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A Little Background
(plus a special offer for free postcards—still)

March 24, 2004

Welcome to Change Your World!

Hello. My name is Courtney Huntington, and I am the founder of Change Your World.

A couple weeks ago, in my last Founder's Message, you heard about some of the background to Change Your World. This week, I'm going to give you a true sneak-peak at what we're doing. I'm also going to tell you a little more about myself. Anytime I encounter someone who tries to give me a new message of hope and success, I want to know whe they are and why I should listen to them. Don't you think that way, too? I think we all do. And rightly so!

What you're going to get in the next few minutes is a fun, energizing, and revealing look at Change Your World. We hope you enjoy this presentation of "Change Your World: Behind the Postcards."

Postcards

Well, it started with postcards . . . in a way. Change Your World was at first only a postcard, but the postcards themselves were only a result of other ideas. 

I had ideas sitting around in my head, and I had principles written down in my journals and elsewhere that I believe are valuable lessons for how to live in the best way. In fact, I have an entire journal that I have dedicated to these principles. None of the principles are original to me. They all came from elsewhere. Some of the principles I have sources for, and I can tell you where I got them and where you can find them. Others I know I heard somewhere, but I can't tell you where. Still others are principles that I have developed on my own, but they aren't really my own, either—any more than the flowers or tomatoes I've cultivated in my garden come from me. The flowers were invented by someone else. I'm merely the human agent that helped them grow.

I don't actually have a garden right now, though I have in the past, but I think this analogy fits. My mind, my soul, my self is like a garden. I didn't invent the ground the flowers are planted in, and I didn't invent me. I didn't invent the ideas, either, just like I didn't invent the flowers. My job is simply to cultivate the ideas—the good ideas—that come into my mind. Good ideas aren't the only ones out there. The bad ideas need to be uprooted and destroyed, while the good ideas must be planted and nurtured.

Ideas have consequences, as the great author Richard Weaver told us. In the Bible, we're told to think upon things that are lovely, noble, pure, excellent, and praiseworthy. Sometimes, of course, bad ideas find their way into my mind, and my job is to get rid of them as fast as possible, with as little damage to the good ideas as possible. But just like in a garden, the weeds must be pulled and the flowers protected.

I wanted to share these ideas with others. These ideas were the good and wares that I wanted to bring to the marketplace. That's what I've done through Change Your World. I've brought these ideas to the intellectual marketplace. I needed a way to bring them to marketplace, though, and initially postcards provided a convenient and interesting way to do that. They make it easy to spread good ideas around the globe. Every time a postcard gets sent through the mail. More than one person gets to see it. So if each postcard has a great idea for making our world better, it's going to benefit more than just the person who receives it.

In fact, the person who benefits the most from the postcard isn't the person who receives it. Hopefully, the recipient is blessed richly, but the person who benefits the most is really the person who sent it. This is only the case of course when the sender sends it in sincere concern for the well-being of the other. When we show kindness to others, we ought to do it selflessly out of real concern for them. If we are doing it selfishly, we aren't really doing it out of kindness, are we?

When we show kindness by sending a postcard, and we do it honestly and sincerely, we cultivate uplifting ideas in the garden of our minds. We encourage the pure, lovely, upright, noble, and excellent thoughts to grow. And we provide rich, nourishing soil for our good thoughts.

More than Postcards

So the postcards, you see, were only a way to spread the ideas already at work in my life. We believe that postcards are a very key part of changing our world, and we hope you agree.

But Change Your World is much more than postcards. We are developing audio, video, and live training. We are developing seminars. We are developing books and other training materials. We are developing  programs and products that we think will have a phenomenal impact on ourselves, our friends, and our world.

We are testing new ideas and products on ourselves as we go along, so that we know what works and what doesn't. We don't want to recommend something we haven't tried. We're working hard to create and refine these products so that you get only top-quality products and services from all of us at Change Your World.

But Who are You?

I know that some of you must be asking this question. "Who are you, Courtney Huntington? What have you done that we should listen to you?" Let me tell you something about me.

