How to Make the World Better: Tony Robbins Answers

This article is an excerpt from the Shortform book guide to "Awaken the Giant Within" by Tony Robbins. Shortform has the world's best summaries and analyses of books you should be reading.

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Do you want to find out how to make the world better? What do you need to do before you try to change the world?

Tony Robbins says that if you want to know how to make the world better, you have to start with yourself. In Awaken the Giant Within, he outlines a plan for improving your life, from your romantic relationships, to your mindset and financial life. Once you’re in control of your own life, you’re in a position to help others.

Find out more about how to make the world better below.

How to Make the World Better

In Awaken the Giant Within, Tony Robbins gives you the tools you need to take control of your life and shape your ideal future. He argues that if you want to change the world, you have to first change yourself. Now, we’ll discuss how the lessons from the book can also be applied to improve the world around you. Specifically, we’ll explore the importance of:

Participating in joint decisions and how to make the world better
Giving back to others regularly
Sharing what you’ve learned from this book

Understand and Make Joint Decisions

If you want to know how to make the world better, you can start with join decisions. There are countless problems and tragedies constantly occurring across the globe—from climate change to genocides to chronic hunger. Joint decisions, made collectively by the world’s population, determine whether we succumb to or overcome these problems.

It’s up to every person to make individual choices that contribute to joint decisions and solutions—including you. You know that you have the power to make individual decisions that impact your life: Now, participate in joint decisions to impact communities, societies, nations, and the world. If you don’t take an active role, you’ll merely follow the indifferent current of the masses, and you’ll be forced to deal with the consequences that follow.

When thinking about how to make the world better, be sure to:

1) Focus on the long-term effects of joint decisions. Carefully consider whether a decision will actually benefit the community in the long run. Many national and global issues are the results of decisions that were appealing in the short term, but harmful in the long term.

2) Make decisions that address the root cause of an issue. It’s easy to get fooled into fixing symptoms when you’re focused on what’s not working—but, just as we talked about when altering your behavior, the changes you make won’t stick unless you address these symptoms’ causes. For example, some regions are facing frequent droughts and relentless wildfires, issues which local and global communities are trying to respond to. But, those problems are merely symptoms of climate change, which is the real problem that needs to be addressed to enact any lasting change.

3) Remember that everything is the product of countless daily decisions. The issues we face are the results of millions of small decisions that people make every day, and solving these problems will also depend on a critical mass of tiny, daily decisions. For example, climate change has accelerated and now threatens the health of the planet because humans have spent centuries overfishing, using harmful agricultural practices, and polluting water sources. A large segment of the population will have to change their daily habits—from their transportation choices to the food they eat—in order to substantially tackle this problem.

Give Back Regularly

As well as participating in joint decisions, make sure to give back to the community regularly. Brainstorm causes that you care about—whether that’s prison reform or environmental conservation—and commit to dedicate time to that cause each month. Even a couple hours a month can make a huge difference to the cause. You’ll also notice that giving to the cause will improve your life: You’ll feel the sense of joy and fulfillment that comes from selfless contribution to others, and your identity will shift to reflect that this is now a fundamental part of who you are.

While supporting your chosen cause, apply the same strategies you’ve used for your self-improvement to push governments and businesses to improve their practices regarding that cause:

Create leverage for the company or government officials by wielding your buying or voting power. If you withhold your dollars or your vote, they’ll feel the pain and will be motivated to change.
When they improve their policies, reinforce their positive effort by supporting them with your business or your vote.

As you make giving back and supporting a cause a regular part of your life, don’t neglect your own needs. Your ability to give back depends on your well-being, and you shouldn’t sacrifice yourself to make a positive impact for others. Additionally, when you understand that giving back doesn’t have to come at the expense of your self-care, you’ll give back more because you’ll eliminate any pain associated with dedicating your time to contribution.

Unfortunately, many people never realize their full potential to give back and support a cause until they face a difficult challenge that forces them to rise to the occasion. Don’t wait until you’re backed into a corner—rise now. Stop believing that chronic problems such as hunger and homelessness are permanent and inevitable. Instead, put yourself into a more resourceful mindset and find solutions.

Share What You’ve Learned

As we’ve previously mentioned, the purpose of improving your life is not just to benefit yourself, but also to make you better fit to improve the lives of those around you. Make a difference to others by being a living example of what you’ve learned in this book. The happiness, success, and fulfillment that you feel will emanate and become contagious to those around you. Furthermore, share the knowledge you’ve gained from this book with others so that they can achieve the same results in their lives.

It’s especially important to share these insights and skills with your children. Teach them to anticipate the consequences of their actions—on themselves, their family, their community, and the world. When they learn to think through these consequences, they’ll make more responsible decisions. Above all, lead by example. Show your children the power of living out your values, using Transformational Vocabulary, and asking empowering questions. You’ll be training the next generation of empowered difference-makers.

The above advice gives you a great starting place for how to make the world better.

How to Make the World Better: Tony Robbins Answers