“Only you can change your world.”

Yesterday at the Oceans Calling music festival in Ocean City, Maryland, I watched 4 Non Blondes take the stage. Mid-set, during their new song “Drop the Bomb,” Linda Perry took a pause from singing and asked the crowd to sing:

“Only you can change your world.”

Thousands of voices. One line. Simple words, but they landed.

The weekend had already felt full. Great music, contagious energy, a little too much rain on Saturday (the kind that tests your resilience), and gorgeous weather the rest of the time. That line stitched it all together for me. Because most of the “change” we’re hoping for doesn’t show up as a torrential downpour. It looks like ordinary moments where we choose how to respond.

We can’t control the rain. We do control whether we show up anyway, laugh, and make the most of the set in front of us.

We can’t control every curveball life throws at us. We do control whether we get stuck in the momentary noise or keep sight of the bigger picture.

We can’t control how other people behave. We do control the meaning we attach to their actions and how much of our energy we choose to give in response.

The lyrics are about agency, but it isn’t about going it alone. “Only you can change your world” doesn’t mean “only you, by yourself, with no help.” It means the first act is yours. Own the next move, invite others, and build something better together. Leaders don’t just change their world; they create the conditions for others to change theirs, too.

A festival is a good mirror for leadership and life. There’s noise, weather, a schedule that will slip, two of your favorite bands playing at the same time, and a setlist you don’t control. But your experience is shaped by the choices you make in the middle of it.

Will you be present or will you miss the good stuff while wishing for perfect conditions?

This past week had all of it: music that lifted the energy, rain that tried to flatten it, and then a reset when the sun came back out. And in the middle of it, a crowd singing a line that doubled as a challenge: Only you can change your world.

If that’s true, the next step is simple. Not easy, but simple. 

Pick one thing in your world that would be unambiguously better seven days from now, and move it forward today. Keep it small and visible.

Send the message you’ve been postponing.
Block out that 60-minute window to work through your goals.
Pick up that book that's been on your nightstand for weeks and read a chapter.

Then notice what shifts: inside you and around you.

I’m grateful for a weekend of great music, positive energy, a bit too much rain on Saturday, and beautiful weather the rest of the time. Imperfect, yet still memorable.