Changing the World

We want to change the world! We want to make a difference by helping people be aware of the great potential they have within them and help them find the power to make a difference in their unique ways.
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Norway does not appreciate people who think highly of themselves. Therefore Märtha was reluctant to write this, even if it were true:

I want to change the world. I have no idea where this desire comes from, but it has always been there. I was, after all, born a princess... For hundreds of years the role of royal families was to raise and cultivate personalities who would take charge and transform their kingdoms. What was my role in all this, I wondered?

Finding one's place within a normal family and in society is challenging enough, as Elisabeth found out:

I have always been a dreamer. Returning to the real world relentlessly felt like a crash landing; there was so much I did not understand. The biggest challenge was trying to read the hidden social codes -- the unspoken rules we are expected to obey. Does society have a place for someone like me, and is there a place for my dreams? The answer is yes. Both inside me and in the world. I felt I wanted to inspire people to trust in themselves, to believe in their dreams and dare to make their dreams a reality changing the world.

Thinking these thoughts is a breach in the social code in Norway. We are breaking the Law of Jante (re: the tall poppy syndrome) which state:

You're not to think you are anything special. You are not to think you are good at anything. You're not to think anyone cares about you.

We angel-institute-entrepreneurs, know what it is like sticking our necks out founding our spiritual institute, Astarte Inspiration, here in Norway. Many people with new and slightly outside-the-box-kind-of-ideas know it too. If you flag you are different, odds are good you will be chastised, ridiculed, criticized and humiliated by family, friends, co-workers and in the media. People will say your ideas won't work; they will call you a megalomaniac!

The only place we Norwegians are allowed to strive is in sports (Märtha is very for this way of thinking having been an athlete herself). When Axel Lund Svindal wins the Super-G, when Marit Bjørgen wins the 30K or when Magnus Carlsen wins in chess, we feel as if we are standing beside them on the podium.

Why can't we show this same enthusiasm in other areas? Imagine if architects, web designers, bakers or salesmen daring to say they wanted to do well abroad, were cheered for trying to be the best at what they do? Why can't we feel that a successful architect is beneficial for our nation as a whole too? How far could small companies have reached in this positive type of environment?

That is why both Märtha and Elisabeth dare to say:

We want to change the world! We want to make a difference by helping people be aware of the great potential they have within them and help them find the power to make a difference in their unique ways.

Will you cheer for us, or will you smite us with criticism? What are you doing to realize your dreams? Do you live out your dreams, cheer them on and aim for success -- or do you crush your own dreams even before leaving the starting blocks? Whatever you choose to do in whatever direction, the bottom line is; you change the world no matter what. Every decision makes a change for the world around you, the people you meet and for the world as a whole. That is how important we all are.

Posterity remembers people who make things happen. Posterity does not remember the people who say an idea is not good enough. Who do you choose to be?

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