Mark Aethen Agana Who made it to FINAL 30 of YOUR BIG YEAR 2013 Shares his Inspiring Lessons with IU.

The article is in direct speech. The answers are as submitted by the Interviewee himself

A Short Bio of Mark Aethen Agana:
I’m Mark Aethen G. Agana, born in South Cotabato, Philippines. I’m a multisport athlete, a community volunteer for education, environment, and health, an aspiring social entrepreneur, and a proud Filipino. I grew up in a simple home, where most of the time, we had just enough, and the rest of the time there was a little less than enough. However, I didn’t allow my circumstances be an excuse for me not to succeed in life. Currently, I work as technical consultant in various NGO projects and an alumnus of The Outstanding Students of the Philippines.

I envision a nation where Filipinos have equity to access to quality college education and who are productive and responsible leaders of society. All of my advocacies, my firing desire for change and progress, these are the same reasons why I joined the World Merit community. These hopes ignited and relieved my dreams of fighting for a better world, starting in Philippines.  I gained an incredible amount of energy and motivation from other members who continue to push one another to reach their full potential.

1. What is your vision to Win Your Big Year?
Your Big Year is more than a competition. It is beyond competition. It is not only fun. It is not only inspiring. It is a chance to be one and share true friendship with equally talented people worldwide. It is life-changing and an opportunity to change the world.At the moment, I can say that I have won so much out of YBY. The network and friends I gained out of it is already the reward for engaging and being active in the community. Winning it is just a bonus and an opportunity to lead change and work together for a more equitable, stable, and peaceful world.

2. Why would you want to travel the globe? 
Aside from to be inspired, to see and experience different cultures, to eat, and to meet new and interesting people, I want to travel to mainly experience how people are generally good and to have broader perspective of the world for I believe that the only way to really have a sense of how the world works is to see it yourself.

3. What do you think that you had that the rest dint that brought you this far? 
Everyone in Your Big Year is equally talented and amazing. We all have different inspiring stories to share and we all have the same heart for creating a better global community. But I think what makes me stand out from the rest is the way I packaged my ideas to convey key messages to the community. I think out of the box and do things creatively. Also, I always have a ready smile and make sure I incorporate “fun” factor in everything wonderful I do.

4. One message for the youth of the globe...
Live you dreams. Remember that you can't put a limit on anything. The more you dream, the farther you get. Make anything possible and start a journey to confidence. Anything is possible in life... and it begins with the confidence from within.

Sharing also my mantra in life, “keep learning, leading and serving for life.”

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Founder Of WORLD MERIT* Talks about MERIT. He Supports IU for #WID.

Written by Chris Arnold, Founder of Smaller Earth, YOUR BIG YEAR & World Merit*.

Today, Inspiration is not that difficult to find. Social Media makes great quotes extremely accessible, almost to a point beyond saturation.  The oratory and poetry of great historical figures is being somewhat undermined by the sheer quantity of ‘wise words’ online.

However, though sharing a platform with the common words of ‘Anonymous’ may dent the ego of past poets and political leaders, I say this ‘inspiration clutter’ is a great thing. It has created a modern day peer pressure to be a source or conduit for inspiration. As Anonymous or perhaps a famous poet first said, there is a pressure now to do well but also to do good.

Users of Social Media have already and irreversibly made a commitment to check or judge the actions and values of politicians and corporations. Though that is not always going to be fair in the unfiltered world of places like Facebook or Twitter, the consequence is that all emerging leaders know that they have to be people of value and values. The best of the upcoming generation know that it makes strategic sense to be collaborative, emotionally aware, culturally aware, ‘social’ entrepreneurs.

In the past, because the chance of being ‘found out’ was much lower, leaders were ‘safe’ if standards occasionally dropped lower than the electorate or customer would want. There were only so many news reporters to go around. Compare this to the speed and distance both news and innuendo can travel today. As David Jones, CEO of HAVAS Worldwide and Founder of One Young World says, "People are now empowered by social media to hold business and leaders accountable. So, if you behave in the wrong way – whether you are the head of an Arab Spring country or News International – then people can sanction you. That has taken corporate social responsibility out of the silo and put it in the P&L statement. Business cannot avoid this.”

In my opinion the remarkable effect of Social Media is not the access to information or communication it has provided, but rather the positive change in culture it is inexorably making. Twenty year olds have always been vaunted as idealists and activists, but today I believe it is increasingly more so. The tools are there to collaborate across borders and the desire to be seen to take action and have positive momentum is something for society to harness.

