Why Revolutionary Character?

If you plan on being anything less than you are capable of being, you will probably be unhappy all the days of your life.

- Abraham Maslow

There are many benefits to living a growth path, accruing both to us as individuals as well as those around us as we engage with the empirically-supported ideas that make up Revolutionary Character.

Benefits for Those Around Us

So many of us desire to “make the world a better place,” but a better world starts with better individual humans. Taking responsibility for ourselves and our internal worlds is a fundamentally individual responsibility that we must pursue in order to relate effectively with others. An individual building Revolutionary Character is simply a more-consistently thriving human and makes a better friend, partner, parent, coworker, etc as they inspire those around them and fulfill their unique responsibilities. They act with more creativity and decisiveness to solve problems and contribute to the human endeavor in ways big and small. Indeed, we require the maximum creative force of humanity to update our beliefs and models for the fundamentally different reality of an exponential world as we work to address the macro challenges we face: education, sustainability, climate change, poverty, hunger, inequality, etc.

We need to work together to break mimesis and the models inherited from our families, cultures, and the institutions that surround us as many of these models and beliefs do not serve in a world of exponentially advancing change. Rather than acting mindlessly, we endeavor to see reality for its true nature, accepting what is useful and relevant while rejecting outdated models - regardless of how many of those around us choose to act in an outdated fashion. Living our truths can also provide examples for others to follow, if they are inspired and see the usefulness of doing some things differently.

Benefits for Individuals

At a more selfish level those who engage with the theories at the foundation of Revolutionary Character experience more positive emotions and live more peak experiences, finding greater meaning in life as they build psychological flexibility and decrease the experiential avoidance that is hindering their growth with tools based on ACT Therapy. Empirical support for ACT Therapy and its methods can be found here and here, and for positive psychology here and here - both form key components of Revolutionary Character. These concepts and the community should not only provide a rational impetus to change but also laughs and ideally new friends!

Inevitably, we will stumble and fall on the endless path toward growth and having the support of a community will help us stand up faster, inspiring us to continue. Support allows us to better recognize and maintain our individual responsibilities as we expose our ideas to criticism and gain feedback, sharing our struggles and finding motivation to overcome them. Learning as a group allows us to inspire one another to take actions towards our individual truths and values, sometimes rowing against the tide, as we critically examine reality to seek more objective truths.

We come together, share our truths and struggles as well as motivation for change before going back out into the world to live closer to our truths and ideals. Out in the world our actions come into contact with reality, giving us the chance to see which truths and beliefs allow us to thrive and which cause us to stumble. We stumble and then we get back up again, sometimes helped up by those around us, continuing on the path to do the work only we can do - making ourselves and therefore the world a bit better, sharing our learnings with others and allowing them to do the same. We act motivated by higher purposes and love, understanding that love is not a transaction, it is not a noun, it is given not received, and it is an end in itself.

Sounds interesting? Click here to apply or here to learn about the course material and its theoretical foundations.