Ever since the attacks of September 11th, 2001, “fear” has been a popular buzzword in American mainstream media. Newscasters and politicians generally use the word in relation to terrorism or violence; e.g., “we must not fear the enemy.” I’d like to focus on another enemy, one which causes more pain, destruction and fear than we’d like to think about. Our biggest enemy is not and never will be terrorism — our biggest enemy is the human mind.

Let’s define fear right here at the beginning. Paranoia. Distrust. “The terrorists are out to get us!” Obviously, that’s fear. Dread? Apprehension? Timidity? Those words are generally used in different contexts, but they’re basically synonyms of the same. Fear is a unique emotion, one which can interfere not only with other emotions (such as love), but also with rational thought — even in the most “thought-oriented” people. Take a moment to consider the areas of your life in which you feel held back. What situations are you avoiding? What thoughts don’t you want to think? What actions are you afraid to take (or not to take)? Look at these examples to get you started:

• Choosing a college or other school
• Confronting a friend or co-worker
• Publishing a controversial opinion or research article
• Switching jobs/careers
• Starting a business
• Entering or leaving a serious relationship
• Letting go of the past
• Questioning deep-seated beliefs (religious or otherwise)
• Standing up for beliefs (religious or otherwise)
• Delivering a speech or presentation

You could think of numerous scenarios, some more significant than others. You might even consider something as basic as shyness; anything which brings an emotional hesitation to your mind will work.

Are you uncomfortable yet? Do you feel trapped or restricted in some way? Fear does exactly that; it holds us back, sometimes with such force that we don’t even realize the extent to which we’re limiting ourselves. (This is not unlike the current situation in the United States, given the erosion of social freedom in response to a perceived terrorism threat.) But it gets worse. All examples that you or I could come up with — jobs, relationships, beliefs — are a part of life. Fear holds us back not only from [insert specific example here], but from life itself. “Living in fear” is an oxymoron. If we fear life itself, it’s not that we’re living in fear… we aren’t living at all.

You may be a certain age, but how many years have you lived? Confront the situations which have been bothering you and live your life the way it was meant to be lived — fearlessly.

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You’re reading the second part of a five-part series. Be sure to read the others:

• Making the Change, Step 1: Identify
• Making the Change, Step 2: Plan

The first step in the gathering process is to determine (from your plan) what types of people you need, to determine which roles need to be filled and how quickly, and to compile a list of potential candidates for those roles. You’ll also want to know how much funding you need (preferably from a budget, which should also be in your plan).

Rosalie’s situation, for example, should be pretty straightforward to understand. It may be a good idea to find a workout partner for Saturday mornings, but that’s probably optional at this point. She’s already got one partner on board for the week, and that should be all the extra human resources she’ll need — assuming her infant’s babysitter won’t mind taking on a few extra hours each week.

Chuck’s situation may be a bit more difficult. Obviously, he will probably end up hiring Munnee Mann on the HR side, but what about budgeting? The Frictionless Whatchamacallit will cost money. Advertising will cost money. Plummeting stocks will cost money. That money has to come from somewhere. In the case of a business, it’s probably not so much a matter of “gathering” as “allocating,” but its importance shouldn’t be underrated.

Emma’s scenario will be particularly challenging simply because of the complexities involved. It would be simple for her to launch her program at just one shelter… but you didn’t think she was going to stop there, did you? Emma’s goal is to expand this program — or one similar to it — around the world. To increase literacy at, say, one thousand homeless shelters, Emma will likely need tens of thousands of volunteers… and millions of dollars in books. And there are probably more than one thousand homeless shelters in the world. And Emma wants to improve on a lot more than just literacy. (What? I didn’t tell you that? Oops.)

Sooner or later, you’re going to have to talk to people. People, first of all, need to be motivated. They need to have all of their questions answered, and they need to trust you. It also helps if they trust the initiative, but most people will choose an uncertain proposition with a person they trust over a well-known proposition with someone they barely know — guaranteed. You’re probably going to have to answer the five W’s and How (see why we’ve done all of this planning?), and be prepared for rejection — it’s going to happen sooner or later, no matter how great you think your pitch is. Some guy on the street once said that at least 50% of people will reject a change even if it is provably beneficial for all parties involved. I don’t know that the figure is as high as 50%, but there’s certainly a grain of truth there. Now, add in the fact that you may very well be asking people you’ve never met to contribute time and/or money to your cause. And people who have money tend to be less willing to give it up. Needless to say, you’ll have your work cut out for you!

In any case, you either want people, or you want their money — sometimes both. You, for one, need to be truly committed to the cause. Any lack of passion will be seen as a lack of faith in your own plan, which of course won’t go well. It would also be wise to establish some credibility with the person you’re talking to, especially if it’s someone you don’t already know. What do you know about this problem, and what makes you think you’re the right person to change it? Find a way to identify with and relate to the person from which you’re asking for assistance — in other words, customize your delivery from person to person. Throw in things you know they will respond to, particularly if you know them well.

Impersonal Donations

What will make a faceless person want to donate to your cause? Use the same principles relevant to a face-to-face encounter, but take out the face-to-face part. Let’s say that we’ve created a website to promote our plan to change the world. (Sound familiar? ) While the medium may be different, the concepts are the same. Keep it simple and compelling. Expressing your devotion to the cause through a written medium may be difficult, but I believe that it can be done. Spend some time (maybe even a full page) explaining why your change is important. A person reading your website will have the same questions as someone you’ve spoken to in person or on the telephone. Who are you to solve this problem? (And later on) How do you plan to accomplish this?

Repeat Step 2

When all is said and done, you’re going to realize that the gathering process didn’t go quite like you expected (for better or for worse), and you may need to modify your plan. This is just fine — because it was designed to be dynamic, right? As you add contributors, some of whom may not agree with every part of the plan, that plan may also need to be tweaked.

We’ve identified the change. We’ve planned for the change. We’ve gathered resources in preparation for bringing forth the change. If we’re really ambitious, we’ve even planned again. Who’da thunk that change could be so complicated? Lights, camera…

You’re reading the second part of a five-part series. Be sure to read the others:

• Making the Change, Step 1: Identify

Any goal, no matter how simplistic, is merely a dream unless it’s accompanied by a plan to achieve it. It is certainly a bad idea to plan too much, but if you’re trying to accomplish something truly important (like, say, changing the world), failing to plan enough is a far more threatening possibility… (more…)

You’re reading the first part of a five-part series. Be sure to read the others:

• Making the Change, Step 2: Plan

Change is rough. We’d all love to just get comfortable with our favorite people in our favorite house in our favorite city and only deal with our favorite thoughts or watch our favorite TV shows. Our lives would be so much easier if we didn’t have to worry about… change… wouldn’t they? Well, of course — if we’re already living the best lives we could possibly live. Unfortunately, I don’t know anyone living a perfect life who hasn’t ascended to godliness, and I doubt you do, either (I don’t care what your local Miss Popularity says). As I like to say, life is change… so get used to it.

In this five-part series, we’ll explore a broad framework for making any sort of significant change, whether that change is personal, corporate, or global in nature… (more…)