Archive for the ‘Manifesto’ Category

Anytime I am in a situation, where I am present that my voice could make a difference… and yet I think my voice is not welcome… my heart starts beating faster. I feel this way right now. I am not sure what form this call to action will take over the ensuing months, but I feel that VisionForce is arriving at a crossroads.

I just wrote the following to the new class of visionaries who will be attending the VisionForce Boot Camp in 2 weeks:

Watching the new film, Lions For Lambs, tonight in the theatre, it hit me. VisionForce is about being in action. This is not a new “revelation,” but a further clarification along the arduous path of learning to articulate what VisionForce offers people.

VisionForce is for those who are willing to BE in action, to LIVE as an uncompromised expression of their vision… especially at this critical time in history, at a time when we get to decide if we perish as a species due to our own choices, or if we acknowledge perhaps the greatest overlooked force for causing change… NOT political force, military force, financial power… put the force of our own individual vision… the power to walk the path less traveled, guided from within. Perhaps one of the greatest illusions of our time is the idea that the power to change the world is in the hands of Big Business, Big Government and Big Religion… and so we waste so much our time thinking, debating, complaining, watching debates, or taking well-intentioned actions that only feed the systems ruled by the big three. We donate our time, donate some money, pay our taxes, vote on election day, sign petitions, join some protests, post signs in our yard, etc. AS IF THESE ARE THE MOST POWERFUL ACTIONS WE CAN TAKE!

We are creators! Entrepreneurship, art, music, poetry, science, technology, … we can CREATE a world that really works! We can create! In the early 21st century, there is no longer much value in the idea of “doing our part,” hoping that it will all work out OK if we do. No, to summarize Werner Erhard, it’s time we each find the visionary leader in ourselves and come together to create a world that works. Those of us, like Erhard, who dare say human beings are capable of so much more, are laughed at and criticized. In Werner, and others in the “human potential movement,” we have people who dare to fail big, because they see there is something worth standing for.

Who are we not to own our power to BE the change now? Who are we to pretend we don’t have the power to create a world that works?

VisionForce – it’s the power in YOU.

When you come to boot camp in 2 weeks… something tells me you’re going to get the next evolution of boot camp! This is a process, an evolution… I am in the SAME game you are. I do not have answers for you, and I will not even think about telling you what to do. I simply invite you further into the game you are ALREADY in as a leader, a creator–by nature. Are you ready to play?

Manifesto, News, Visionaries | 31 Comments | August 11th, 2006

1 – You are one of the few who can’t turn your back on the opportunity you have to do something great in this lifetime. You’re committed to doing something great–something born of your own vision (your vision for your life, your family, your company, your community or humanity).

2 – You’re frustrated in a world that rewards conformity and tolerates mediocrity. You’re compassionate to the situations of others, yet you’re unsettled by the way conformity and mediocrity has human beings staying small.

3 – You know that what stands between you and the better world you envision is really but one thing: your own limits. And you know those limits are but an illusion. Thus, you are committed to transcending your limits to be the change you seek in the world. Deeply committed.

4 – Thus, human development is not something new to you. You eat it up. You don’t just have an intellectual fancy for human development ideas, you do the work, you take the action.

5 – Having been someone who takes action to transcend your limitations, you see how much more is possible–not just for yourself, but for the world at large. The more you see your own evolution, the more you see for all of humanity.

6 – This vision, you know, is more than a dream. People in your life may see you as an idealist, a dreamer, a rebel or maybe even a nut. But their opinions of you are based on their own fears to live from their own vision–and you know that. So you don’t give much credence to their doubts and fears.

7 – Yet it bothers you. You give so much in life, you sacrifice, you work, you commit at such a high level that you may often find yourself alone, disheartened or even in despair. For you have no comfort zone to retreat to. You can’t pretend you don’t see a greater vision. You won’t pretend. You won’t turn around and live a “normal” life.

8 – Until your dying day, you will keep standing for the vision you see–for what you know to be possible. You are a visionary–a revolutionary. The world is born by those with your courage, your will, your love. There you stand, you can do no other.

9 – You know that if more people could but see even a little more of your vision, it would change their life. It would change the world. You sense something is deeply missing from traditional self-improvement methods. You don’t want to just succeed inside the prevailing system–you want to change the system or give birth to a new one. And you know that takes an entirely different set of tools for thinking, being and communicating.

10 – Words like “change,” “revolution,” and “transformation” don’t scare you. “Bring it on,” you say. You welcome the new, the different, the complex.

11 – You likely have little company. You have few you can talk to who really relate.

12 – The idea of arriving at a final truth or solution annoys you or humours you. You know it’s a fallacy that the fearful cling to. To be human, you’re sure, is to be alive with the quest and the question, learning and evolving continually. The thought of pretending you have the answer repulses you.

13. So you don’t try to sell people on your worldview. You don’t have a need to change their beliefs. You are comfortable in the question, in the unknown. That is your home. It’s where you live every day.

14. You know fear. You seldom ignore your feelings. Rather, you face them. You feel them. And yet you don’t define yourself as them. You define yourself by your actions.

15. You are someone I wish to get to know. Together, we can change the world. We can create a future where every human being naturally develops a healthy, free, independent mind. Where children are honored as the visionaries they have the innate potential to be. A world where human beings live at the edge of their potential as conscious creators in peace and prosperity.

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