What does it take to change the world? In the “Do Hard Things” conference by the Harris brothers (which I highly recommend), they end with demonstrating various movements; snapping, rubbing, clapping, etc, and ask the audience to do them together. What was a snap, rub, clap, was, becomes “raining inside.”
Our small contributions might not seem like much, but when we put them all together, we can do something great. Like changing the world.
In light of that, I would like to share how teens and young adults are changing the world in a mass force.
I am part of the “Young Writers Workshop” under the “Rebelution” and “Do Hard Things.” One of the instructors, still a young adult herself, has just signed a book deal and we are going to do something about it. Dust, by Kara Swanson, is a retelling of the famous tale Peter Pan.
What are we setting out to do? We are going to change the world. But right now, at this moment, we have two goals; rally around Kara and make this one of the best-selling books in her market.
Kara has only published a few books and a young, unestablished, Christian author’s first couple books don’t often make a splash despite the fact that Kara specializes in marketing. If Dust became a big-seller, other young authors might have a better chance at getting published. Expectations for teens and young adults would also be changed and that would change the world.
Expectations often define people. For example, the Rosenthal–Jacobson study. In the study, certain students in a school were pronounced “bloomers.” The bloomers were expected to grow and have better performance throughout the year. Teachers were told to expect much from the “special” children, and sure enough, they delivered. However, the “bloomers” were in fact chosen randomly and the expectations were the cause of the growth!
As I firmly believe, we ARE the future and being the future, expectations that affect us, affect the future. Expectations change us and therefore, will change the world.
How will we make Dust a best-seller? We’re only teens. A group of young writers is promoting Dust on blogs (hint: you’re reading one). We plan to pre-order Dust, read it, and then review it. Do you see where we’re going? And you can be a part. You and I can change the world.