Hear it from Horse's Mouth: Mr. Chris Arnold sharing about WORLD MERIT*.

I thank Chris Arnold, the Founder of Your Big Year and World Merit* for sharing these words of wisdom. I also appreciate his generosity and kindness in acknowledging my Visions and visions of IU.

Following is a direct letter from Chris Arnold, Founder of YourBigYear, Smaller Earth & WorldMerit*.

Today, Inspiration is not that difficult to find. Social Media makes great quotes extremely accessible, almost to a point beyond saturation.  The oratory and poetry of great historical figures is being somewhat undermined by the sheer quantity of ‘wise words’ online.

However, though sharing a platform with the common words of ‘Anonymous’ may dent the ego of past poets and political leaders, I say this ‘inspiration clutter’ is a great thing. It has created a modern day peer pressure to be a source or conduit for inspiration. As Anonymous or perhaps a famous poet first said, there is a pressure now to do well but also to do good.

Users of Social Media have already and irreversibly made a commitment to check or judge the actions and values of politicians and corporations. Though that is not always going to be fair in the unfiltered world of places like Facebook or Twitter, the consequence is that all emerging leaders know that they have to be people of value and values. The best of the upcoming generation know that it makes strategic sense to be collaborative, emotionally aware, culturally aware, ‘social’ entrepreneurs.

In the past, because the chance of being ‘found out’ was much lower, leaders were ‘safe’ if standards occasionally dropped lower than the electorate or customer would want. There were only so many news reporters to go around. Compare this to the speed and distance both news and innuendo can travel today. As David Jones, CEO of HAVAS Worldwide and Founder of One Young World says, "People are now empowered by social media to hold business and leaders accountable. So, if you behave in the wrong way – whether you are the head of an Arab Spring country or News International – then people can sanction you. That has taken corporate social responsibility out of the silo and put it in the P&L statement. Business cannot avoid this.”

In my opinion the remarkable effect of Social Media is not the access to information or communication it has provided, but rather the positive change in culture it is inexorably making. Twenty year olds have always been vaunted as idealists and activists, but today I believe it is increasingly more so. The tools are there to collaborate across borders and the desire to be seen to take action and have positive momentum is something for society to harness.

Old people, and by that I mean everyone who has failed to adapt to the current online methods of communication, will latch onto the painfully frivolous uses of social media. They believe that Twitter is about sharing lunch updates; they believe Facebook is simply a source for inanity; they regard the Internet mostly as an efficient delivery system for porn and a way to browse information – like a big virtual library. This view is irrelevant and almost certainly in its final years.

There is Merit Online. That is a useful pun for me as my organization is called World Merit and we have our own online social community, however, I mean it in a more encompassing way. The upcoming generation is grouping together in ways that will absolutely change the world. Yes! There are huge number of superficial online communities, but just look at how many powerful groups are being formed, for example, www.worldmerit.org, www.oneyoungworld.com, www.dosomething.org. This multi –tasking generation is comfortable with being bombarded with messages that naturally splits its focus. In the same minute it will think about football and famine, pop and poverty, and these groups sit unapologetically next to each other on Facebook and in their consciousness.

So here is my main point. Quotes are unlimited, messaging is unlimited, but because of the actions that the upcoming generations will take and the way that content is easily shared, inspiration is also unlimited.

This has been recognized by my friend, Sujit Lalwani, who happened to be a finalist in the www.yourbigyear.com competition that I started a few years back. In YBY2 Sujit beat over 60,000 people from almost every country in the world to become a finalist. He had already recognized the power of his actions on peers and had set up the Inspiration Unlimited initiative, and has now authored his first book with the title ‘Life Simplified!’. Sujit is in his mid twenties and is one of the most motivating emerging leaders I’ve met. The incredible thing is that the ‘Your Big Year’ competition revealed to me the positive power and positive mentality of such a huge proportion of youth. They will not allow the cynicism of the older generations to infect them, but unlike in the past, this is not because of naivety.

They know the problems that face humanity and the planet. They understand the need for change more acutely than ever before. They also know that their approach will be unrecognizably different, more collaborative, and more open, than ever. They are aware of the risks of being subverted or made immobile by sheer weight of input and death by committee, but in the transition of leadership styles, to theirs, they know that they hold the seeds of previously unimagined potential.

Sujit from India, Charles from Uganda, Barbra from the US, Linh from Australia, Sarah from the UK, each one of them knows their responsibilities to make the world a better place. I for one, for the sake of my two children and because it is so much fun, will do everything I can to help them.

