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Have you ever dreamt of changing the world like heroes do? What does it take for one to do so? There are three steps that you can do and you’re about the find out what those are. Check out today’s episode with Nate Woodbury and Devin Thorpe, masters of influence.
Welcome back. We’ve got another topic on influence. And so of course, I brought in Devin Thorpe. But this one is a pretty awesome way to look at it. How can an individual change the world? We got some real steps that you can take to do that. So, I’m excited to have this conversation Devin. Thanks for being here again. So as we were talking about kind of reviewing the content before the video, there are 3 steps to take that you can actually as an individual, change the world. Which that’s a pretty big deal. For somebody like me who wants to make a difference or leave a legacy, understanding these 3 stuff. So I’m excited to hear we have to share there. And to lay a foundation for that. It looks like that there’s there’s kind of a mindset or a way of looking at things or a perspective that we need to have. And you’ve got kind of three different ideas there. So we’ll cover those 3 ideas and then we’ll get into the 3 steps and how we can change the world as an individual. -Yeah. So, you know, fundamentally, the first thing I think we need is a deep sense of optimism. -Okay. -Because you know, the world’s problems are big. You know, I don’t want to gloss over that or minimize it as we speak. You know, during the… During our conversation as we’re recording this 10-15 minute video, you know, there are people dying in Yemen of starvation, there are people who are… You know, at risk of dying in in conflicts around the world but especially in Afghanistan and Yemen and elsewhere. Yeah, there are really serious problems. 2 and a half, 3 million people will die of infectious diseases this year. For which we have good preventions, right? And yet they will die anyway. Because we’re not getting the water to the end of the road. So, I don’t want to minimize the problems. But it takes a deep sense of optimism to tackle one of those problems, right? We’re not talking about rounding the edge of the corners on a rectangle anymore. We’re talking about real problems that need real solutions. And so, that deep sense of optimism is required. And I’ve seen that throughout my career in an interesting group of people. And you probably seen this too. You probably are this way. The people I’ve seen with the greatest sense of optimism are entrepreneurs, right? You know, we often talk about whether someone is a glass is half full glasses half empty kind of person, right? Entrepreneurs are, in my experience, very different. Not universally, but pretty consistently. There are the sorts of people that can look at an empty glass and say, “Oh, yeah. That’s basically full.” And maybe that’s not the language they would use. It’s not that they really see the glass is full. It’s that they know where to get the water, right? They don’t care that it’s empty because they know what to do to solve that problem. And so, they have a deep abiding sense of an optimism that will carry them through all kinds of challenges. And so, especially when we’re talking about really you know big social changes, we need to channel that entrepreneurial optimism that says, “I know where to get the water and I’m going to go get it and deliver that water. You know, come hell or high water. That’s what I’m going to do.” -So, that… That is a true principle that I really resonate with. And I’m glad you made the connection. Because I believe it 100% in business and entrepreneurship. I’ve been you know 100% entrepreneur for about almost 9 years. And and I’ve had… I’ve had some rough… Rough finances this whole time until you know, this last year, I’ve been very, very blessed. And it’s not that I haven’t had successes in the past. But it’s it’s been rough and it’s… If I would not have been optimistic and been able to really not get flustered by them, the thousands of mistakes that I’ve made, the thousands of obstacles I’ve run into, so that was huge.
