The Amazing Race and Changing The World. They have more in common than what you might think.

The Amazing Race is one of my favourite TV shows. It has all of the things that I love – travel, challenges, friendship, life-changing adventures and a lot of fun. When I think about it that way, it sounds a lot like my journey as a change-maker. I made a list of all of the things that we love about The Amazing Race and how much it has in common with what goes into changing the world became even more clear.

1. Teamwork. Teamwork is the key to The Amazing Race – finding your partner and working together and using each other’s strengths, skills and talents and using them to get it done. Teamwork is about encouraging, supporting and motivating each other. On The Amazing Race, my favourite teams have been the ones that work well with their partner AND they are also the ones that offer to help another team how and when they can. In my journey as a change-maker, I can tell you that being part of a team is how things get done. Everyone on the team has different things to offer and when you put them all together you can accomplish so much more than you can on your own.
2. Have Fun. Even though the teams are in it to win it, they all still have to have so much fun along the way. That is what it is all about, going around the world and having an awesome time together with your partner. On our journey as changemakers, we are working hard to tackle some pretty serious things – poverty, homelessness, child labour, hunger. But let me tell you it is rewarding and it can be fun. Dance-a-thons, carwashes, neighbourhood cleanups and We Day – all fun.
3. Overcoming Obstacles. Along our journey we will all face obstacles – time, support, money, resources, knowledge. These are all things that come up along the way and we need to find our way around, over, under or through them. In my conversations with people who have overcome obstacles, they all have one thing in common – they are passionate about what they are doing. When things get hard, it’s important to remember why you are working so hard and use that to motivate you to get creative or empowered to face what is in your way.
4. Determination and Courage. Every challenge, road block, speed bump and detour on The Amazing Race requires serious determination and courage. Some of the things that they have to do are things that they have never done before. Some of the things require super strength, some require patience and some require wisdom. It takes courage to stand up for what you believe in and it takes determination to stick with it and see it through. But like The Amazing Race, it’s worth it and it feels so good.
5. Celebrate your accomplishments. This is a big one. On The Amazing Race there are plenty of things to celebrate – completing a challenge, getting past a roadblock, making it to the pit stop and of course – making it to the end. Every team celebrates each one and it is important to do this along your journey as a changemaker. Whether you have reached a fundraising goal, got your school motivated or realized that you did something really well, you should be proud of yourself and celebrate that. Celebrate often – it keeps you going.