How To Make The World A Better Place

By Erasmo Flores

In his first book, Erasmo provides a collection of observations, deductions, and opinions that identify problems and proposes solutions to correct those problems. The intent is to promote the utilization of situational awareness as we pursue happiness that simultaneously facilitates the likelihood for others to experience their own happiness.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Gatekeeper Press
• Release date: Jun 24, 2021
• ISBN: 9781662912108

Book preview

Introduction

In order to make the world a better place, it starts with looking at ourselves and seeing how we can individually and therefore collectively, change for the better. Everyone is different, yet everyone is the same. We all want love and happiness. I really do not think that there is anyone in existence that does anything with the intent or goal to be unhappy. I truly believe that people just try to be happy. Problems arise when one individual, or a group of individuals’ pursuits of happiness has a detrimental effect on others. When we act like we as a collective group or we as individuals are the only ones that matter, it becomes a problem for everyone. This causes trouble and negativity when we act like and/or assume that no one else is important or that we are more important than everyone else. In everything that we do, we must remember that there are other people, creatures, and beings all around us. When we are driving, there are other people on the roads. When we go anywhere, unless it is with the specific intent to isolate and be alone, there will be other people around. It actually might take some effort to isolate oneself and be totally and completely alone. Even so, you would have to get to a place where you are alone before you can actually be totally and completely alone. Getting to that place would require getting around and away from everyone else. At the same time, it is important to remember that we are social creatures. We cannot genuinely thrive without others. No matter how hard we try, we need others. I am quite convinced that we cannot honestly be happy without others. We need connection somehow, someway. You may be convinced. So, the information that I am giving, I want you to receive it. You may not, but you should believe it. If you do then you will know and if you do then you will grow exponentially. Simultaneously I ask that you believe nothing unless it resonates with and coincides with your own feelings and intuition. I ask that you do not assimilate anything unless you feel good about it and it will make your life better while at the same time it does not hinder or hurt anyone else’s life. But I think you will believe this. Do you know how I know? Ask yourself, right now…Do I want to be happy? Do you? I am willing to bet that you do want to feel happy.

What makes people happy? Being able to do what they need and want to, without any interference or obstruction, makes people happy. Think about it…You plan your day, your trip, your life, and as long as everything goes smoothly and as planned and you are able to accomplish everything that you need, that makes you feel pretty good. Listen to people. Usually when they are talking to you or others, a lot of their points of friction that make them unhappy have to deal with not being able to do what they need and/or want to do. If they are driving, traffic makes them unhappy. If you go shopping and someone is standing in your way and you say, excuse me to get by them but they do not hear you because they are not paying attention, then you raise your voice at them and they think you are being rude, that type of thing makes people unhappy. When someone is in a romantic relationship and things seem unclear, that makes people unhappy. When it comes to having children, if the child(ren) is/are well taken care of and happy, then you as the parent will also be happy. Learning new and interesting information along with acquiring new skills, makes people happy. When people are treated with fairness, equality, and respect, that makes them feel happy. If you attempt to help people to feel happy, they will appreciate it. If you could help someone to feel happy, why not do it? If someone did something to make your life easier, I am quite certain that you would appreciate it and that is great! You cannot control what other people do. But you can control what you do or not do, and how you act and react. If you are doing everything in your power to make life easier and in turn happier for everyone else, and everyone else does everything in their power to make life easier for you and everyone else, then the result will be that more and more people are happier. When people are happier, quality of life is improved. This makes the world a better place.

So how do I have the authority to say that the information in this book will make the world a better place? Because I do. It is my job. It is my responsibility as a leader.

I served in the United States Army as a Combat Engineer for 12 years including two combat deployments to Iraq. Combat Engineers are the ones that specialize in mobility, counter-mobility, and survivability. That means that if there is an obstacle that is preventing our forces from advancing, the Combat Engineers destroy that obstacle and create a way for our forces to advance. If there is a need to prevent advancement on our friendly forces, the Combat Engineers create obstacles that protect from and prevent that advancement. Combat Engineers also fortify the stronghold, they are combat problem solvers, and they are responsible for changing and developing the situation to an inevitably better and more favorable one. The most defining aspect of the job of the Combat Engineer is to utilize copious amounts of explosives to blow things up whenever it is necessary. Combat Engineers share a close working relationship with Infantry Soldiers and must fight as such when the situation dictates. Another common name for the Combat Engineer is Sapper, but only those that graduate from the Sapper Leader Course earn their Sapper Tab to be worn on the uniform.

