How can you see what your “enemy” is saying at such a level that you have the power to call them to stand with you?  This seemingly impossible task is not only possible, it’s quite simple.

Here at Vision Force, and inside of Visionary Mind Shifts, we make the distinction between a position and a stand.  If you’re still struggling to grasp this distinction, think of it this way… underneath every position is a stand.

Consider that every single person, even your enemies who you think you understand, are heroic human beings standing for their values.  Now, you may totally disagree with how they are going about standing for their values, and you probably judge them for it.  Your position is that they are wrong, immoral, evil, selfish or (insert your label here).  From this position, you cannot see them as human beings, and they cannot see you.  To protect themselves from your judgments, they form and protect judgments of their own–they form and maintain their own position, from which they cannot see you.

It doesn’t matter how smart you are, your power to create the best results is severely limited, because you lack the kind of vision that could make all the difference.

The key in us being able to move forward individually with powerful vision AND in us being able to co-create with the other side lies in our ability to so clearly see the others’ stand that we are deeply moved by it.  As we are moved and come from this place, the other side feels seen and then can open up to see us as well.  From this place “miracles” can happen, where previously compromise was the best alternative.

It’s a subtle yet incredibly powerful distinction and understanding it is not what makes the difference.  Successfully applying it makes the difference.  You must experience what it is like to first see the positions you didn’t even realize you had, then break through them and then experience the kind of vision that happens as a result.  That level of visionary training is not going to be found in leadership workshops, self-help programs, wealth mindset courses or any such thing.

You will find this revolutionary training is powerfully provided at Vision Force’s iStand Experience, otherwise known as the Vision Force Boot Camp.

At this very moment, Vision Force is searching for 30 to “be the ones” to walk a new path and lead the way for humanity.  If you think this might be you, apply here:

A First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army has taken a stand. Ehren Watada, a 28-year-old Hawaii native, faces a court martial next month and up to 6 years in prison. He is the first commissioned officer in the U.S. to publicly refuse deployment to Iraq.

Here’s the link to the blog and audio. Overy 100,000 people have commented on this man’s stand. Many of his peers call him a traitor and a coward. Others think he’s anything but that. (leave your comments below)

It’s easy to take a position on this young man’s decision, and that’s one of the fundamental problems with the world we live in. Actually, the problem lies within our methods of thinking, our consciousness. Yesterday’s consciousness is insufficient for the world we face today with all of it’s accelerating change, globalization, the advancement of technology, etc.

Someone thinking with yesterday’s consciousness, the “positionary mind of the past,” rushes to judgment without much honest inquiry. Rather than look to understand the person or organization they judge, they simply attack. It’s usually in defense of a position they formed long ago.

This is a very emotional issue, especially for those who chose to stand for their country by risking their lives by fighting at war–even if they objected to the war. To be inspired by this man’s stand, it’s assumed they’d have to turn on their own stand. They are proud of the stand they took to fight, and feel that those who stand for their country by not fighting are invalidating or dishonoring them.

Some soldiers, in going to war, might judge those who don’t as cowardly. This affords them more pride and confidence in their decision, but the judgment itself is what devolves their stand into a position.

In our eagerness to stand for something, we too easily form a righteous position, from which we can no longer think honestly about the situation.

Isn’t honesty the quality of not refusing to look at or think about something, when forming one’s thoughts, words or opinions? Yet, when we form our thoughts and opinions with yesterday’s positionary thinking, those very opinions become walls beyond which we cannot see. Beyond the walls of our position, we can not see the humanity, the courage, the stand taken by “the other side.” And then we treat and speak to them as less than human.

Is it any wonder the world is in such a state of crisis?

What we’re lacking is a new form of consciousness. A visionary consciousness, the likes of which have been rare throughout history. Gandhi is a great example of someone with a visionary consciousness. What we’ll need going forward, however, and what I see is fast approaching, is a much more sophisticated and developed visionary consciousness–higher level thinking methods that facilitate visionary thinking and make it much easier and more common place.

