What you do makes a difference.  What you do impacts the lives of others and empowers them to effect change.  You have that power, and it does not matter whether you are young or old.  Take a look as what some of these amazing people did at various times in their lives.  They were truly empowered.

Ted Williams, at age 42, slammed a home run in his last official time at bat.

Mickey Mantle, age 20 hit 23 home runs his first full year in the major leagues.

Golda Meir was 71 when she became Prime Minister of Israel.

William Pitt II was 24 when he became Prime Minister of Great Britain

George Bernard Shaw was 94 when one of his plays was first produced.

Mozart was just seven when his first composition was published.

Benjamin Franklin was a newspaper columnist at 16 and a framer of the United States Constitution when he was 81.

Age has little to do with ability.  You’re never too young or too old if you’ve got talent, vision, and determination.  This is true empowerment! So what is stopping you?  Get out and make a difference…

Take a little time today and look around your neighborhood or your community.  Chances are, you’ll notice at least a few things that are either overlooked or are in need of a little help. Maybe there’s a non-profit organization that needs its lawn mowed or help collecting food for the needy. Perhaps there’s a youth camp that needs people to take kids on a hike or children at a child-care center that would love to have an adult read books to them once a week. That’s where volunteering comes in! It only takes one person and a small amount of time to improve not only those issues, but to also improve the lives of the people around you who also care about and need those services.

We must not ignore the small things in life that can make a big difference over time. Often we get too caught up in trying to make a big splash when in fact the smaller things will make a more significant difference.

Personal Gains from Giving Back

In addition to benefiting your community and those around you, there are actually a number of personal gains you can experience when you volunteer. Here are just some of the personal benefits that people cite:

Sense of accomplishment–One of the biggest benefits that people cite as a result of volunteering is the sense of accomplishment that comes with the work. Sometimes it’s the pride of seeing a project completed. Other times it’s seeing the faces of the people who benefit from the work after you do it. And still other times it’s just the unsung reward of knowing that you turned what could have been a bad situation into something full of hope and potential. As Marian Wright Edelman once said, “You really can change the world if you care enough.”

Giving back–Many people feel blessed for their good fortune and simply want to give back. Whether it’s the love of family and friends, a steady job, health, or inner happiness, we all have things to feel fortunate about. Giving something back to the community offers us a way to share those blessings, to help others enjoy them for themselves, and to truly feel thankful and alive. As Eleanor Roosevelt put it, “When you cease to make a contribution, you begin to die.”

Making a difference–We all see things that we wish could be different. Sometimes they’re small changes; other times they’re more major. But by volunteering we can start to make the change rather than simply wish it would happen. After all, “our work as citizens is a lot like housework,” Congresswoman Patricia Schroeder once said. “It never ends. We can either wring our hands in despair or use them to roll up our shirtsleeves and try to find new ways to make a difference.”

Personal growth and development–When you choose to get involved with a volunteer project, you’re also choosing to grow as a person. Maybe you’ll end up learning more about yourself or the people in your community. Maybe you’ll end up developing new skills as a result of your work on a project. Either way, you’ll probably walk away with a renewed sense of confidence and self-esteem.

Family bonds and values–Volunteering can be an individual passion or a family activity that brings you closer together. You can even make it an activity for a family reunion – complete with t-shirts and a celebration afterwards. And, when you involve children in the act, you’ll help instill in them a sense of commitment and service to their community as well as subtle lessons about the elements of your community that you value and why.

Sense of belonging–In the end, one of the biggest personal benefits that people get from volunteering is a sense of belonging. Society today is often individualized – just look at how most people listen to mp3 players rather than gather around a radio. By coming together for a common cause, we quite literally come together. We get to know our neighbors and people we might not normally meet. We share stories. We laugh. We help one another. And maybe we walk away knowing that if we ever need a shoulder, there will be someone there to help us in our time of need. Yes, we get all that from volunteering just a few hours here or there.

So What Can You Do?

The real answer to making a difference is through small acts and volunteering that will branch out. Shelly Rachanow, author of the best seller, “What Would You Do if You Ran the World” has said that “If you ran the world…and had unlimited access to resources, you could immediately and single-handedly make each of your communities a better place. Whether you wanted to hold a book drive in your neighborhood, create a family fun day at your office, or help runaways, the homeless, or anyone else who ends up on your streets, you would have everything you needed at the snap of a finger to put your awesome ideas into immediate action,” She also says that “The great thing is, choosing to help out in your communities today and in anyway, no matter the size of your resources or amount of time you have available, is just as important – and even more amazing since more than a finger snap or two is required.”

