Change until the world gives way to you

Chapter 5 Changing the world begins with changing yourself (4)
At this time, the 41-year-old Obama was still an insignificant state senator, an African-American politician who did not receive the support of the African-American community, and a marginal person at the core of power in Chicago.In failure, Obama seized a lifeline. In the fall of 2002, Obama, who had been in the state legislature for less than six years, approached E. Jones, the state's new Senate Democratic leader, and persuaded the latter to let him run for the 6 U.S. Senate on behalf of the Illinois Democratic Party.It's a more important seat than the one in Congress he lost two years ago, but Jones is bullish on Obama's potential and willing to take the risk.He used his influence to attack other candidates in the party, won key campaign space for Obama, and helped Obama organize a large African-American support team-all conditions that Obama did not have before.

At the same time, Obama did not forget to reinvent himself.He has been visiting various black churches in the area since 2000, learning the rhythm of the black pastor's speech and the demeanor of praise. He almost never misses the opportunity to speak in black churches every week, constantly emphasizing his belief in Christianity.Whenever someone questioned Obama's true racial identity, he brought out his pastor, Jeremiah Wright, who has wide influence in the local African-American community.Sure enough, in the 2004 federal senatorial election, Wright won him a large base of voters.In addition, in the long-term legal work experience, Obama has also received the support of many small-town lawyers in the poker fellowship in the bar.In order to obtain campaign funds, the Obama family even mortgaged their apartment.In the end, Obama won the Illinois Democratic Senate nomination with 52.8% of the support due to his opponent Hall's involvement in domestic abuse.

At this time, in the duel with the Republicans, Obama is already winning.In earlier polls, he had a 22-point lead over his Republican opponent, former African-American radio anchor Alan Keyes.Therefore, on July 2004, 7, he was invited to deliver a keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention as a candidate for the U.S. Senate.Obama lived up to expectations and became famous when he spoke. Three months later, he was elected as a federal senator with a high vote of 27:3, becoming the fifth and third African-American federal senator elected by universal suffrage in American history. He is also the only African-American senator in Congress.As a result, Obama officially entered the national political arena.

presidential dream

On January 2005, 1, Obama was sworn in as a U.S. senator, but he ranked only 4th among 100 senators in Congress.At home in Illinois, he joked that being the 98th senator meant his only job was to sharpen pencils.Of course, Obama was not reconciled to this. He hired and established a group of widely recognized and high-level advisory groups dedicated to a wide range of issues beyond the usual requirements of new senators.Obama's good looks and soft-spoken tone often belied the obsessive ambition beneath the surface.Maybe people never doubt that he will rise to the top sooner or later, but the speed of his rise still surprises them.

Due to the widespread influence of the famous speech in Boston in July 2004, after Obama came to the capital Washington, he frequently appeared on the cover of magazines. The audio version of his early autobiography "Father's Dream" soon won the Grammy "Best Reading Album". prize.Obama strikes while the iron is hot and publishes his second book, "Audacious Hope," which takes its title from the title of his Boston speech and is also the centerpiece of a sermon by Pastor Wright.In the book, Obama points out the common fault of all presidential candidates: "an endless restlessness; an inability to appreciate the flaws of what is in front of us." Indeed, Obama has little interest in pushing legislation on Capitol Hill, and he spends a lot of energy on Candidates for their party's candidates for public office in exchange for the latter's support for themselves.So when his new book came out, the media had the subtitle: "Is he the 7 presidential candidate?"

The answer to the mystery came in October 2006, when Obama first said he had "considered the possibility of running for president" instead of his previously stated 10 Senate term.Pollsters then added his name to the Democratic Party's list of candidates.In the first poll in November 2010, Obama came in second with 2006 percent, while Hillary came in first with 11 percent.At this time, under the hype of the media, not only a group of politicians in Illinois persuaded him to run, but also many stars in the entertainment industry, including Oprah Winfrey, Macy Gray, George Clooney, Halle Berry and Will Smith and others also expressed their willingness to help Obama's campaign; the technical geniuses in Silicon Valley helped him design an online fundraising system combining "retail investors" and "big investors" that later allowed as many as 17 million people to donate to him.

On February 2007, 2, in Springfield, the capital of Illinois, Obama finally announced his candidacy for the 10 election.He borrowed the implication of Lincoln's famous speech "House Divided" here in 2008: "We can build a more hopeful America. Before Lincoln called for an end to the old Congress that was divided and united, hopes and dreams continued."

