HAVE YOU EVER caught yourself exclaiming out loud to nobody in particular “if it was left up to me I would”… Chances at some point even you didn’t say these words in audible tones you probably have thought them to yourself. Given time to mull this statement over perhaps you can empower yourself to take on the challenge of correcting what you feel needs correcting.
Whether or not you realize it you do have the power to empower yourself along with others around you. A classic example (though not practical) was the stirring rallying cry of Howard Beale (the central character in the 1976 film Network brilliantly played by Peter Finch) when he opened his window and screamed: “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore.” Through his crazed rants, Howard Beale made people believe they can will themselves into effecting change.
In the subconscious part of your mind lay a host of your “pet peeves” that you want to see changed. It could be something as mundane as eliminating the requirement by the New York City Sanitation Department that all recycling bags must be blue in color in addition to being transparent. Fines are given to those who fail to comply with this ordinance.
If “it” was left up to you where and how do you engage in change management which is essentially what you are entrenching yourself to do? Other than the nonsensical example I provided above you have to establish a priority list of what you are setting out to do. Making changes just for the sake of making changes is not really changing anything.
There is so much that you feel is being done wrong. There is so much that you feel is broken that needs to be fixed. There is just so much of everything now that you have been overcome by this newly found sense of self-empowerment (it IS now left up to you)whittling down your “to do list” is proving to be more tedious than you could have imagined.
Having “it” being left up to you does not necessarily imply that the usage of the word you is in the singular sense. The word you can also infer a quorum (i.e “you people”) with similar concerns who are now integrated into the if it were left up to me movement that you grandfathered.
As part of the overall quorum can splinter groups form to tackle more or less complex issues? It would seem logical to do so. We have been taught to think about what you are going to say (what a radical concept this could be for people like John Kerry & Joe Biden) before the words escape from mouths. As you have made it known you want to be the catalyst for change then you must be prepared to produce the results you have been clamoring for that others now expect to see materialize.
Along these lines, there is an idiom in the English dictionary that warns you to be careful of what you wish for as it might regretfully come true. “If It Was Left Up To Me I Would…” was your inwardly or outwardly stated desire. You are now the official empowered leader of this movement. Where you go from here is entirely up to you.
Interestingly enough as much as children are resistant to change so are we as adults. Underneath our dissatisfaction with the goings on in the world, we are resistant to change anything since the fear of the unknown paralyzes us. It takes great intestinal fortitude to break free of the chains we have wrapped ourselves in to start doing in terms of righting the wrongs as you or we see them.
If it was left up to you, what (if anything) would YOU do? What would WE do?
Chris, We wouldn’t be human if we didn’t dream or think about if things were left up to us what we would do. As for me I don’t know what I would do. What about if things were left up to you what you would do. Thanks Chris!
I get thoughts like that. I often find myself saying “if I had the time, I’d…”.