I have my Masters Degree in English, with a focus on Medieval Literature. For two and a half years, I read a lot of Chaucer and other Middle English poetry. But what does that mean to you? I really struggled during this program. I was working to overcome myself, my fears, and my bad habits. It was during this time that I realized it was time to look at the world differently. I was caught up in my own limitations, stuck in a rut, held back by old ways of doing things. These were almost entirely my own doing, mind you. What I was beginning to realize was that I had to work on myself, first. Napoleon Hill says that he was the hardest rascal he ever had to deal with. And he says that if we're honest with ourselves, we'll realize the same is true of us. Well, it's sure true of me.

I already had principles that I was trying to apply, but I was sabotoging my own succes in applying them. It was time to break through, to go beyond, to overcome. In his letter to the Philippians, Paul says in the Bible that they should press on to receive the prize. That's what we all have to do. One time or another, we all must.

So I began studying how to change my world, and I began to realize that in order to change my world, I have to be willing to help others change theirs and be willing to let others help me change mine. The second one is a lot harder for most of us. We are so ready to help others, and we are so reluctant to let others help us.

I'm just an ordinary guy. There's nothing really special about me. I'm fairly disciplined, and I have high standards for myself—just like most people. I write every day. I read, study, and research every day. And every day I compare myself to a list of principles, character traits, and habits that I want to acquire or maintain. Just like everyone else.

What do I have to offer? Well, alone, all by myself, not much. But I'm not alone. I have thousands of years of providence, progress, and development behind me. I have thousands of years of failure and success behind me. By God's grace, I am better equipped than those who have preceded me. Not because I'm something special, but because I—like Isaac Newton—am standing on the shoulders of giants.

I learn every day how to apply the principles of positive change in new and more effective ways. I have assembled a team to help me discover how to bring about good change most effectively. And that team is growing. Right now it's a small team, because we wanted to start with a good foundation. But we're getting ready to add highly qualified people to our team.

We've got great ideas for how to change the world for the better! All we want to do is share them with you. As we learn more, we'll pass them along. We are constantly searching for more and better ideas, and when we find them, we'll tell you about them. Maybe you'd like to help us grow our list of ideas. Coming up later this year, we are planning a retreat to provide thoughtful people like you an opportunity to share your ideas with us and others. If you think you might be interested, just say so. Contact us and let us know.

We all need friends, and we all need mentors. If you're looking for someone to help you get to the next level—whether friend or mentor—you could ask someone else. There are people who are more qualified and have more experience. We have the highest regard for some of our mentors, and if you feel like you are beyond our help, by all means let us know. Contact us and tell us. When you do, we will gladly recommend some of our mentors to you—if mentoring is what you seek. Perhaps you're looking for friends who think like you do to help encourage you along the way. If that's all you're looking for, we will gladly give you the encouragement you need.

Some, I think would counsel me to be less open, less transparent about myself and my goals. If my level of openness doesn't sit well with you, please reconsider your approach to life. Honesty is not only the best policy, it is the only policy. Am I saying I am always perfectly honest? Sadly, no. I fail many times, in many different ways. But the only way for me to help myself or anyone else—including you—is to walk with integrity. I share with you about myself because I believe that you deserve to know—and because I believe that I can help you change your world. Our focus is not on past success or failure. Nor is it on present success or failure. Our focus—for ourselves and for you—is future success. If we do that, then we will together see present and past success.

I invite you to learn more about Change Your World. Stick around the site for a while. Read past Founder's Messages, if you haven't already done so. Read past issues of Change Your World for Good, our monthly newsletter. Sign up for the newsletter, so you can see what's coming up. It's free, so you don't have to worry about investing too much precious money. I will ask you to invest some precious time, however, in reading the newsletter when it comes. To sign up for it, simply click here.

Also, if you haven't already taken us up on our offer for free postcards, now is a great time. It's a limited-time offer, only available until Easter. Read below to find out how to claim your free postcards.

Thanks for taking time to read my message. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

With many blessings and wishes for successful positive change,

Courtney Huntington
Founder

Free Postcards

Keep reading to learn how to get free postcards.

