""It was really powerful to be in a position where I was seen as more than a student. I don't get that feeling when I am presenting to my teacher, but I definitely felt that when we presented to Mr. Garrison because the stakes were so much higher," adds Sophomore Maxine Peterson."
Stimulating positive change at civilization level also requires certain mindsets and ways of thinking.
Here are five mindsets that will allow us to leave a positive mark on humanity.
Curiosity and Critical Thinking
It is by channeling a child-like sense of awe about the world that we can truly imagine something even better.
That can be coupled with questioning how we do things in today’s world instead of accepting them as they are.
Asking questions—and asking good ones—is the foundation of critical thinking.
It takes powerful curiosity, critical thinking, and imagination to envision radical alternatives to how we do things in today’s world and then be inspired to execute them.
Intelligent Optimism
being optimistic about the future based on reason and evidence.
How can our youth grow up believing they can have a positive impact on the world if the news is suggesting otherwise?
Risk-taking
being a strategic risk-taker is a valuable lifelong skill of its own.
embracing uncertainty, stepping out of one’s comfort zone, and doing something that fulfills your life or company’s grand mission
embracing failure and re-defining failed attempts as temporary setbacks
Moonshot Thinking
Moonshot thinking allows for radical, daring, and disruptive ideas as opposed to incremental improvements
Cosmic Perspective
Having a cosmic perspective shifts the ambitions and priorities we set for ourselves to those that matter from a grand perspective. As a species, we become more purpose-driven.
It’s all about having a positive impact on the world
It’s not just about creating a product or generating profits, but also about solving a problem and having a positive impact on human lives.
It’s about asking the right questions, being intelligently optimistic about the future, taking a risk with a moonshot, and maintaining a cosmic perspective.
A person who becomes self-empowered in this way uses her inner powers (her innate capacities) again and again to solve problems — to create opportunities — and to empower others.
Being self-empowered — changemaking — requires a sophisticated understanding of the world — an understanding that your wellbeing is inextricably entwined with everyone’s wellbeing. And it means taking responsibility — taking the lead — and collaborating with others to make life better for yourself and family and friends and community and humanity and the planet.
Being self-empowered is a way of being. It involves being empathic, thoughtful and creative — being curious, resilient and effective. Becoming self-empowered, then, is a process of finding, using and developing a complex array of changemaking powers.
And for most, the experience of school reflects limited conceptions of the human mind, the human being and human potential.
it reinforces compliance and outdated hierarchical power structures.
To make these changes, we need pioneering teachers and educators to come together as change leaders — to form collaborative teams — and to execute strategically-focused projects. And to lay the foundations upon which these strategic projects can have massive impact, we need to build a global community of education professionals who are fully committed to self-empowering educators — for self-empowering young people.