---
title: Changing Your Culture
date: 2014-09-21T13:42:08Z
source: http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2014/09/changing-your-culture/
tags: health, purchase

---

The more I travel and the more I interact with people from other cultures, the 
more I see just how stressed out many Americans are. There is a lot of freedom 
here but also much tension with so many people having beliefs like “I’m not 
good enough,” “I need more,” and “I have to work harder.” People here put a lot
of effort into things that don’t make them happy, and then they escape into 
addictions like watching tons of TV.

We have abundance but not enough appreciation. There’s an addictive quality to 
this more-More-MORE obsession. People here don’t realize that if they can’t 
appreciate a sip, they won’t appreciate a gulp either.

Influencing Your Culture

When you become an oddball within your culture, you can keep quiet and slink 
into the background, or you can speak up and share your observations and 
lessons. When you do the latter, you gain the ability to influence your culture
to become more aligned with your path. Obviously not everyone will follow your 
lead, but some will find your ideas worthy of exploration and experimentation, 
and they’ll want to hear more and collaborate.

Surely there will be others within your culture who’ve gone down similar paths,
and they’ll begin to influence cultural shifts as well as they speak up more 
and more. As these people begin to find each other and connect more deeply and 
more often, they may even contribute to a movement to help shift the larger 
culture. This can take many years to play out, but it’s exciting to behold.

If you feel that you’re all alone in your oddballness, that probably isn’t 
accurate. There are probably lots of others like you out there, but you haven’t
found them yet. That’s likely because you’re invisible to them. If you’d like 
to connect with other like-minded oddballs, that becomes much more likely if 
you broadcast your desires and let the world know how you really think and 
feel. Sure, you’ll get some judgment for doing that, but so what? Own it 
anyway. Stand tall in being yourself. This will eventually attract the 
attention of others who think as you do.

The alternative is to hide. If you have to hide for safety reasons, that may be
your best bet for now, but if there’s no physical danger in speaking your mind,
then do so. You’ll be glad you did. In fact, you’ll wonder why you kept quiet 
for so long unnecessarily.

If your ideal culture seems far removed from your current culture, you could 
leave to find a culture that’s a closer match for you if you think one exists. 
Or you could stay put and strive to become a changemaker within your own 
culture, such as by gathering like-minded people together.