“Some people don’t just live: they lead a life. They don’t sit around waiting for a lucky break; they create opportunities for themselves. They go after their dreams and bring them to life. Rather than bending to the status quo, they change it. Rather than being imprisoned by circumstance, they turn it to their advantage.”
That’s the opening paragraph of a superb book written by two millionaire US entrepreneurs, Christopher Gergen and Gregg Vanourek, called ‘Life Entrepreneurs’.
These two successful business leaders wrote the book because they had a dream: they pondered the question “how can we create extraordinary lives?”
That’s the difference between the developed societies that so many of us migrate to, and our local community. Here we lack this ability to dream dreams and to create visionary impact on the society.
The great creators of new ideas and innovative solutions originate in developed nations: one thinks of the Canadian Malcolm Gladwell, author of ‘Tipping Point’ and ‘Blink’, two books of powerful ideas by this New Yorker magazine Journalist.
As the election season heats up, and we see our leaders wave political power as the magic wand to solve the multitudes of problems stifling this nation, we must remind ourselves that a democracy means that power lies with us, the people. We, too, could develop solutions.
We hold power to transform our lives. Not only could we vote in national elections, but we could use this open society to develop our dreams and visions. We could choose to live extraordinary lives, and thus make our mark on this land for a sound society.
I admire Mark Benschop for his social activism. However, his method is provocation against the State, and aggravates acrimony and strife. This method of public protest provokes violence. And our society should never spiral out of control into violence. It is one of Dr Cheddi Jagan’s legacy that the struggle for free and fair elections remained non-violent over nearly three decades.
I interviewed Khemraj Ramjattan, and I had conversations with Raphael Trotman as well, and both these gentlemen champion justice in the society.
Ramjattan emphasizes that the Alliance For Change wants reconciliation and healing – a phrase that Nelson Mandela made popular – to be the defining political relationship in our nation. This is a noble goal. Let’s develop peaceful, noble ways of reforming this society.
We must come to the point as a people where each of us feels responsible for this nation’s development.
Each individual is important, and could provide a dynamic, positive contribution to bringing solutions to the national table.
Instead of activism against evil, how about activism for new ideas and creative solutions?
Let’s see an activist mobilize citizens everywhere to contribute knowledge and expertise to the development process.
Ideas and solutions generated by citizens in villages and communities all across this nation could make such a difference.
How do we contribute our ideas and solutions to the society? The average person feels helpless, looking to politicians for answers. But true power today lies with the individual who would dare to dream and be an active contributor to the community’s progress.
It’s not a perfect society, and the lack of fundamental democratic rights such as freedom of access to government information deforms the democratic culture. The State acts dictatorially in many cases.
However, this society is open enough to allow room for creative solutions. This insight is key.
President Jagdeo may not be a great leader and President, but despite his shortcomings, he handles the affairs of state with some sense of responsibility.
In fact, some semblance of cooperation and goodwill exist between Opposition leader Robert Corbin and President Jagdeo. Corbin must be given credit for the political calm that prevails over the nation.
In our zeal to push our society to function in a humane and just order, we must be fair, objective and understanding.
If our leaders prove to be lesser than the geniuses we expect them to be, or if they cannot wave that political magic wand they promise at elections time to solve our crushing problems overnight, let’s play our part as responsible citizens.
Let us develop our personal solutions, even if we only write out the ideas and open them for discussion, possibly online on blogs or social media sites.
This is where the ‘Life Entrepreneurs’ thesis comes in.
People in this society who have new ideas and creative solutions could become the catalyst for the transformation we so desperately crave in our land.
Instead of resignation into helpless inertia, people with creative ability ought to take their place as a new leadership class.
Entrepreneurs such as Yesu Persaud, the late Ramdial Bhookmohan and others played this kind of role in the 1990’s.
This civic sector has now gone silent.
‘Life Entrepreneurs’ proposes a thesis of engaging civic action to shape society, using the tools and techniques that entrepreneurs use to build great enterprises, only applying the method across the whole of life instead of just business.
We cannot only look for politicians to deliver us. We must put our own hands on the lever of power and play our part.
We need to exercise intellectual effort to not only develop our personal lives, but also impact the national life of the nation. If I achieve personal development, then the nation benefits.
The book encourages readers to ask some key questions:
* Who do I want to be?
* What is life asking of me?
* How do I want to live?
* What future do I want to create?
“By taking responsibility for our lives and the challenges in our communities, we can turn helplessness into hopefulness. This sense of personal ownership and accountability allows us to approach our lives in a way that is good both for our own well-being and for the community at large. When we have the courage to pursue possibilities and solutions with vision, passion, and persistence, our lives take on new significance and the joy of living is unparalleled”, the authors note in their Introduction.
To transform this society so that citizens see and feel differently about their role in national development, each of us must transform how we see and feel about our own life in this nation.
We must transform ourselves from a state of resignation and helplessness, from “just living”, to lead a life, to create opportunities, to go after dreams and bring them to life.
That way, each of us plays a crucial role to improve our nation – for our benefit, and for future generations.
This writer can be contacted by email at beingshaun@ gmail.com
