How can we change the mindset of Filipinos?

How can we change the mindset of Filipinos? The problem with our country is the lack of good role models for our people to emulate. In the absence of good role models, people will then follow what's available and in our country's case we have a rich supply of bad role models like the corrupt politicians or the shallow TV/movie celebrities.

Nothing motivates people more to action or inaction than the powerful emotions of greed and fear, or pleasure and pain. If you can offer one or the other, then you can motivate people to move, think, and act in a certain way.

My recommendation is simple. Be very successful in what you do and become super rich while you are at it. Then people will aspire to follow your footsteps without you even trying.

To prove this point, just have a look at how many people now who want to invest like Warren Buffet and how many authors have tried to cash in on this need by writing about Buffet's life and investment strategies. Buffet is not even actively telling people to follow his methodologies but his tremendous success made people want to know his secrets and to follow his footsteps.

Another example is Manny Pacquiao. I'm sure the level of interest in boxing careers now in our country is at an all-time high due to Pacquaio's unprecedented success and the multimillion dollar prize moneys he gets for each bout. No amount of Philippine government rhetoric or support on sports and athletes could have achieved the same outcome.

In the IT field where we both belong, our country desperately needs young and very successful technopreneurs like Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg or Google founders Sergei Brin and Larry Page. If you or I can become the Filipino Bill Gates and become multi-billionaires, then people will readily listen and pay attention to what we say and do and changing mindsets will become much easier.

You know the old adages - "Money talks, bullshit walks" and "Actions speak louder than words". I think these words summarises my points well.

How can we change the Mindset of the Pilipino? Should we? of course yes? Could we? I hope so.. When? can we start now? What if we can? What if we can change the mindset of the Filipino? What if we were able to make most of our kababayans to think more productively and do more things of higher values? what more if we can make them even out think the americans? the canadians? the brazilians? the singaporians? the Japanese? what If we can make the Pilipino use more of his imagination, energy and time on things that could make the nation more competitive around the world?

Changing the Mindset of a Filipino I think would be a very very challenging task. I lot of Filipinos are so addicted to thier belief system and have very limited understanding and limited line of sight that is preventing them to see different realities and a lot of Filipino have very limited use of thier imagination to see different possibilities for themselves. I've been trying to change the mindset of those people around me. Sometimes I get successful but most of the time I do not. I guess the best thing we can do is to keep on trying to model what we want them to see and keep on influencing people around us to adapt on a better ways of thinking. We should keep on making the area of our influence get bigger and bigger and also to keep on making our self more and more effective in doing it.

Our kababayan I think just need more leaders that can show them the way and models that they can emulate. Ernie said let us talk more to the youth. I think that it is a good Idea but we also need the help from the old. The old and the wise I think should step up to play the leadership role because the youth only model what they see. The youth should be guided by those who understand and who see the bigger picture.

Let us call all the bright minds of the Filipino around the world. How can we change the MINDSET of the Pilipino? Because if we can change the MINDSET the REALITY will follow.