What difference can you make in the world?
How to Change the World: The School of Life
and over 1.5 million other books are available for Amazon Kindle . Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. Learn more. |
Book Description
Special Offers and Product Promotions
-
Seasonal Offer:
This title is part of our Seasonal Offers promotion.
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, and more.
Product Description
Book Description
We all want to live in a better world, but sometimes it feels that we lack the ability or influence to make a difference. John-Paul Flintoff offers a powerful reminder that through the generations, society has been transformed by the actions of individuals who understood that if they didn’t like something, they could change it. Combining fresh new insights from history, politics and modern culture, this book will give you a sense of what might just be possible, as well as the inspiration and the courage you need to go about improving and changing the world we live in. One in the new series of books from The School of Life, launched May 2012: How to Stay Sane by Philippa Perry How to Find Fulfilling Work by Roman Krznaric How to Worry Less About Money by John Armstrong How to Change the World by John-Paul Flintoff How to Thrive in the Digital Age by Tom Chatfield How to Think More About Sex by Alain de Botton
About the Author
John-Paul Flintoff is an author, writer and broadcaster. He trained as an investigative reporter, worked for several years at the Financial Times, and has written for many other newspapers and magazines around the world. His work has won several awards, and has led directly to changes in UK government policy. For more, see www.flintoff.org The School of Life is a London-based enterprise that is dedicated to the most useful ideas relevant to the dilemmas of everyday life. We consider questions like: How can we fulfil our potential? Can work be inspiring? Why does community matter? Can relationships last a lifetime? We don’t have all the answers, but we will direct you towards a variety of useful ideas – from philosophy to literature, psychology to the visual arts – that are guaranteed to stimulate, provoke, nourish and console.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
By Codfish
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
At first, when I read the title of this little book, I thought the author must be being ironic.......How to Change the bleedin' World?! But no, J.P. Flintoff is straight up. He's out for getting everyone to sit up, stop falling into life and start shaping it.
To do this (and so, change the world) Flintoff draws from many sources, including religious, (mainly Buddhist), historical, literary, sociological, environmental, artistic......the result being that he has gathered some of the most inspiring quotes together in these pages, and one cannot fail but to want to a)grow too many veggies, and then knock at neighbours' doors to offer them round; b)start a non-violent protest and c)use more humanistic language (all ideas, amongst many, offered by the author himself).
Personally, I love the idea of changing things......too often we resign ourselves to accepting the way things are, we get overwhelmed, we lose hope, get ill, don't like ourselves, or rant against "them" out there. This book explains there is no "them", not really. Flintoff gives examples of individuals who have contributed to great change and elucidates on how. He shares practical advice, including the odd self-help assignment (don't limit yourself to one role!), to facilitate action. Luckily, it's a little book, in bite-sized chapters, and can be read over the course of a day........so there's plenty of time to get on with all those initial steps we need to take.
An insightful and encouraging read to set us on the road to creating a great future.
To do this (and so, change the world) Flintoff draws from many sources, including religious, (mainly Buddhist), historical, literary, sociological, environmental, artistic......the result being that he has gathered some of the most inspiring quotes together in these pages, and one cannot fail but to want to a)grow too many veggies, and then knock at neighbours' doors to offer them round; b)start a non-violent protest and c)use more humanistic language (all ideas, amongst many, offered by the author himself).
Personally, I love the idea of changing things......too often we resign ourselves to accepting the way things are, we get overwhelmed, we lose hope, get ill, don't like ourselves, or rant against "them" out there. This book explains there is no "them", not really. Flintoff gives examples of individuals who have contributed to great change and elucidates on how. He shares practical advice, including the odd self-help assignment (don't limit yourself to one role!), to facilitate action. Luckily, it's a little book, in bite-sized chapters, and can be read over the course of a day........so there's plenty of time to get on with all those initial steps we need to take.
