belief, that if this same 3% – 5% of inspired leaders band together and do three things, then we’ll make a dramatic difference and “change the world”.

What are these three things? You really need to read DeMille’s books or listen to his CD, however, here they are:

1. A Revolution of Entrepreneurship – Entrepreneurs tend to be free thinkers or Rascals, whom aren’t easily influenced to “follow the herd”.
2. The Rise of Vivacious Readers and Independent Thinkers – DeMille stresses the importance of reading; you’ve likely heard it said “leaders are readers”. He states that very few have ever truly read the founding documents of our country and they aren’t taught in our schools anymore. Adding to this, he states that as readers we must develop our ability to be “independent thinkers versus institutionalized thinkers”.
3. Building and Leading the New Tribes – Referring to Seth Golden’s book Tribes, DeMille speaks of the importance of this small percentage of leaders banding together and building tribes within their local communities.

Again, I encourage you to get DeMille’s books to better understand the history and his position on freedom. Many have chosen to band together with the LIFE community and support the principles DeMille outlines.

Going back to his speech in November 2011, DeMille challenges the crowd to stop and think about their grandchildren. He says that many of you will have the opportunity to sit with your grandchildren 25 years from now and share the story of how you lived during the time of a major world shift for freedom. With tears in his eyes, DeMille challenged the crowd to really stop and think about that moment. (pause) What will you tell your grandchildren? (pause) Will it be how you lived during one of the most important times in history and sat on the sidelines because you didn’t know what to do. Or, will you chose to engage with 3% – 5% of the population whom are banded together as a community of influence and committed to doing what’s required to insure we have a shift “FOR FREEDOM”!

DeMille’s books, as well as many other great resources related to Freedom, are accessible through our LIFE website. You will need to enroll as a member or customer and then you will be able to purchase DeMille’s products as well as a suite of many other life transformational products. We encourage you to get on a subscription of this information as part of your continual learning experience.

We live in a time where there is more information accessible at our finger tips, than any other time in history. The challenge is discerning, what of this information, is TRUTH? While LIFE doesn’t claim to have all the right information, they do work very hard to discern and publish the information weighted on the principles by which our country was founded.

So, with that, I have one final question for you: “How many of you are going to change the world?”

Sincerely,

Chris