Join the Merit community of global citizens and emerging leaders at www.worldmerit.org. Also try and become the voice of the upcoming generation by winning our Ambassadorial world trip at www.yourbigyear.com. If you are in a position of influence please try and support both initiatives and contact me directly. If you are old, and I mean in the definition I laid out earlier (not being literate in the new world’s communication methods) then you are unlikely to have read this note, but if you have, either modernize, or get out of the way of Sujit et al.

Chris Arnold,

Founder, World Merit and Smaller Earth

36Meals.Com Presents EPC - Empty Plate Campaign!

EPC - Empty Plate Campaign

36meals is an NGO which aims at eliminating hunger from the world. We believe in the tagline - "FOOD NOT WASTED IS FOOD CREATED". while having breakfast/lunch/dinner, some people tend to leave a bit of food in their plates. If such left-overs are summed up for a period of 10 days, they can form one complete meal and hence a meal gets wasted. 

The main thing that 36meals advocates for is preventing wastage of food, as we believe that it's a way to contribute towards the lives of those sleeping with the pain of hunger. It's definitely not the sufficient step, but a necessary one for sure. It's not the complete act of being able to do something for them, but definitely the first step. As the chinese saying goes "A journey of 1000 Miles begins with the first step!"

To take this mission forward, we are coming up with a novel campaign called as 'Empty Plate Campaign'. Every individual taking part in this campaign just needs to make sure his/her plate is empty at the end of the meal as shown in the picture. S/he just needs to click a picture of this empty plate and upload it on 36meals FB page or any other social media channels, he or she is a part of.

EPC - Empty Plate Campaign is a very simple concept that aims to make sure there are enough number of empty plates at the end of meals so that no little left-overs are wasted. Only when we consume completely what we gets served on our plates, that we understand how much we can consume.

We have seen time and again, that a lot of people leave food in their plates either because they serve themselves too much, or they dislike the taste. Either of the reasons just lead to wastage of more food and nothing else. Just give a moment of thought to this: While on one side of the world, there are people who have the pleasure of making a choice of type and quantity of food, the other side has neither choices nor food.

Hence, we feel it becomes our moral responsibility, to make sure that we consume right, in order to protect the right to consume, of someone else. It's more than a duty for all of us, to spread this awareness of not wasting food, in every manner we can. EPC is one possible means to SHOUT THIS to the world.

Social media has been a platform to express oneself and connect to the world. Let's use this to spread the awareness for social change. Let's contribute our bit that can save millions from sleeping hungry. Can we count on YOU? We believe - Definitely YES! 

All you have to do is to follow 3 simple steps;

Step 1:- Make sure there are no leftovers on your plate after your meal on 23rd, 24th Of march.

Step 2:- Take a photo of your empty Plate.

Step 3:- Upload the photo on facebook on www.facebook.com/36meals Page or 

on your Twitter account and tweet to @36meals or any other social media channel you are connected to. 

You can do it for all 4-6 meals (including both 23rd and 24th of March, 2013) or any one of the meals. It's upto you. Are you in?

Then, Let's DO IT! 
(You don't have to wait till the Main dates, you can start posting from today on our page! We will appreciate!)

Sujit Lalwani

President & Managing Trustee, 36meals

Founder & Director, IU

A Short Glimpse of MY LIFE - LIFE truly Simplified!

A lot of my friends, fans and followers have been asking - Why did I write Life Simplified!? Here it is:

School:
First of all, I look back into my past and realize that I was lost in the tide of life until about my class 10, to score the best marks in the class (among the top 3 at least) and go back home to play cricket for hours together till I tired myself to exhaustion. The days would end watching TV & holidays would get over chatting with relatives, sleeping, playing all the possible games & getting advised from loads of people to study. The most hated time in holidays would always be when I spent it on the books to complete Holiday Home-Work given from school.

With all this happening in my life, the only thing that was ticking away was "Time" and I was absolutely clueless, that the time which was being so warm with me in childhood would suddenly become so cold, the moment I complete my class 10 and then only get more & more cold with me, and not allow me to spend time as casually as I did before, totally away from the books and pressures of life.

It was around this time, that I had to realize, that, all that I studied was not to be forgotten the very next year; all that I learnt was going to be useful to get admitted into a good college/university and all that I thought, something only elders and grown-ups were meant to do, would be on my plate in large amounts very soon. I would have to get disciplined and responsible, something, that was a far-fetched dream for someone like me, who spent his entire childhood as lazily as possibly possible.

Pre-University:
It was during my class 11 and 12, I realized unless I loved the subjects, no matter how many hours I sat with them, I wouldn't be able to push a couple of concepts into my neurons, while if I loved what I was doing something magical always ended happening. It started with physics and I realized, it was the same, no matter, which subject I applied that to.