Eventually, evolution to a new kind of thinking will occur. Indeed, it must if we are to survive and thrive in this world.

Some are courageously undertaking the quest to evolve their consciousness even now, and are seeking out training for living as a visionary. Of course, that’s why VisionForce exists–to facilitate this conscious evolution of consciousness.

And right now, we’re looking for 30. We’re looking for those willing to live their lives standing for humanity, including men and women who are standing for peace and freedom even now in Iraq–at war.

If you are willing to live your life as a visionary, as someone who stands, as a hero for mankind, we’re looking for you. We need parents, teachers, entrepreneurs, lawyers, politicians, activists, artists–we need you. Are you willing?

Go here to listen to this valuable interview with John Matterson: how the individual can harness the powers of the internet and of business to transform their lives and the world around them.

The internet. A place where people, who might typical be discriminated against or left out of the Good Ole Boy network, can flourish (if you’re just plain better or smarter at what you do, you can succeed)! A place where color, sex, ethnic or national origin need not be a factor in economic transactions. A place where those who are typically left out can fit in like never before by finding or forming their own social networks–networks that were never before possible (the entrepreneurial home schooler in the New Mexico desert can have instant community with other entrepreneurial home schoolers around the world). A place where valuable how-to information can be downloaded instantly, and often for free. A place where anyone can start an enterprise of their own for virtually no money and succeed. A place where someone can grow a business quite easily without employees (through automated on-line systems, on-line outsource contracting, etc.)…

I used the internet to start up VisionForce. Some information I provided for free. Some I charged for. It reduced the amount of time, effort and money it would otherwise take to create a product and find a market. Producing an electronic book was a lot easier than producing a physical one (even that has become easy now with publishing-on-demand and internet-based fulfillment services).

After I wrote my first ebook and distributed it free on-line, I had people writing me from around the world, telling me how the book had changed their lives. That is power. The power to make a difference. The Internet is the power to communicate. The power to mobilize. The power to create wealth.

And the Internet is only becoming more powerful and more far reaching. This is just the beginning. Here at VisionForce the Internet is an invaluable tool in effecting massive change in the world.

About 3 years ago next month, a young man graduated from one of our boot camps, and went on to become very successful building businesses on the Internet. There is a lot of hype on-line about business opportunities and how to make money on the Internet, but this guy actually did it. And he did it providing real products to people–his own products. He’s come to me recently with a vision for how he can help VisionForce achieve it’s goals for impacting humanity–through the business tactics and principles he’s learned the hard way. He’s created a program for us here at VisionForce and invited our subscribers to join in.

About a year and a half after this man attended boot camp, another young man attended. He too went on to become very successful on the internet–especially in the social entrepreneur realm. He has helped to shape VisionForce’s continuing evolution from a “web 1.0″-type company to a “web 2.0″-type company. These two guys are both proficient marketers, but they come from totally different angles. It’s the yin and yang. They’re both stretching us here at VisionForce to be more effective. There’s great power in having both of these forces pulling on us–and there are ways that each set of strategies will be effective.

Whoever you are, whatever you are up to in the world–doesn’t it makes sense to take advantage of the power of the Internet? To have your vision be seen? To make the difference you want to make? To leave the legacy you want to leave?

And doesn’t it make sense to take advantage of business as well? Business, like the internet is a tool. It’s just a system to grow an organization by creating value in the world. Put the two together and who knows what you could do?

If you want to get in on the high-level training in no-nonsense business building program that we at VisionForce is taking starting next month, go here. Fair warning: this requires a serious investment of time and money. But make no mistake–it is an investment that can pay off quite soon if you’re willing to work. What’s cool is you’ll be able to work alongside those of us here at VisionForce.com.

