A Worldwide Wave

If you follow me on social media, you’d know that I am organising a flashmob to the song, ‘You Will Be Found’ from Dear Evan Hansen the musical. It has been hard to find enough people to make this performance impactful in the way that it deserves and the way that I hope for it to be. I thought of this idea whilst listening to the song on the bus. I had been thinking about my career and which direction I should take it. While listening to this song, I realised that I want to do more than just host seminars, workshops, occasionally post helpful content, and release a product or two like most self-help figures. I understood that I needed to reach more people, the world, and build upon our community.

My best friend understands me more than anyone else I know. She told me that I shouldn’t tell people before they ask. I agree with that to a certain extent. I would never force my views or opinions on anyone, but I don’t want to hide them away, because I know they could help people. I’ve met some amazing people with incredible careers, and they all seem to have their own niche. That’s why I had become so adamant about finding my own, but I cannot find it in me to keep my career focused on a single area. I suppose that’s why although as a kid I had wanted to be a psychologist, it never felt completely right to me.

Let me direct you to this quote:

“Personal transformation can and does have global effects. As we go, so goes the world, for the world is us. The revolution that will save the world is ultimately a personal one.” – Marianne Williamson

I think this quote is right and many self-help figures do go on to change many people’s lives, one or a few at a time, but how do we speed this process up and reach more people? Think about this, ‘as we go, so goes the world’. It’s simple psychology. We are heavily influenced by people and our environment even if we don’t realise it. Especially in the modern world, where we now have the internet, we are influenced to buy trending products and from popular companies. We go where the mass goes.

In the 1951 Asch Conformity Line Experiment, six participants were shown a line. There were 18 total trials in which they would be shown an additional three lines and asked which of the three lines was the same as or of similar length to the original line. However, only one of the participants was real – the rest were actors. In the first few rounds, the actors gave the correct answer, however, then began giving unanimously incorrect answers. The results found 32% of participants conformed with the incorrect answers, 75% of participants conformed at least once, and 25% never conformed, on the critical trials where the actors provided incorrect answers. In the control group, less than 1% gave the incorrect answer.

When interviewed about their responses, participants said that they knew their answer was incorrect but went along with the group due to fear of not fitting in (McCleod, 2023).

What does this tell us about society? We can’t stand to be the odd one out. Why is this important? We can use this facilitate real, bigger change. We have to make revolution a trend.

Now going back to the quote from before, ‘the revolution that will save the world is ultimately a personal one’. Like popular brands, companies, influencers, we have to step outside of the crowd for just a second to do something different and trust that others will follow because they will. Sometimes campaigns fail, but that doesn’t mean the company shuts down all operations – they try something new. All it takes is one person to start waving until the whole arena catches on, and although we can’t see everyone’s faces, we can see the wave that they are creating. We are constantly a part of what could be.

My flashmob is the first step towards how I plan to create a wave. I know that if done right, this event will not only spread an important message to the community but also give my career the boost it needs to slingshot into success so that I can help more people. Please check out my social media accounts, @jasminewatson.me on Instagram and Facebook, which I primarily use, for more information regarding the flashmob. Click the links directly here:

https://www.instagram.com/jasminewatson.me

https://www.facebook.com/jasminewatson.me

And always remember that all it takes is a ripple to start a wave.

Bibliography

McCleod, S. (2023, October 24). Solomon Asch Conformity Line Experiment Study. Retrieved from Simply Psychology: https://www.simplypsychology.org/asch-conformity.html