So, carrying over we’re talking about. If I as an individual want to change the world, optimism. And the first thing that actually came to my mind even before thinking about my experience with business, I recently was… It was at a marketing conference but we we got to hear a keynote from the founder of this of this nonprofit at charity water. I was trying to struggling to find a name. But as I heard his story and what he’s done and where his passion comes the things he’s been able to do but he… He did put a neighbor story. He put in perspective on how great the need is and how small of an impact they’ve made so far in comparison. -Mm-hmm. -Like we could get overwhelmed with that and we couldn’t feel pessimistic about that because it’s like you know, the needs seems to be growing bigger than that the the impact we’re making. But then, again, on filling this emotion that I felt when I spoke. But then, you look at the difference that they have made and you focus on that and… -Yeah -…and I was really impressed with his optimism that even though he shared some of these stats, the impact that he made, I loved it. loved it. -There’s no doubt about it. And it is exciting. If we look at the you know long span of history. Not the last 10 years, the last 20 years. But look at the last 50 years. What we see is that vast numbers of people have had their lives improved dramatically. And water is accessible to more people now than ever. And yes, there are 700 million people who still need water. Who don’t have a consistent source and they’re more than 2 billion who don’t have a toilet. I mean, these are huge populations of problems. But bear in mind, there are 5 billion people who have toilets. There are 6 billion people plus who do know where their water comes from now. These are great times to be alive. Real great reasons for optimism and it is exciting to see organizations and people like charity water going after this problem to solve it, So yeah, yeah. These are that optimism in the face of daunting challenges is important. And you see the power but with charity water. -Okay, so if you’ve got that foundation of optimism. Now, let’s get into the 3 steps. -Yeah. -What’s step 1? -Well, step 1 is almost… I don’t want to say it’s a repudiation of that principle. But in a way it builds on it, right? But it is that action is more important than attitude. And so, the first thing to do is to start doing something. And that’s how charity water got started. It’s a perfect example for this. You know, he was out clubbing and wanted to start doing some good and he just started doing good. And eventually, as he developed his passion for doing good and wanted to leverage his skills being very socially connected. And he built this organization that funds water projects and he really… You know, we’ve talked about some of these things in our other videos but you know he was very mindful not only the people he was serving but very mindful of the people who wanted to give. And he really innovated some great things in terms of the way he created organizational transparency. Donor transparency so that if you give to charity water, they will use that money for a specific project and you can go on. And 2 years from now see how that project is doing. And how much water has been delivered how many people. And that kind of transparency, some precedent. -When I saw that and I realized that 100% of the donation would go to the project because other donors have funded the charity, the nonprofit organization itself. I’m just like, “That’s a cool way of doing it.” Even though it might it have… You know, say I were to donate a dollar amount and 10% or that would go to fund, the run the nonprofit. For me, it just… It made me feel a lot better to know 100%… (Getting emotional here.) …is going to help these people that need water and that there’s other people that are making sure that the organization runs. Yeah, I love that. I love that transparency. So, but in that… In that example, we’re talking about it here because of really actions are more important than the attitude. And yeah, he was… He was just… You know what? I’ve done so much that’s been self centered focused on myself. I’ve got this life that you know what? I want to completely change things and he went out and just started serving even paying his own way to join that… That medical ship or whatever. -And on the mercy ship. -Just like, “I’m going to get out there and just start doing. I don’t…” Yeah, I like that. -And so, yeah. It built. He that… His path sort of evolved but it started with him saying, “I will do something good today.” And we’ll see where it goes, right? And a lot of us have a clearer sense of direction than he had at that point. Not to be critical of him. He’s obviously done amazing things. -So he had no idea how far it take. -Yeah, yeah. He didn’t know where he was going. He just wanted to change his life. And kudos to him. As we start out with that intent to change the world, there is nothing as powerful as actually doing something to make that change happen. Even… Even though it will be small when we first start out. You know, we’re not going to start out with something big. You know, there’s a great analogy to the to your approach with the videos. You know, answering a simple question that 10 people want answered, right? It won’t feel big when you answer that