Graduation:
Then came the time, when I was going to a graduation program in NITK Surathkal, one of the premier institutes of my country, and I realized that all that mattered there was, where I got placed. I realized that responsibilities of earning for myself were soon going to come my way. All of a sudden talks about what packages(annual pay packages) people got and where they got placed, were on a hype than ever before. Now, for someone like me, thinking of being placed in one place was a nightmare!!!

I had to understand what was happening in my life and resolve it before I would be left clueless and struggling. I had to figure out where the roots to what was happening in my life, lay.

Meanwhile, I realized, it was getting too late, something that most of the youth experience around that age, and a sudden feeling comes "it's not late!". I felt the same.

I don't know if I got the right direction or not. But I decided I was going to end up as a physicist and thought I will work hard to be the best Mechanical Engineer first, which would eventually lead me to physics. But the bug of placement and earning in life was still around, and the fact that the dreams to live this life in style was always one of my dream, I was driven by these mindsets as well. So suddenly, I was motivated to use all my brain to develop Business ideas, courtesy some of college friends!

When the zeal for business ideas was high, I came across a B-Plan that attracted me, because it seemed to have everything that I asked for - name, fame, money and purpose. I started working part-time for that company and eventually got caught into it's cycle to take it's presentations & seminars to promote. I slowly built a team and realized, that I had to lead more & more people to where I reached, to earn more and help them earn more.

I, being a person who loved helping people grown and get happier, I realized this business was starting to bring in a lot of issues in lives of people who were becoming a part of it. While I started resolving their issues, they seem solved, work increased and teams grew. The problems would arise again & again, I would solve it over and over again. I then started coaching this art of leading, to resolve problems and help others, to my team to empower them. LIFE was all that I could have ever asked for, But slowly without my realization I moved away from Physics.

I later realized that physics was calling me back to it, but having gone deep into Business, I din't want to emerge as a loser, So, then I decided that be it Physics and Business in my life and that's where it all started that I kept physics for last stages of my life (believing that I will live long).

Post My Graduation:
While I got into the cyclic nature of my business, I realized that companies don't grow when the people at top don't focus on changing and developing it fast, at every stage. While my company did that initially, later, due to it's personal reasons it could not continue the valor & speed of change, to keep the adrenaline in the team rushing and gushing. This brought heavy resistance. I battled this resistance, reading the strongest come-back stories, but in vain to develop that business to it's best heights, because patience of many was simultaneously being tested and they were at their most crucial time-frames of their life.

So I realized it would be hard for them all. So, I had to start guiding quite a few to move on in their life, with all the talent up-gradations they got. Again, some could and some could-not. While some blamed me for their flaws in life, others were drowning in the sea of gratitude towards what I had coached & empowered them with. I din't understand what was happening - If I lead all equally genuinely how could such differences arise?

Inspiration Unlimited(IU):
This lead to heavy introspection times and I started Inspiration Unlimited as a company that could provide a platform for those who wanted to still be a part of the team, as it felt homely by then. But then challenges went beyond limits and politics & other company situations lead the whole scenario to heat up to an extent that they thought it was better I din't continue with the plan. My family and my pals were forcing me to discontinue my path in that company and they advised me against it and my calling kept pushing me, to resolve even this, as I was already used to believing that giving up was not my way of life. It was then the toughest call was taken to move on from there & dive deep into Inspiration Unlimited and it's unlimited visions.

I was brought back to square one in my life. Due to multiple things and reasons, I had to discontinue from teh previous platform of life and that disconnected me with the people I was once connected with. But this time I decided it shouldn't take half as much time to build the empire as big as before and here it is. IU today, with it's innumerable wings and projects(social ideas) & entrepreneurial wings stands at a stand point, which is bringing back the empire once lost. I always dreamt of making a heavy difference to the society with the simplest ideas and all IU wings are an example of that. I always believed in inspiring people towards their calling and watch them do wonders and they are doing it today.

It's today that I stand at a stage, where I was once a dud in finances at some point of time and hated it, but love it to the core today courtesy my principle of life I learnt in class 11 and 12, that If you fall in love with anything in your life, you are going shine like none else there. Just believe till the end of it all. My Father and brother have inspired me beyond their imagination in this regard and many other ways.

In the journey I realized the purpose at each stage of life, elevated, changed, transformed but the leader in me just performed every time, how much I demanded of it and I still believe I shall continue to perform from here on in. I realized that it was physics sometime ago, then network marketing business, then entrepreneurship, Inspirational speaking, poetry, writing and many more things today that am passionate about.

What it took of me, to make me reach till here, and what's the juice of my entire journey, is something I look back to conclude, that, it was never easy but always simple. If it could reach the others in simple words, as simple as it was when it happened - It would trigger simply powerful leaders in my country and the world.