When Obama tried to break through the more than 200-year history of a white man serving as the US president, he first encountered Hillary Clinton in the party with the momentum and connections of the former first lady.In the first primary state, Iowa, he was lucky to come out on top, and thereafter he would win and lose with Hillary.However, unlike Hillary who only gambled on big states in the early stages of the campaign, and even thought that the campaign could end and celebrate victory after "Super Tuesday" on February 2th, Obama took a longer-term view and predicted North Carolina in advance on May 5th. The primary election will deal a "decisive blow" to the opponent.But what he insisted on tactically is "not giving up any representative votes", attacking small states that are ignored by opponents and states that hold primary elections with caucuses.Relying on his faith and youthful capital, he kept going non-stop. Finally, after going through 5 debates and spending hundreds of millions of dollars in campaign funds, he won 6 of a total of 26 primary elections, leading his opponent by more than 56 sworn delegates. Cheng has been counting on the recount of votes in Florida and Michigan and the super-delegate vote to save Hillary, who has become the African-American candidate "closest to the presidency" in the United States so far.

I don't know how many people watched the black president's speech, which can be said to be a miracle in the world.His past may have had a similar experience to ours, his present is experiencing the world we see, and his future is also attracting the attention of the whole world.Although we are far away from him, since you believe in the changes created by Obama, you should believe that you can also change, and it will be of great benefit to the world.

Say to yourself again: "Yes, we can".

A little change is a new world
Changing yourself may be a small thing to the world, but it is the content of your whole world to you.As a member of a social group, everyone has a disharmonious side of the people around them and the surrounding environment, which will inevitably lead to large and small contradictions and conflicts.Under such circumstances, most people always think about changing the people and environment around them so that they are in step with themselves, instead of thinking about starting from themselves and changing themselves.As everyone knows, to change the world you have to start with yourself.

George Bernard Shaw said: "The wise man adapts himself to the world; the unwise man only insists that the world adapt to him."

Indeed, there are many such unwise people in real life.

"I want a divorce"!A middle-aged man said to civil affairs officials.

"why"?Officials began routine interviews.

"My wife and I have different personalities. I am anxious, but she is slow. I asked her to change, but she ignored it; I like spicy food, but she likes sweets. I asked her to change the taste, but she objected."

"I'm going to resign"!An employee said to the boss.

"why"?asked the boss.

"Most of the employees in the same dormitory as me are from Anhui. They all like to listen to Huangmei Opera at night, but I like to watch Kung Fu movies. I asked them to change it, and they collectively protested."

Look!We always like to change others, but such endings are always futile.Therefore, wise people always like to change themselves first, so that after the change, we don't have to continue the entangled life in the past, and our world will become very novel.

In the basement of Westminster Abbey, the tomb of an Anglican bishop reads:

"When I was young and free, I imagined that chimneys had no limits. I dreamed of changing the world. When I became mature and wise, I found that the world could not be changed, so I narrowed my vision. Just change my country!

But my country also seems to be something I can't change.

when i arrived in twilight years, in one last desperate attempt, i decided to change only my family, those closest to me - but alas!They don't accept change at all.

now on my deathbed, i suddenly realize: if i had only changed myself first, then by example i would have changed my family.then, with their inspiration and encouragement, i may be able to change my country.And then, who knows, maybe I can even change the whole world. "

Did the words on the tombstone inspire you?Although the bishop tried to change his whole life, he was unsuccessful. It boiled down to whether he was willing to change himself.If you try to make others change, you will be resisted by others. Why not change yourself directly, so as to slowly affect the surroundings, and then the whole world.

An old lady has two sons, one selling umbrellas and the other painting walls, which makes the old lady worried and unhappy every day.Because when the weather is fine, she is worried that the umbrellas will not be sold, and when it is raining, she is worried that she cannot paint the walls.Later, a wise man told her: "Think about it from another angle. When it rains, umbrellas sell more, and when it's sunny, the walls are well painted. It's good at any time." After hearing this, the old lady smiled every day.The wisdom of smart people is admirable, but the small change in thinking can bring about such a big change, which aroused my deep thinking.Yeah, how important "change" is in reality.

Tell another story. More than 100 years ago, there was a wave of gold rush in the United States, and many people flocked to the gold rush to make themselves rich; there were also a very small number of people who did not go to the gold rush, and they set up passenger transportation companies to make the gold seekers reach their destinations quickly. In order to make life convenient for gold diggers, department stores, post offices, and casinos were set up.A few years later, when most of the gold diggers who flocked away were still poor, the very few who did not follow the trend became rich.Why is this?This is the result of a change in thinking. A small change has reaped wealth that most people cannot achieve. It has to be said that their self-change has brought them rich benefits.Think about the problem from another angle, and accomplish the final goal in a different way.