for 10 people. But eventually when you ask answer a lot of questions, the whole thing changes. The whole dynamic changes and it begins to snowball. -That’s… I’m glad you made that connection because that’s a lot of what I teach is focusing on the videos that are real specific and have a low search volume because you’ll get such great results with it. But that is an interesting point that… Yeah, just focus on acting. You know, helping out in the small way. -And it builds. It will build, right? You… As you start doing, right? You learn, right? And that’s how you become the master of YouTube as you started making YouTube videos. And you experimented and you learned. And now, you know it’s mushroomed into a huge thing for you. And for other people that you’re helping, right? So, it’s the same in almost every area. Now, in some areas, there’s going to be more friction. Less tailwind. But those principles still apply. So yeah. -What’s step number 2? -So step number 2 is to collaborate. -Okay. And when I say collaborate, I really am talking about massive collaboration. It’s tempting and relatively easy to collaborate with a peer. And there’s no question that is helpful, right? So, if I am shoveling muck and mud off a beach, you know, after an oil spill. If I got a friend to help me, that would cut my work in half. -Alright. -If I got a Rotary Club with 20 people to help me, that would cut my work by 80, 95 percent right? If I got a high school with 3,000 students to come help me, I no longer am shoveling muck and mud at all. I’m organizing the process, right? So, you see how collaboration… You want to scale it up. It may be impossible. You know, if the optimal partner for you on day one is the W-H-O, the World Health Organization. With all of its… You know, resources all around the world. Well, you may not be able to partner with them on day 1. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t identify and start working toward that goal, right? To engage them in dialogue. Because you never know when they’re going to say, “We need your expertise. Let’s figure out how to replicate your model, your idea across our 12,000 employees in 184 countries. And suddenly, your idea is no longer you delivering you know maternal child care in Cambodia. Now, it’s the W-H-O delivering improve maternal child care and you know, around the world. -That’s huge. -So, that’s the mindset I think we have to have. -Okay. -That massive collaboration opportunity. -And I like thinking about it with our conversations of using influence for good and in this case, you know, if we want to really make a difference in the world or change the world, then yeah, we can collaborate and we can partner with friends and bring others in with us. But if we can use our own influence and our own you know, ideas to find those you know, larger organizations, larger groups then that’s really just about leverage. And finding a… Finding a way… To find that lever to make a bigger impact with more and more… More and more hands like this. Yeah. -Yeah. –
Okay. So, that… That’s a helpful point to note. -Yeah. -What’s point number 3? -So point number 3. And I observed… I really gathered these principles from the polio eradication effort that is an ongoing global effort. 30 years ago, there were 350 to 400 thousand cases a year of polio. Last year, there were 22. Not 22,000. 22. And we are almost done with polio eradication. Now, not quite, And that’s kind of the point here. What got the Polio Eradication Initiative to… Through you know, 99% of the way. They figured out it was not going to get them the rest of the way. They actually got the number of polio cases in the world down below a thousand. 15 years ago. -Hmm. -And they still haven’t got it to zero. It’s really a challenge. And it was only about 5 or 6 years ago they realized, “We need an end game strategy.” They call it. And I think, it’s a brilliant name, right? There’s got to be a way to bring this to its conclusion. And in some cases, you know, if you’re not working toward eradication of something, the goal might be expressed a different way. But for you, for instance, when your YouTube world. The goal may be, “How do I get on network television? How do I take this from being YouTube famous to being network television famous? Or truly Hollywood famous?” Because there’s an order of magnitude, more eyeballs there than on YouTube. As big as your audience is on YouTube, right? And so, to make that leap, you need an end game strategy. Because what got you famous on YouTube won’t make you Hollywood famous. Won’t make you network TV famous. What gets you successful in one village or one country may not be successful everywhere. And so, you need to have an endgame strategy that takes you for that last… That last measure. And in the polio eradication effort, what we’re finding is it’s way harder than we thought it would be. And it’s really shocking how difficult it is to get the last piece. But I am confident that we will see that done. I always say it’s, you know, the last 5 years have been saying, “It’ll be this year, next year.” I still believe that even though this is now the fifth year in a row I’ve been saying, “This year or next year will be the last year with polio cases.” But it has taken a massive effort. But I think we’re we’re now spending on the order of 3 or 4 times per year what we were