Life Simplified!:
This BROUGHT ME to write: "Life Simplified!" in a way, in which, I wish to share the juice of all that I learnt, where I wish to tell you, nobody else but you yourself can take yourself from where you are to where you wish to go. I wrote this book, to share with the world, that complicated heavy content books are something 85% of my country cannot read and feels inferior to, while reading, and so is the state of people in large part of the world.

Hence, I decided to keep this book as simple as possible, to ensure the first feeling a reader gets is "I TOO CAN READ IT completely", the next feeling "WOW! Life is truly simple!", last but not the least, I hope the readers understand and feel eventually: "I am the controller of my destiny! Life IS TRULY SIMPLE but DEFINITELY NOT EASY!!!"

With loads of love
Sujit Lalwani
www.iuworldwide.com

Dreams, Distractions & Determination!

Just when you start following your dreams, you will often be confused and distracted on the journey by very many things, which you will feel will be more attractive than your original dream or you will be thrown to Square one again and again by the umpteen no of failures that will meet you on the way.

At every step you will be offered with options to choose from, you will be showered with advises from people around you or you will be triggered to change your path(either because people envy you being focused on your dream, or because they feel you are on the wrong path) or you will encounter options by virtue of the property of life to offer options at every stage of life, to confuse us.

Just remember those who made their dreams happen were those who stayed focused on their dream/vision no matter what, until it happened and materialized ignoring or putting up with the obstacles that people around them set up for them.

Take the example of Abraham Lincoln who fought to eliminate racism from America or think of Mahatma Gandhi who fought for the freedom of a billion Indians or think of Thomas Alva Edison who invented bulb, these people ensured they just believed in their vision/dream as though it had already happened and they were only waiting for the final product to come into existence as their imagination had repeatedly shown it to them.

The rejections, failures, resistance, set-backs, lack of resources, discouraging factors all go on to become the elements of taste to the final recipe of success, they add to the galore of the final triumph of your belief over all the factors that once looked convincing enough to result in otherwise.

By the time you read these lines you were already visualizing a few dreams on your mind, a few visions were taking visual form on your mind, they are things you really want to work for. It's time you jot them down, wipe away the dust from them and set an action plan for them and set out on a journey to make them happen.

You can always come back to this page later to ensure you re-orient and remind yourself about this again and again till your dreams are a reality. But for now there is just one thing I want you to know and that is START: http://sujitlalwani.blogspot.in/2011/10/start.html

Thank you
Regards
Sujit Lalwani
Director & Founder, IU (iuindia.com)
President & Founder, 36meals.com

Life Simplified to LIFE BOOK!

There is an element of uncertainty to everything you do. What makes life exciting and unpredictable is this factor. Every time you plan something, and you know where you are heading, life takes it's stand to let you know, what you do not know by showing you a part of the journey that you could have never anticipated on your plan.

What's the title of your LIFE BOOK?

The faster you convert that uncertainty to knowledge, experience and lesson of life, is how quickly pages of life start getting filled and it's the largest volumes written with deep content that become the best sellers after the books are finished. Basically, before you leave the world, you must understand deep and clear that the only way you will survive in this world after you are gone, is through your LIFE BOOK you compile, through your LIFE STORY. If it is worth sharing, it will get shared, but if it ain't your coming and going out will be like a pedestrian on the busiest roads of the world, totally unnoticed and highly lost in the crowd.

It's those that write loads in their LIFE BOOK and make it exciting on every single page, have something worth to pass it on to the next generation of readers. Uncertainty is the spice of life, and the thrill of this brilliant book. When all that you do ends up as failure, your LIFE BOOK can still be a best seller and that's the secret of having lived a life, which doesn't die after you are gone and doesn't fade in events of failure while you lived.

Each of us have a chance to correct ourselves and rectify ourselves, grow and make a mark through every act of ours, while some of us choose to exercise the power given to us to write our LIFE BOOK, the rest of us are too lazy to pick up the pen and write this much, just like the many exams in schools/colleges we wrote. A short book too can be powerful and worth sharing as long as it's got the element of twists, is spicy and has the taste that can leave your mouth watering for more.

While Anne Frank is an example of one a short story, you could also be Mother theresa, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton, Hitler or for that matter Sachin, Michael Jackson or Tom Cruise. Your story is yours write and no other person can ever write your book. They can be a part of a few pages of your book while they are writing their own, but never write your complete book.

So time to look back into your life and re-read all that you have written and introspect if your STORY is worth sharing, if your dish is tasty enough to make someone drool for more, if your LIFE is a message strong enough to be forwarded to generations to come. If yes, make it deeper and stronger, If no, you still have time. I truly thank you, for spending your time reading this blog and making this little time a part of one your pages of your LIFE BOOK. While I hope this simplifies your life LIFE SIMPLIFIED! also will.

Thank you

Sujit Lalwani