The 10 Commandments for Changing the World

Written by Anne Gorgy
Featured image by Anne Gorgy

Pay it Forward

“What starts here, changes the world” is the slogan of the University of Texas. It was featured in the commencement speech by Admiral William H. McRaven. It doesn’t take much to change the world, he says. It only requires one person to change the lives of 10 other people, who will in turn pay it forward. The recurring effect of one decision taken by a single individual can impact and change the lives of generations. So by five generations, that one person would have changed the lives of millions of people.

Our struggles in the world are more similar than we think. As we go through these struggles, our gender, ethnicity, and religion, become irrelevant. Therefore, we must move forward, grow, adapt, overcome our struggles, and change the world around us.

The 10 Commandments

Here are the 10 commandments, as stated by Admiral William H. McRaven, inspired by his time served in the navvy, on how to change the world:

  1. Make your bed in the morning
    That becomes your first accomplished task in the morning, giving you pride and motivation to keep going for the rest of the day. To go back home with a longer list of checked tasks. It is these little things in life that matter. If we fail to accomplish the little things in life right, we will fail to make the big things right. Even if someone is going through a bad day, at the end of the day they would go back to a nicely done bed, that they have made and that will give them encouragement for the next day.
  2. Everyone must paddle
    Throughout our daily life, we will need the help of friends, colleagues, and strangers. We all need to find someone to paddle with in order to change the world.
  3. Everyone must be measured by the size of their hearts not the size of their flippers
    It doesn’t matter what your education, social status, background is. What matters is a person’s will to succeed.
  4. Get over being a ”sugar cookie”
    Nothing will ever be good enough. No such thing as a perfectly starched uniform. It is just the way life is. We only just have to keep moving forward.
  5. Do not be afraid of circuses
    Life is full of circuses. They are designed to challenge you and test your resilience. We will often fail in life. It will be painful and discouraging. But it will build your inner strengths.
  6. Slide down the obstacles with your head first
    We must take chances and risks, even if it seems foolish and dangerous. Come up with new strategies and techniques that no one has thought of or implemented.
  7. Never back down from the sharks
    There are a lot of sharks out there in the world. But in order not to be eaten by sharks and complete the swim, you must be grounded and not give in to the sharks.
  8. Be your very best in the darkest moments
    When your tactical skills, physical power, and inner strength have failed you, you need and must be calm, and composed.
  9. We must all believe in the power of hope and the power of one person
    One person giving people hope can maintain to keep their heads above the mud. And with the power of all united, the mud will seem a little warmer and the wind a little tamer. But it all starts with hope and one voice.
  10. Lastly, if you want to change the world, don’t ever give up or ring that bell

If you do these things, the following generation will live in a better world than the one we have today. But you must start and set your goal on changing the world.

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