You have seen how many successes and miracles these changes have brought to human beings. In fact, the world is more colorful because of your small change. Because of inadvertent changes, our ordinary work becomes no longer mediocre. Things will be full of challenges and surprises, and because of this, we get not only wages and remuneration, but also a confident, happy and cheerful attitude.

That being the case, you should make up your mind to change yourself now. In the words of U.S. President Obama: "Whether the change can be effective depends on his subsequent power base structure. Only when he has more power in the game between him and Congress Only people who stand on his side at all times will make changes happen.” Even if we are not Obama, the President of the United States, the CEO, etc., when we treat ourselves, we need to change and hold up a fulcrum for our dreams .

When Bai Nian's law firm in the United States first opened, he couldn't even afford a copier.When waves of immigrants poured into the fertile soil of the United States, he took on many immigration cases, and was often called to the detention center of the Immigration Bureau in the middle of the night to lead people.He drove a varnished H-Da car, traveled between small towns, and practiced as a lawyer conscientiously.Finally, the daughter-in-law became a mother-in-law, expanded the office, hired full-time secretaries and case handlers, drove a Mercedes-Benz in style, and received courteous treatment everywhere.

However, due to unforeseen circumstances, he almost lost all his assets investing in stocks.What's more unfortunate is that, at the end of the year and the beginning of the year, the immigration law was amended again, and the number of occupational immigration quotas was reduced, which suddenly left everyone in the cold.He didn't expect to go from glory to bankruptcy almost overnight.

At this time, he received a letter written by a president: transfer 30% of the company's equity to him, and hire him as the lifelong legal representative of the company and two other branches.

He came to the door, and the president was a Polish man who was only 40 years old. "Remember me?" the president asked.

He shook his head, the president smiled slightly, and took out a crumpled five-yuan money order from the drawer of the huge desk. The business card on it was printed with the address and phone number of lawyer Bo Nian.He couldn't think of anything else like that.

"10 years ago, at the Immigration Bureau." The president said, "I was queuing up to apply for a work card. When I was in the queue, the Immigration Bureau was about to close. At that time, the application fee for the work card increased by 5 yuan, and the Immigration Bureau did not Receive personal checks. I don’t have any extra cash. If I can’t get a work card that day, the employer will hire someone else. At this time, you handed over 5 yuan from behind, and I want you to leave your address so that the money can be transferred. Give it back to you, you gave me this business card."

He also gradually remembered, but he still asked doubtfully: "What happened later?"

"Later I was in this company, and soon I invented two patents. I wanted to send this money order on the first day after I came to work in the company, but I never did. I came to the United States alone to make a fortune. A lot of cold reception and suffering. The 5 dollars changed my attitude towards the United States, so I can't just send this money order."

In fact, it is not that $5 changed two people, but the change of these two people made the value of $5 a meaning.That being the case, let's stop circling around in circles, break out of the tight encirclement, change ourselves, and make the world a whole new look!

In 1945, after the victory of World War II, Walton was demobilized from the army. He rented a storefront in the small town of New Lane, Arkansas, and began to operate his first retail store.In the 50s and 60s, Walton expanded the ben franklin chain stores under his own name to 15 branches, becoming the branch with the most outstanding performance.

In 1962, Walton realized that the discount department store had great development prospects, but the ben franklin headquarters rejected his suggestion of investing in the discount department store.In order to seize this golden opportunity, Walton decided to fight against the wall and obtained a bank loan with all his property as collateral. Finally, in July of the same year, he founded his first discount department store, Wal-Mart, and achieved great success.

At this turning point in history, first of all, entrepreneurs must be visionary and able to spot business opportunities that others ignore.Secondly, entrepreneurs must have the innovative spirit of constantly breaking through themselves.At that time, Walton already had 15 ben franklin chain stores. If it was an ordinary person, it would probably choose to live in peace and stability.But he was not satisfied with the status quo, but continued to break through himself and pursue new successes, especially when he used all his property as collateral to obtain a loan.

The world is changing too much. We need to open our arms, devote ourselves to this era, and learn to think in different ways. In this era of change, we need to speed up.Only by working hard to innovate can we have a future. If you stick to the rules or blindly imitate others, you will definitely fail in the end.

(End of this chapter)