An insightful and encouraging read to set us on the road to creating a great future.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
By quakerlizz
Format:Paperback
This, like JPF's last book, is inspiring and uplifting. It's very easy to convince oneself that we are helpless in the face of institutions, structures, and systems, or even plain old lazyness - and that we can therefore sit back and simply lament this state of affairs and excuse ourselves from doing something. But JPF reminds us that this isn't so - so go on, be a little counter-cultural, show some optimism, have some backbone, start small (or big), but don't spend all afternoon on f'book or tweeting but get out, live life and make change. You'll feel good about what you achieve and if you then f'ook or tweet about what you've done you'll inspire others. Seed/book/stuff swop anyone?
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Before I go any further, can I just mention what a beautiful little object this book is? The book is a pleasing fawn colour with bright green highlights, it has room at the back for notes, and rounded corners so it doesn't go dog-eared in a rucksack. It is three-dimensional proof that the ebook hasn't made its paper cousin obsolete just yet.
Anyway, with a title like How to Change the World, you could be forgiven for rolling your eyes. Roll not. This is a more practical and modest treatise than you might expect. It begins by blowing away the notion that changing the world is about big important matters, dismissing the popular conception that "history is about the action of dominant individuals." Far from it. History is composed, as Tolstoy said, by "an infinitely large number of infinitesimally small actions." We all influence the world around us every day, in dozens of little ways, whether we like it or not.
The key is to be more deliberate about how we influence things, to aim higher, to be more intentional. That means overcoming inertia, summoning our courage, and taking a first step. If you know exactly what you want to do, you might want to strategise a little. If you don't have a particular goal in mind, you can still get on with changing the world in little ways, right where you are.
There's lots of good advice here about how to make change happen, how to convince people and get them board with your cause. There are personal stories and historical asides that show just how much change can come from relatively small actions. Rosa Parks, Flintoff reminds us, played a major role in ending racial segregation in America by sitting on a bus.
Drawing on a wide range of sources that includes Gandhi, Iris Murdoch, and the Biblical idea of the Kingdom of God, Flintoff concludes that changing the world is an ongoing process, a state of mind. It's the decision to open ourselves to the world around us and take responsibility for what's wrong. Those that do it best are those that do it out of love. "If we are really interested in changing the world" he says, "we have to put others first."
How to Change the World is short, wise, and inspiring. It's frequently humorous, and full of encouragement. Appropriately for the topic, it comes with homework.
Anyway, with a title like How to Change the World, you could be forgiven for rolling your eyes. Roll not. This is a more practical and modest treatise than you might expect. It begins by blowing away the notion that changing the world is about big important matters, dismissing the popular conception that "history is about the action of dominant individuals." Far from it. History is composed, as Tolstoy said, by "an infinitely large number of infinitesimally small actions." We all influence the world around us every day, in dozens of little ways, whether we like it or not.
The key is to be more deliberate about how we influence things, to aim higher, to be more intentional. That means overcoming inertia, summoning our courage, and taking a first step. If you know exactly what you want to do, you might want to strategise a little. If you don't have a particular goal in mind, you can still get on with changing the world in little ways, right where you are.
There's lots of good advice here about how to make change happen, how to convince people and get them board with your cause. There are personal stories and historical asides that show just how much change can come from relatively small actions. Rosa Parks, Flintoff reminds us, played a major role in ending racial segregation in America by sitting on a bus.
Drawing on a wide range of sources that includes Gandhi, Iris Murdoch, and the Biblical idea of the Kingdom of God, Flintoff concludes that changing the world is an ongoing process, a state of mind. It's the decision to open ourselves to the world around us and take responsibility for what's wrong. Those that do it best are those that do it out of love. "If we are really interested in changing the world" he says, "we have to put others first."
How to Change the World is short, wise, and inspiring. It's frequently humorous, and full of encouragement. Appropriately for the topic, it comes with homework.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
get over that inertia and make some positive changes
I have read, or attempted to read, a lot of books and articles about the state of the world and how we are live within it. Read more
Published 10 months ago by MaryEluned
5.0 out of 5 stars
Help with Saving the world...
When I launched into this book I realised quite quickly, that most of the time, I am so preoccupied with trying to make my world and the world of my loved ones, a better place,... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Rachael Matthews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Helpful and inspiring
This is a really optimistic book and it encourages people to feel empowered by looking at their sphere of influence and realise the power they have to make changes. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Dave's Magic Codpiece
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