Old people, and by that I mean everyone who has failed to adapt to the current online methods of communication, will latch onto the painfully frivolous uses of social media. They believe that Twitter is about sharing lunch updates; they believe Facebook is simply a source for inanity; they regard the Internet mostly as an efficient delivery system for porn and a way to browse information – like a big virtual library. This view is irrelevant and almost certainly in its final years.

There is Merit Online. That is a useful pun for me as my organization is called World Merit and we have our own online social community, however, I mean it in a more encompassing way. The upcoming generation is grouping together in ways that will absolutely change the world. Yes! There are huge number of superficial online communities, but just look at how many powerful groups are being formed, for example, www.worldmerit.org, www.oneyoungworld.com, www.dosomething.org. This multi –tasking generation is comfortable with being bombarded with messages that naturally splits its focus. In the same minute it will think about football and famine, pop and poverty, and these groups sit unapologetically next to each other on Facebook and in their consciousness.

So here is my main point. Quotes are unlimited, messaging is unlimited, but because of the actions that the upcoming generations will take and the way that content is easily shared, inspiration is also unlimited.

This has been recognized by my friend, Sujit Lalwani, who happened to be a finalist in the www.yourbigyear.com competition that I started a few years back. In YBY2 Sujit beat over 60,000 people from almost every country in the world to become a finalist. He had already recognized the power of his actions on peers and had set up the Inspiration Unlimited initiative, and has now authored his first book with the title ‘Life Simplified!’. Sujit is in his mid twenties and is one of the most motivating emerging leaders I’ve met. The incredible thing is that the ‘Your Big Year’ competition revealed to me the positive power and positive mentality of such a huge proportion of youth. They will not allow the cynicism of the older generations to infect them, but unlike in the past, this is not because of naivety.

They know the problems that face humanity and the planet. They understand the need for change more acutely than ever before. They also know that their approach will be unrecognizably different, more collaborative, and more open, than ever. They are aware of the risks of being subverted or made immobile by sheer weight of input and death by committee, but in the transition of leadership styles, to theirs, they know that they hold the seeds of previously unimagined potential.

Sujit from India, Charles from Uganda, Barbra from the US, Linh from Australia, Sarah from the UK, each one of them knows their responsibilities to make the world a better place. I for one, for the sake of my two children and because it is so much fun, will do everything I can to help them.

Join the Merit community of global citizens and emerging leaders at www.worldmerit.org. Also try and become the voice of the upcoming generation by winning our Ambassadorial world trip at www.yourbigyear.com. If you are in a position of influence please try and support both initiatives and contact me directly. If you are old, and I mean in the definition I laid out earlier (not being literate in the new world’s communication methods) then you are unlikely to have read this note, but if you have, either modernize, or get out of the way of Sujit et al.

Chris Arnold,

Founder World Merit and Smaller Earth

_____________________________________________________________________

For knowing what #WID is Just visit http://sujitlalwani.blogspot.in/2013/04/wid.html

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AGE is NO BARRIER to YOUR Dreams!!! Mr, Marcelo Vieira, Founder of the next BIG thing from Brazil - Eureca.me - shares his message for the Youth with IU!

Contributed by Marcelo Vieira from Brazil, Founder of Eureca.me

Olá pessoal! Hello everyone! =)

This is Marcelo from Brazil. I was invited from my dear friend Sujit Lalwani to share a message for growing entrepreneurs who follow IU Blog in India and around the World. Just loved this opportunity, since I’m a young entrepreneur who is raising a business that aims to develop entrepreneurial skills among brazilian undergraduate students. As part of my job, I give speeches and host workshops in the top Universities of the country. I’m also fine tuning a platform that will be launched on April, 15^th with the purpose of providing knowledge, tools, networking and challenges to the youth.

The key message I share with my audience is that entrepreneurship is not only about setting up businesses. It’s more about having the attitude to: make things happen, positively impact people and accomplish remarkable achievements. It’s possible to demonstrate this attitude as a businessman, entrepreneur, volunteer, researcher, sports person, artist, or in any other career path one chooses. In addition, there is no right age to start developing these three entrepreneurial skills. The earlier the better. How about starting to practice it right now?

Our generation, known as the Millennials, is the first one with a concrete opportunity work with what we love the most. Please, do not throw this away. There is a very simple tool I share in my speeches that helps people think about their biggest dreams and ambitions. Take a piece of paper and pen, and move yourself to a place where you can be alone for a moment. Imagine you are 30 years ahead. Write how you feel about it, who is by your side, what you have reached, what stories you’re proud of telling to people. Make it seems real. Now return to the present, and think for a while about which actions you should be taking right now in order to make your desired future come true. And go for it!

Cheers from Brazil!

Marcelo Vieira - marcelo.vieira@eureca.me

http://eureca.me

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