As a Combat Engineer, Sapper, along with my Sapper buddy teammate, we achieved the title of the ‘absolute best’ in the entire corps of engineers, for the entire U. S. Army, in 2007. Conduct an internet search to learn more about what it takes to become a Sapper and Best Sapper Competition. You will not be disappointed.

I was also U. S. Army Ranger qualified. The U. S. Army Ranger course is the one of the most challenging tactical training experiences in existence. If you want to know more, conduct an internet search for What it takes to graduate from Ranger school. Again, you will not be disappointed.

Aside from occupation specialties and additional skill identifications that increase effectiveness as a Soldier, the U. S. Army is inherently structured, organized, and efficient. Anyone that has ever served learns a great deal about how to better themselves and contribute to the overall effectiveness of their unit and essentially to the Army as a whole. This is why civilian businesses make it a priority hire to Veterans.

One of the first priorities within the Army is safety and identifying hazards in order to implement control measures to minimize loss. Additionally, the Army intrinsically operates as a self-improving organization in which personnel and groups of personnel examine their previous actions and immediately make improvements. This is constant and continuous. The Army is constantly training and conducting after-action reviews that identify things within a scenario that go well, things that do not go well, what actions to continue, and what actions to change and improve upon. These after-action reviews also identify who is responsible for making a change. Because of these after-action reviews, the Army is always improving and evolving. One cannot be a part of the Army and not assimilate this process.

As a senior leader it eventually becomes a specific assignment to operate as a facilitator to observe groups of individuals conducting training scenarios. The specific duty is then to help them to identify operational problems within their group, inform them of the exact things that they are doing that are creating those problems, what they can do to fix their deficiencies, and then they immediately make necessary changes toward improvement. This is process is repeated until a desired outcome is achieved.

So again, how do I have the authority to say that the information in this book will make the world a better place? For a time, it was literally my job to make observations and come up with ways to help to fix problems. I am just taking it to another level in an effort to inform everyday citizens of the world what we all can do to help each other to improve our lives. I have to disseminate this information to anyone and everyone that wants to make the world a better place. I had to do something to help us all see what we are doing and how we are affecting each other. This book could be considered a collection of informal after-action reviews for life scenarios. It is compiled with the intent to make things better for as many people as possible. It is about how your individual actions and group actions can help people by staying out of their ways, making things more convenient and efficient for them and you, changing thoughts and behaviors that are driven by beliefs, and implementing programs and/or processes that can simply make the world a better place.

We need to establish standards of etiquette. We need to be more considerate of others. We need to normalize things that many people need and want normalized. We need to establish a common understanding. Let us build cohesion as beings.

It could be assumed that everything that I have written down in this book, you have already thought about. I could assume that you may already know all of this stuff. Well, you know what they say about assumptions, right? Instead of making the mistake of assuming that you would know certain things and act in certain ways, I am going to explain this information as if this is the first day of your life and you have made the choice to take my advice on how make the world a better place.

Hopefully, you agree that assimilating the information within this book and implementing the suggested actions will in fact make the world a better place. If that is so, then please pass this information along to someone else. Once again, I am sure that you want to be happy. I want to be happy. Let us help each other to be happy.

Driving

There is only one bad driver on the road! Everyone else is just trying to get to where they are going. The bad driver tends to act and drive like they are the only person on the road. You are not the only person on the road! Please do not drive like it! Please do not drive like you are the only person that matters. Driving is already quite dangerous as it is, without someone making conditions even more unsafe. The information contained in this chapter is provided to help YOU to NOT be that bad driver. At the same time, you will be helping everyone to get to where they need to go.

There are four basic and recurring principles within this chapter to follow that will make it easier to drive like you are trying to make the world a better place.

1. Safety first.

2. Do not be an