My niece and I were talking about getting involved and volunteer work. She is 15 years old and wants to start doing more for the community. This is a pathway that she is not accustomed to and wants to experience. At first, she was looking for comfort and safe and one of the things she was NOT comfortable with was having to take a position that would involve giving change to customers. Simple as that…not making change for customers and this made me think of posting this thought about change. The ‘making change aspect’ was the surface but deeper, she was looking at volunteer opportunities that would provide her the easiest way to transition in. While this is not a bad approach, we talked about taking the more challenging path rather than the easier one. I have always said that I would rather go out and make a path than to travel one that someone else has made. My niece saw this as the approach she would like to take now.
She took this with vigor, created a resume, and started phoning around to see about volunteer opportunities. This was the most difficult part…taking the initiative rather than just talking about it. So now it is a matter of seeing how this all pans out. I think regardless of the outcome, she has now decided that if she is not comfortable with giving change out…this needs to change. I applaud her for taking the challenge head on. I think it is the volunteer organization who selects her that will see some great talent emerge.
Funny enough, on a side note, I also had a great catch up with my friend Sherwin and he too was interested in making change. Not the kind at the cash register like my niece but rather personal change that will impact others. The world needs more passionate people like my niece and Sherwin. By the way, Sherwin would like to be my catalyst to get me on to the ice to play ice hockey…this will be a future post ?
The lesson here. Consider what you would like to do and instead of determining what are the things holding you back, look at it and say what are the things I can do to achieve the goal. You will be amazed that a slight shift in your thinking will result in a huge shift in achievement. Change starts with you!