spending 10 years ago. -As I’m… Because I’m thinking about this, seems like this is a tough step but to really have clarity on what the end goal really is… -Yeap. -So, we can achieve… You know, if we’re talking about YouTube. By the way, the goal isn’t to go to corporate television. (Both Laughs) But I understand. I understand the case as it is a complete… It would be a complete different strategy. -Yeah. -But yeah. So, It’s really know… “Okay, if I want to change the world, what is that end goal?” And with with polio, its to completely 100% eradicate that disease than to have some flexibility and kind of understanding that the methods are going to need to change. -Yeah. -I mean how… How do you know how do you figure out because I guess it hasn’t been figured out fully with the polio case. -Right. -How do you figure out that in-game strategy? -I liken it to a marathon. You know, we do a lot of training for a marathon. You have bee to marathon or 2, I think. -Yeah. Just one full but I found that I like half marathon. -Yeah. -But I’ve run 3 marathons. And all that training, we do in advance is really for the last mile. It’s not so we can run the first mile fast. -Yeah. You know, it’s relatively easy to train for a 5k. That first 3 miles is just not that hard once you’ve trained for a marathon. All that training is so that you can stagger through that last mile. And I think that’s kind of a helpful analogy to recognize there’s just a massive amount of work required. The reason you and I like half marathons instead of full marathons is there is less training. -Mm-hmm. -I met the… -That’s exactly it. -And because training for a full marathon takes a lot of time. You got to put in the miles or you’re just not going to have a successful outcome. And so, yeah. I think you know, figuring out the work required. It clearly is a higher order, right? So, with polio, the easy measure is you know, we’re spending 3 or 4 times as much money as we once were. And of course, we’re concentrating on fewer cases of polio. So it in thumb boys, you expect it to be easier. But what we’re finding with polio? And specifically is that… That there are conflict areas in Afghanistan where it’s difficult to go. The Taliban works with the polio people some days. Some Taliban tribes are more accommodating than others. But you know, that’s… That’s the reality, right? It’s trying to get into Taliban control areas. And then if you’re not in an area and polio is still thriving in an area, people occasionally leave, right? So, they leave and they go other places. So all around Pakistan and Afghanistan, you have cases popping up all the time. Because people leave the areas where they’re really flourishing and then they drop that virus all around those 2 countries. And so it’s really, really hard to get it. And I could go on and on about why it’s difficult. But clearly, greater effort is required and you need to be preparing for that greater effort down the line. To get over that next hurdle. -A lot of times when when I think about… We’ll just say YouTube goals of where we want to take our channel. We think about it you know opposite terms of it gets easier. So, we say like the first hundred subscribers is the hardest. Or the first 1000 is the hardest. But then you know go to go from 1,000 to 2,000 or even 1,000 to 10,000. Might be equal or even less difficult than the first thousand. And it just built a momentum from there. But… So, but if I’m thinking about YouTube as a stepping stone towards my you know, a bigger goal. Meaning, getting 10 million subscribers, that’s that’s a great tool and a great platform. But that’s not the goal. So the… If I understand more clearly what the goal is… Okay and then what would be the step when I get to 10 million subscribers? But then what will I do? And what will the steps be then? This might be the easy step actually compared to you know, if I really want to change the role, I really want to make an impact. Knowing what that is and… At least preparing for in advance knowing that the game is going to change there all times along the way. Okay. -Yeah. So, that’s… That’s how you change the world right there. Anyone can do it. And you know the great thing about changing the world you know, we we often get discouraged. 2 final thoughts. May I share a couple of thoughts? 1 is everyone who ever changed the world was a person who decided to change the world. -Very true. -So that’s… So you know, never, never discount your ability to change the world because you’re just like a person. Because everyone who did, was. Second key thing. It takes an audacity that borders on crazy to change the world. And what I see is that many of the people who are having the most impact are extraordinarily ordinary. Except for the crazy idea that they actually could change the world. That one key belief motivates them to take the action and do all these things I’m talking about. And they do change the world. So somebody… If you have an idea and somebody tells you, “That’s crazy.” That… -That’s a good sign. -Might be a good sign (Both laughs) You’re awesome. Thanks so much. Now we know how to change the world. I really feel that… I really feel that your points are helpful. So, thank you much. You want to find out more about Devin Thorpe and what he’s doing, I’ll put a link down below. Make sure you subscribe and we’ll see you tomorrow.