Rachanow recommends starting where your heart and passions lie. “If each of us were ready, willing, and able to help in just one of the ways that we want to help…in the way that means the most to us…we would make the kind of beautiful difference and create the kind of beautiful future everyone deserves!”

She offers the following questions as a starting place:

What really inspires you?
What do you lose sleep over or dream of?
What are you unable to stop talking or wondering about (or standing on a soapbox for)?
“Whether you are already giving in the ways that matter most to you or you are still figuring out what that means, the great thing is that you never have to live up to anyone else’s deadline or dollar amounts,” Rachanow said. “Each of us can make a beautiful difference in our own unique and beautiful way.”

Getting Started

To help you get started or find other volunteer opportunities, you may want to check out the following resources:

Serve.gov is an online resource for not only finding volunteer opportunities in your community, but also creating your own.

VolunteerMatch.org strengthens communities by making it easier for good people and good causes to connect. They offer a variety of online services to support a community of nonprofit, volunteer and business leaders committed to civic engagement.

Shriners.org is an incredible organization that takes provides medical care to kids with specific needs no matter their ability to pay.

JTShrinersopen.com is an annual PGA and celebrity golf tournament in Las Vegas.  It’s sole purpose is raising money for Shriners.  Justin Timberlake is a very active participant in this event and volunteers come annually from all over the world to give of their time and energy.

Never Forget the Difference You Can Make

When all is said and done, don’t forget to really reflect on the difference your work can make. You’re not just volunteering a few hours or working on a small project, Rachanow explained; you’re changing lives and standing for something. “When your life stands for making your community better, there is nothing small or incidental about it, especially to the person or people you impact.” In the end, the only question you really have to answer, Rachanow said, is: “What kind of difference do YOU want to make?”

Once you know that answer, the only thing left to do is start making it happen, one hour or small project at a time. So what are you waiting for?  This is true empowerment!

In this digital age when the business world is changing at warp speed, people often ask, “How can I have a vision of what’s going to happen five or ten years from now, when I don’t even know what’s going to happen next week?”

Venture capitalist Geoff Yang has taken risks on many new technology companies that are expected to move at a rapid pace.  What types of innovators is he willing to back?  “Men and women with great vision,” he says.  “They are able to recognize patterns when others see chaos in the marketplace.  That’s how they spot unexploited niche opportunities.  And they are passionate about their ideas, which are revolutionary ways to change the way people live their lives or the way businesses operate.  When they come to me they have conviction.”

Consider this…Imagine you’re driving east on I-80 toward Sacramento on a bright, sunny day.  You can see for miles and miles.  You’re cruising along at the speed limit, tunes blaring, top down, wind in your hair, and not a care in the world.  Suddenly without warning as you approach the bridge over the Sacramento River, you hit a dense blanket of fog as thick as you’ve ever seen it.  What do you do?

We’ve asked this question many, many times, and we get the same answers:

**I slow way down

**I turn my lights on

**I grab the steering wheel with both hands.

**I tense up

**I sit up straight or lean forward

**I turn the music off so I can hear better

Then you a couple miles later it is clear again.  What do you do?  Relax, speed up, turn the lights off, put the music back on, and enjoy the scenery.

This analogy illustrates the importance of clarity of vision, especially when you’re going fast.  Are you able to go faster when it’s foggy or when it’s clear?  How fast can you drive in the fog without risking your own or other people’s lives?  How comfortable are you riding in a car with someone else who drives fast in the fog?  The answers are obvious, aren’t they?  We’re better able to go fast when our vision is clear.  We’re better able to anticipate the danger when we can see ahead.  There are always going to be times when the sun hides behind the clouds or the fog makes it difficult to maneuver, but when it comes to traveling at Internet speed it’s definitely preferable to be able to see farther ahead.

The point is very simple…to become a leader you must be able to envision the future. You must be able to see patterns and exploit them through periods of chaotic change.  The speed of change doesn’t alter this fundamental truth about leadership.  People only want to follow those who can see beyond today’s problems and visualize a brighter tomorrow.  This is truly empowerment..do you have it?