Advance Humanity

Introducing Awesome Mongolia!

Fri, 25 May 2012 22:13:29 +0800

This article is written by Bonnie Nelson and was featured on the official Awesome Foundation blog.

The members of Awesome Mongolia are extremely excited to tell you about the formation of our first chapter, Awesome Sukhbaatar! The idea has been really popular in our small town of Baruun-Urt, located in the Sukhbaatar province of Mongolia.

Former Peace Corps Volunteer Travis Hellstrom and I started our group slowly with a couple of key local leaders who we knew would be interested and are always motivated to help the community. They expanded it quickly and we had our group of 10 in no time, not to mention the support of the local government, media, plus a few other interested members waiting for openings or even a second chapter! I will act as the co-dean for the next year with Aldarmaa, our province’s educational department foreign language specialist.

To get our first project going, we decided to introduce the idea to the community through an essay contest hosted by the Education Department. The topic was “If I had 200,000 tugriks I would…” On Children’s Day, a major holiday on June 1st here in Mongolia, we will announce the winner and award the student with the prize (roughly $200 US) to make their awesome idea happen! Later, we’re also going to be starting an Awesome Kids chapter, bringing together students from our two schools to encourage creative thinking, teamwork, decision making, and all the great skills that come from being a part of the Awesome Foundation!

We have had to make some adjustments to make the Awesome Chapter happen here (i.e. lower monthly dues and less reliance on the Internet for publicity), but the spirit of community giving remains the same. Even more exciting, we have international members who want to be part of our group! Instead of deciding which projects to award each month, they are going to head up the Awesome Prize (think X-Prize on a community scale for Mongolia!). Our first project will be the Awesome Wind Prize and we will award the first community member or team that comes up with a wind energy idea that can be replicated in homes in our community.

We’re excited to see how this idea will grow in our town- so far we’re off to a great start! Aldarmaa will actually be joining you all in America before I will; she was selected by the US Embassy to study this summer at Amherst in Massachusetts and will attend the Awesome Summit in July to tell you more about our chapter then! Thanks for the support from the Awesome Global Community!

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You may remember Bonnie from earlier this month when she wrote about building worldwide connections. Don't forget her (she is amazing)! Bonnie is currently serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer where I live in the eastern steppe of Mongolia and together with Aldarmaa she is serving as Founder and Co-Dean of Awesome Sukhbaatar.

She is also teaching Everyday Service with me starting June 12th. If you haven't already signed up, do it! I'll wait... Seriously. I would be honored to see you in class with us!

Matt Becker

Sat, 26 May 2012 20:59:03 +0800

Today I am pleased to introduce you to Matt Becker, my friend and former Peace Corps Volunteer in Mongolia (just like me)!

Matt is currently pursuing a Masters in Global Affairs at NYU and took a few minutes to sit down with us to discuss his work this upcoming summer. Starting in just a few weeks Matt will be serving as Peace Fellow in Bangladesh with the Advocacy Project where he will be working with the Subornogram Foundation.

You can listen to me and Matt streaming below (about 7 min) and also download it on our iTunes podcast.

Download the interview (10 MB mp3 file).

Here is some of what we discussed:

The Peace Fellowship with the Advocacy Project
The work of the Subornogram Foundation in Bangladesh
A quick overview of Matt's work this summer
Grassroots work and international development work
How you can help Matt in his work this summer

I would like to say thanks again to Matt for sharing his work with us. To follow along with Matt this summer and help support his work, please click here.

Good luck Matt!

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Get Off the Hedonic Treadmill

Mon, 21 May 2012 18:34:42 +0800

My wife Tunga and I had a long conversation recently about all the changes in our small community in the remote eastern steppe of Mongolia. We are experiencing incredible growth, along with the rest of the country, and this is really just the beginning.

Mongolia's economy is on track to be the fastest growing economy in the world for the next 15 years. Salaries will double and triple and money is going to start flowing into every corner of the country. But where will the money go exactly? That's a good question.

Wherever People Want It To

In our town and across the country pay for teachers and doctors has already almost doubled. Can you imagine? You walk into work one day, no promotion, no change of job description or new duties, just double the pay. And not just you, everyone in your field. Where would you spend the money?

In some cases it goes to simple things: paying off loans, making car repairs, and long over-due home improvements. However, we are also seeing the money going towards taking on even more loans, buying new cars and mortgaging new houses. In the last three years we have seen not one, not two, but 13 new apartment buildings going up in our city. Thirteen! They are the biggest and most expensive apartments (4x more expensive) our town has ever seen.

None of these things are bad in and of themselves of course. Everyone wants their family to be safe, happy and healthy. And they should. But when does it stop? First we get a nice, new apartment we love. Then we outgrow it. We get a newer one, a bigger one. It's wonderful. We love it. Now it's old news. Onwards and upwards as they say, but to what end?

The Hedonic Treadmill

There is significant scientific research showing that happiness and health plateau after achieving middle-class wages. You can keep getting more money, but it doesn't do much for your happiness. So why do we keep chasing it? Do we really think more money, more power and more fame will make us happier?

Brian Johnson , who is one of my favorite everyday inspirations, calls this the Hedonic Treadmill. We chase and chase and chase and get no where. But, just like a treadmill, we can get off anytime.

Mongolia is no exception, they don't have to chase after other people's dreams. As I mentioned in my book Enough more than once, Mongolian people are some of the most grounded, honest, kind and happy people I've ever met. It has nothing to do with their cars, apartments or salaries. It has everything to do with their hearts and every intangible wonderful thing about their culture that makes them so wonderful. You can't buy that or chase it, build it with concrete or take out a loan to pay it off. It's something that has to be cherished, protected and lived out everyday.

