There are a variety of ways in which change can be measured.  You can use a scale to see if your weight has varied.  You could use a tape measure to see if your bicep has grown.  Even simpler, you could evaluate the time you do or don't spend on an activity you've committed to...do you now workout 3 days a week from 1.  Did you cut something out of your diet, promise your spouse no more emailing after 8, or that you would begin recycling at home.

Of the many ways to measure change, one of the most significant (at least to me), is seeing how your own changes have impacted others.  Commitment and execution of change is a very powerful force.  The example set by one individual,  proves to others that real and tangible change can be achieved...making them far more comfortable in considering their own capabilities.

The definition we use as part of our Agent of Change moniker is as follows: "someone who intentionally or indirectly causes or accelerates social, cultural or behavioral change”.

This post is focused on the "indirectly" part of that statement.

This past week, I have once again witnessed and enormous amount of positive change.  I have witnessed it with some of the Agents, some of my clients, in my classes and even in my home.  I have seen a significant other of one my clients show great interest and support in what my client is working on, as well as what they have achieved...going so far as to consider making some of these same changes themselves.  I have seen the parents of an Agent support an activity that Agent was involved in.  I have seen my own children asking for "healthy" milk...since we no longer allow cow's milk in their diets.  And, collectively, I have seen the Agents continuing to support each other in a very meaningful way...I'll let Olaf tell you more about that in his next post.

Not long after creating this blog, back in 2007...I had a vision, a hope.  Could I make enough changes  to actually make a difference in our world.  At the time, even I thought that may be a "lofty" and overly ambitious place to set the bar...but still...

I had witnessed my own change impact my family, motivate others and help some in understanding things in a different way.  If I could change the way my son behaved in our society, what nutritional choices he would make, how he would treat others...then could the world actually be changed?  Yes...it certainly can.  And, there are some amazing examples of that in history.  Just look at how Gandhi brought the British Empire in India to a halt through the collective (and non-violent by the way) efforts of his message of change. 

In today's world, the hustle and bustle of daily routines may not allow many to consider the changes they make, the impact it has, or how to form a collective effort to take on a specific issue. Good news...you don't have to make it that complicated. 

There are few things in my life today (yes, my wife and family are at the top of the list:) which give me the amount of fulfillment and satisfaction of seeing what impact I have had on others, no matter how small or indirectly.  To know that something positive you have done, has in some way touched, connected and "changed" something within someone else is a feeling that is almost indescribable.  What I can verbalize about that, is that I feel "connected", part of something far larger then myself.

All it takes is one person.  One change.  One at a time.

What will you change today?

Josh