If you don’t have money to invest, but you have time, then I’d suggest starting a blog at Zaadz.com, especially if the business you want to start is more socially oriented. Start communicating the message and the value that you want to offer the world. Build a network of conscious people to support you. There, you can also network with many of us from VisionForce.

Have something to say about the power of the internet? Post your comments below.

You imagine that your neighbor might be a fearless terrorist, secretly planning to destroy the world as you know it. He might be operating inside an independent terrorist cell that is virtually undetectable. He might have a plan to cause great destruction in the community you inhabit. He might have access to all the tools, ideas and resources that he needs to achieve his mission.

Now imagine this. Your neigbor might be a fearless visionary, secretly planning to create a world that really works for all of us–a world of peace and prosperity. He might be operating inside an independent visionary cell that is virtually undetectable. He might have a plan to create incredible values for your community. He might have access to all the tools, ideas and resources that he needs to achieve his mission.

Such a visionary cell has just emerged in war-torn Uganda. One fearless, young visionary has been not-so-secretly planning to create a future that really works for his countrymen and for humanity. He’s been operating autonomously, rapidly growing the number of people who are working with him, both locally in Uganda and globally through the internet. He has a plan, and he’s carrying it out. Now, VisionForce has chosen to give him access to all the tools, ideas and resources he needs to achieve his mission.

Check out our VisionForce Uganda project here.

Together, we’re busy figuring out a model that will be easily replicatable and sustainable. We intend to cultivate the spontaneous emergence of visionary cells around the globe–in China, India, Lebanon, Israel, Iran, Cuba, Africa, Brazil, Japan–everywhere there are youth who are willing to stand for humanity. Never before has the future been so solidly within the grasp of the youth!

What can you see is possible? Leave your comments, please!

In the recent interview of Bill Clinton by Fox News Sunday (watch video), he talks about the advantages and disadvantages of being an ex-president as he attempts to bring about positive change, and compares the power of an ex-president to that of a president. A president has the military might and political might to force change, whereas an ex-president does not. Former President Clinton and Former Vice President Gore have both been taking on projects to cause positive change in the world after leaving office. And, while I’ve seldom been inspired by any politician (as their primary strategies are typically positionary ones), I am often quite inspired by the paths taken by ex-presidents.

Gore, for example, may be doing more as an ex-politician to cause the kind of change he seeks with our relationship to the environment than he perhaps ever could have done as president. To add context to this comment, I’d mention these points:

1) a political victory is often short-lived as the opPosition usually becomes sufficiently inspired to fightback and undo what you’ve done.

2) while we can use political power to force others actions, we cannot force their minds and hearts

3) often forcing a person’s behavior can result in a myriad of rebellious actions which undermine the values of all involved.

I say it’s time to look at how much we turn to politics to make positive change happen in this world. What if we as civilians took much more of the time that we spend in building and defending our political positions, and instead built visions that called us into heroic action to be the change?

Visionaries such as entrepreneurs and social entrepreneurs have over the last century solved all kinds of personal and social ills, not by forcing anyone but by creating a better alternative for people to freely choose.

How can we harness our own power to be the change and recreate our world? Comments most welcome!

Imagine, if all the American colonialists could have watched Patrick Henry deliver his famous speech via web cam:

“Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”

Our red coated friends from across the pond might have high tailed it back to their ships and sailed home without a fight.

Never before in history have we had so many powerful tools at our fingertips, tools which individuals can be use to communicate, organize, unite, mobilize, etc.  Never before have we had so much access to information and education.  People worry about technology’s ability to give governments’ greater control, but what about the new power and liberty such technology delivers to the individual?  I believe it far out paces the increasingly snoopy eye of the government.

Several in the VisionForce community have begun setting in motion plans to use tools such as video blogging to share their stories, their vision and the actions they’re taking to be the change they seek, and to change the world.

Imagine… training young people from China, Africa, India and all over the world in the ways of the visionary for free–straight from a web cam!  That and more is just around the corner.  Shhhhhh….