• In the above video with help from some surprising footage, Derek Sivers explains how movements really get started. I decided to analyze Sivers’s assessment of creating a movement and apply it to everyday life. Life consists of bodies in motion. Instead of experiencing life as a series of random events, what would happen if we considered our lives as movements?
• A leader needs the guts to stand out and be ridiculed. We all have dreams. We spend our childhood scribbling with crayons, dancing, writing, singing, playing the piano, and taking pictures. At some point we decide we are going to be great. Mediocrity is safe. Greatness is dangerous. In order to become a leading artist, dancer, singer, writer, pianist, or photographer we must have the guts to put out our work and face criticism. Many people refrain from sharing their joy with world out of fear of being judged. We need to understand that the only judgment that matters is our own. Living for the approval of society will lead to unhappiness. We need to resist the urge of giving in to an existence of quiet desperation and fight for the opportunity to live a life full of laughter. To do this we must lead our lives with a decisive decision or action. This takes courage, because once we decide to go beyond being average we immediately are considered ‘mad’. We have to endure this. While everyone else looks at us as delusional dreamers, we believe in ourselves when no one else does. We endure the doubts of others, and find beauty in our progress when everyone else thinks we’re proceeding in vain.
• The first follower is crucial; he will show everyone else how to follow. Making a decision to pursue our dream is only the beginning. A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. Then another, and another. Far too often we make bold proclamations only to wind up looking like fools. We have to understand that once we take a decisive step toward our goal, we must follow it up with another decisive action. We will do this ad nauseum until we reach our final destination. When we fail, we do one thing then become impatient when we don’t see immediate results. We commit to the big picture while ignoring the details. We announce to the heavens our intention to ascend, then drop our heads and look down, despising the current place we occupy. We take the first step, then lose our focus and stumble on the second step, before falling on the third. Then we quit and crawl around like desperate animals trying to pick up the pieces of our broken lives.
• The first follower is an underestimated leader. Just declaring you’re going to be great is not an accomplishment. You need to follow-up that statement with action. Otherwise your just talk. Following positive action with positive action will lead to positive results. What we do after deciding to be great is what will make or break us.
• The first follower is what transforms a lone nut into a leader. Once you take continuous decisive action toward your goal, people will begin to take you serious. You will no longer be looked at as a lunatic. Instead of having you committed, people will admire your commitment. Lead your life with decisive action and people will get behind you and offer their support.
• Nurture your initial followers as equals. The second step is just as important as the first and so on. We have a tendency to overvalue the beginning and the end of a quest, but what makes the story is everything that happens in between those two points. The rough draft is an important stepping stone that will get us to our final manuscript. We have to set the camera’s settings, adjust the light, and determine our angle before we take the picture and head off to the dark room. All this is done before our glossy image appears on the cover of a magazine. Every point of the process is important. In life, all things are sacred. Even the grunt work.
• It’s not about the leader anymore, it’s about the movement. Once we build up momentum we must let go of our goal. By this I mean we must focus on the process not the result. This doesn’t mean we give up on our desired effect. Not at all. Imagine you’re building a house; you created a blueprint and are ready to build. At some point you need to put down the blue print and pick up a hammer and nails, else the house never be built. Once you’ve decided what you want to do, do it. Transition from a life of wanting to act, to a life of action. After you have developed a plan and taken decisive action, you must have faith that you will be successful. When a builder lays the first stone, his work hardly resembles a completed structure, but by continuing his work, by continuing his movement, by taking action, he will accomplish his goal.
• The third follower makes a crowd. By continuing our journey and following positive action with positive action then we should start seeing results. The effects of our positive causes will start to accumulate. This is when we start experiencing success.
• A movement must be public. We have to share our dreams with the world. When we do we start to be recognized as a great artist, dancer, photographer, writer, etc. If we do not share the fruits of our labor, we will feel lonely and bitter. To reach fulfillment at some point we must step out of the shadows into the light. To be a great performer, at some point you must get on the stage.
• The new followers follow the first follower, not the leader. Build on your success. Atrophy sets in when movement stops. Many reach the precipice of life only to experience a mighty fall. Once you reach a goal, set another goal. Always provide yourself with a source of motivation. Otherwise, you’ll fall into apathy and lose everything you gained. Complacency will murder any future success.
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