I have an outrageous goal. I and my team want to distribute 10 million Change Your World Postcards this year! But more importantly, we want to give $100,000 to charity this year! We don't have any idea how we're going to do it. We simply believe that we are. But we can't do it alone. We need help from thoughtful people like you. Would you help us take this message of hope and change to the world?

You might wonder how you possibly could. It's seems like a huge task. But we believe you can. All you need to do to start is tell your friends to visit this site. How many friends should you tell? It doesn't have to be a lot. Just decide that you'll only tell ten friends about Change Your World. Refer them to this page, and tell them to read this message that you're reading. Why are we asking you to do this? Because we believe that you are the kind of person who wants to make this world better. You are the kind of person who is willing to do the hard things that most people shy away from. And you are the kind of person who is willing to start by changing yourself first.

We have a special offer for you, too, as our way of saying thank you. We know you're committed to making our world better, otherwise you wouldn't still be reading. So as our thank you for telling your ten friends about our goal to raise $100,000 for charity, we want to give you a free pack of postcards. Each pack contains 14 cards. This is completely on your honor. You don't have to fill out any form or give us any information. We trust you. We know that you are hardworking and honest, and we know you'll only ask for your free pack, if you actually send ten of your friends to Change Your World. We believe that everyone one who visits our site is out to benefit us. We are what W. Clement Stone called "reverse paranoids." To take us up on our offer, all you have to do is send us an email to order@howtochangeyourworld.com and include the words "I'm a reverse paranoid" in the Subject line. That's it! We will send you a pack of postcards at no cost to you. We will choose one of the four designs you see below. If you want to tell us anything else, feel free to write us a note in the body of your email.

Your cards should arrive in 2-4 weeks. We currently have a limited supply, so if you order now, you will guarantee that you receive your cards ASAP. We hope our next shipment of cards arrives before the current supply runs out, and we will let you know immediately, if you should expect a delay. We don't foresee a delay, but we cannot predict the level of response we will receive, and we will fill every request that comes in answer to this offer. Of course, you can understand that we must limit  the timeframe for this offer. This offer is only available to those who respond before Easter. Your request must have a date of or prior to April 10, 2004—the Saturday before Easter. Why not place your request now? All you have to do is email us at order@howtochangeyourworld.com and include the words "I'm a reverse paranoid" in the Subject line. Don't wait. Do it now.

Now that you've placed your request for your free postcards, why not consider taking your commitment to the next level. We have a special offer to help kickstart your involvement with Change Your World. We will give you ANOTHER FREE PACK OF POSTCARDS, if you simply agree to buy two more packs. All you have to do is tell you want another free pack of postcards. This offer is subject to the same stipulations mentioned in the previous paragraph. You must respond by the Satureday before Easter! And because we do not know what kind of response we will get to the offer above, we cannot guarantee we have your postcards in stock at the time you order. We will fill your order in the order it is received when our new shipment arrives. Your order will be filled. To tell us that you want to take us up on our offer for another free pack of postcards, all you have to do is choose which packs you want and click the button. Remember that you will be receiving a total of 3 packs, but you'll only have to pay for two of them. Why not accept this offer now?

We currently have 4 designs available:

               

        

               

        

Please tell us what we've done well and what we can do better. Tell us what products you'd like to hear more about. Contact us at info@howtochangeyourworld.com. If you haven't already signed up for our newsletter, take a few minutes to sign up now. It's packed with great information, and it's free. Sign up here: Change Your World for Good.


P.S. Remember that you have until April 10th to request your free postcard as a thank you for sending ten friends to our website. You are on your honor. We trust you to keep your end of the bargain. So if you haven't already made your request, why not do it now? All you have to do is email us at order@howtochangeyourworld.com and include the words "I'm a reverse paranoid" in the Subject line. Just do it.

P.P.S. Once you've taken advantage of our free postcard offer, take advantage of our offer for ANOTHER FREE PACK OF POSTCARDS. If you haven't already, get another free pack of postcards by simply buy two others. All you have to do is choose the combination of card packs you prefer and click "Yes!" We can't wait to send them to you!

               

        

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