Growth is coming to Mongolia, there is no doubt. It will be the fastest growing economy in the world and nothing can stop that. But I also have a strong feeling it will be growth with wisdom, founded in a country and a people with character and love that can inspire the rest of the world. And nothing can stop that either.

Marianne Perez

Sat, 19 May 2012 11:04:41 +0800

Today I have the pleasure of introducing Marianne Perez, founder of Peace is Sexy, who I was able to interview for our ongoing series featuring Everyday Inspirations who are changing the world.

I had the pleasure of meeting Marianne when I was featured on Peace is Sexy a few months ago and I really love the vision she has for her website and the idea of world peace. There are a lot of people out there who believe that peace is possible, but Marianne believes it's profitable, fun and sexy too.

During our interview Marianne sits down with us to explain her story, the story behind her website and advice that she has for everyday humanitarians who want to change the world.

You can listen to me and Marianne streaming below (about 15 min) and also download the interview here or on iTunes.

Here is some of what we discussed:

What Peace is Sexy is and how the idea came about
What world peace can be and how it can happen
Changing the media landscape in favor of peace
Making peace fun, sexy, profitable and possible
How to nominate someone for Peace is Sexy
Engage with great ideas for peace around the world

I would like to say thank you to Marianne again for sitting down with us for the interview. It's wonderful to know you are out there making a difference!

To learn more please check out Peace is Sexy on Facebook and visit PeaceisSexy.net!

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We have a lot of wonderful interviews coming soon! To be notified as soon as they come out, you can subscribe to our email updates anytime and also subscribe to our podcast on iTunes!

4 Life Lessons from Fight Club (and The Dalai Lama)

Tue, 15 May 2012 18:07:34 +0800

The Dalai Lama has said, "It may surprise you, perhaps, but I am not strictly opposed to the spectacle of violence and crime. It all depends on the lessons you draw from it."

I agree, especially in regards to one of my favorite movies, Fight Club. Here are four lessons I have drawn from this movie that I think are well worth sharing.

1. Stop Working A Job You Hate

Tyler: Man, I see in fight club the strongest and smartest men who've ever lived. I see all this potential, and I see squandering... An entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables; slaves with white collars. Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need. We're the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War is a spiritual war... our Great Depression is our lives. We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won't. And we're slowly learning that fact. And we're very, very pissed off.

We have to decide why we do anything we do. Following American advertising isn't good enough. Keeping up with everyone else isn't good enough. We need to believe in what we do and love it. Work hard at work worth doing.

2. The Things You Own End Up Owning You

Narrator: Like so many others I had become a slave to the IKEA nesting instinct...I'd flip through catalogues and wonder, "What kind of dining set defines me as a person."

Narrator: I don't know. It's just when you buy furniture you tell yourself, "That's it. That's the last sofa I'm gonna need. Whatever else happens, I've got that sofa problem handled." I had it all. I had a stereo that was very decent, a wardrobe that was getting very respectable. I was close to being complete.
Tyler: Shit man, now it's all gone.
Narrator: All gone.
Tyler: All gone...Do you know what a duvet is?
Narrator: A comforter...
Tyler: It's a blanket. Just a blanket. Now why do guys like you and me know what a duvet is? Is this essential to our survival, in the hunter-gatherer sense of the word? No. What are we then?
Narrator: ...Consumers?
Tyler: Right. We are consumers. We're the byproducts of a lifestyle obsession. Murder, crime, poverty, these things don't concern me. What concerns me are celebrity magazines, television with 500 channels, some guy's name on my underwear. Rogaine, Viagra, Olestra.
Narrator: Martha Stewart.
Tyler: F*** Martha Stewart. Martha's polishing the brass on the Titanic. It's all going down, man. So f*** off with your sofa units and Strinne green stripe patterns. I say never be complete. I say stop being perfect. I say let's evolve, let the chips fall where they may. But that's me, and I could be wrong, maybe it's a terrible tragedy.
Narrator: Nah, it's just stuff...My insurance is probably gonna cover it, so...What?
Tyler: The things you own end up owning you.

If we aren't good enough without stuff, we'll never be good enough with it. It is fine to use things that are useful, but don't become attached to them. Don't expect happiness to come from anything outside yourself. It never will.

3. Know That Someday You're Gonna Die

Tyler: Stay with the pain, don't shut this out...Without pain, without sacrifice we would have nothing...Stop it, this is your pain, it's right here...What you're feeling is pre-mature enlightenment...This is the greatest moment of your life man and you're off somewhere missing it...First you have to give up, first you have to know, not fear, know that someday you're gonna die. It's only after we've lost everything that we're free to do anything.

Learn how to die and you learn how to live. Decide what is most important to you and dedicate your life to it. Stay with reality, don't avoid it or explain it away. This is it, make the most of the situation you are given. Don't become attached to it. Appreciate it, experience it, do your best and let go.

4. This Is Your Life and It's Ending One Minute At A Time

Warning: If you are reading this then this warning is for you. Every word you read of this useless fine print is another second off your life. Don't you have other things to do? Is your life so empty that you honestly can't think of a better way to spend these moments? Or are you so impressed with authority that you give respect and credence to all that claim it? Do you read everything you're supposed to read? Do you think every thing you're supposed to think? Buy what you're told to want? Get out of your apartment. Meet a member of the opposite sex. Stop the excessive shopping and masturbation. Quit your job. Start a fight. Prove you're alive. If you don't claim your humanity you will become a statistic. You have been warned - Tyler.

If something deep inside you is telling you to do something, do it. Listen to that and move forward. Claim your humanity. Claim your life. Take responsibility for it. Live it.

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