Recent events have shown that even peaceful revolutions can turn violent. The downfall of long-standing regimes is always due to an internal conflict.

It is impossible to tell how or when the revolution will begin, but sometimes pre-existing conditions are enough to spark it.

A few months ago, there was no way you could say that a presidential election would lead to calls for violence. Now it’s hard to believe!

When someone with little respect for the electoral process makes threats towards others because they don’t think their candidate won, things can go very wrong.

Sadly, we saw this in 2016. When voters feel excluded from the democratic process, anything can happen.

Before anyone starts throwing stones, let us consider why these elections become so divisive. It is not just because people enjoy watching chaos. These protests often seem more about something – about who voters dislike more than what agenda they oppose.

These disagreements usually come down to one thing: power. Who wants it? And why?

Whether you are talking about between two individuals, or between one individual and a group, motivation determines whether action will occur. If nobody feels motivated, nothing happens.

The time is right

There are always people with an agenda for change. It’s just that now there are more of them, and they're actively trying to inspire and motivate others to join their side.

We live in a society where everyone has a voice and things can quickly get out of hand. With social media making it easier than ever to spread false information or propaganda, it's becoming increasingly difficult to know what is true and what is not.

It's also easy to be distracted by the constant flow of new stimuli. Technology makes it possible to stay connected at all times, which may contribute to stress-related mental health conditions like anxiety and depression.

All these factors make it less likely that individuals will focus on finding solutions to the problems that plague our nation and the world.

With the state of our country as bad as it is, why would anyone work towards solving it?

There comes a time when enough is simply too much. You have to take action because you've put off long enough. This could be changing your lifestyle (by buying healthy foods, limiting sugar and meat consumption), investing in sustainable practices (using green energy sources, recycling) or taking positive steps (finding your passion and working hard to achieve your dreams).

If you want to see changes occur, you must put in effort first.

The situation changes

Recent events show that our current state of affairs has reached its breaking point. There have been constant reminders about how out-of-control this system is, but people seem to be more focused on what they can take rather than what they can give up.

It’s easy to get distracted by all the things you have, and not many of us were blessed with very much at a young age. We become attached to these things, we feel obligated to keep them, and it becomes hard to let go.

But here’s the thing – everything in life comes down to who you are versus what you have. It’s impossible to hold onto one without losing the other. You cannot have one if you don’t have the other.

We spend so much time thinking about what we do not have that we forget about what we have. We ignore ourselves and our lives because we could be or should be doing something else instead.

It takes an uncomfortable truth to make some necessary changes, though. So, before you decide to start living like there's no tomorrow, you must first acknowledge there is indeed a tomorrow.

There will come a day when you won’t have your house, your car, your money, or whatever else you think you need to live a happy life. That day will definitely arrive, but not today.

A leader emerges

Recent events have proven that someone consistently showing excellence in their field is able to inspire, motivate and influence others around them. People are drawn to these individuals who seem to know what they want and how to go about getting it.

This person usually does not work alone, however. They are typically surrounded by a supportive circle of people who come together to help them achieve their goals.

In addition to having plain good intentions, this person also sets clear expectations and delivers them with consistency. They are known for being hardworking and diligent, traits that bring success to them and those around them.

With all this going for them, it seems obvious as to why leadership is an ever-growing career path. There are now many courses and certification programs focused exclusively on teaching aspiring leaders everything they need to know.

But what if we looked back at the past? What if we considered the revolutions that changed our world and learned something from them?

Here are five important lessons about how to be a leader from ancient civilizations.

People get angry

There are two things that always seem to start revolutions – anger and fear. When your life is going really bad, you can usually summon up enough courage to do something about it. You may even take some action steps towards change, but then suddenly you find yourself overwhelmed with fear of what could happen next.

That’s when people become angry.

Anger is natural. We all have our limits we will not be pushed beyond before we reach our breaking point. But sometimes, for no reason whatsoever, an individual or group comes together under one common cause and their goal becomes solely focused on taking aggressive actions against those making them feel threatened or uncomfortable.

Revolutions often begin because someone who was in power loses their position and feels unprepared for how to handle the situation. They might be removed from their position through death (like Emmett Till being shot for allegedly whistling at a white woman), resignation, retirement or just plain old-fashioned firing.

Or they might realize they don’t want their job anymore and so they give themselves a pay day, letting everyone know where they stand. In either case, their place is now occupied by others who need to figure out how to work around them, learn from them, come up with new strategies, etc. - Sabrina Jafari

1. _________________ is only as strong as its weakest link.
2. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.

Disruptions occur

Is there one major cause of our current state of affairs? Perhaps it is a lack of strong leadership, or power being distributed among too many people with no clear hierarchy, or even the need to have a leader because nobody seems to know what should be done next.

Any one of these could create an environment where leaders don’t get support they need, and thus can’t perform their jobs effectively. Or, if they are successful in motivating others around them, they may eventually feel that their efforts are not appreciated and so stop trying to motivate anyone else.

In such times, when people who were once supportive aren’t anymore, opportunities to learn about leadership disappear as those with leadership skills are out-sourced or fired.

Without strong leadership, people lose confidence in the future of the organization and therefore stop putting effort into its performance. On a personal level, people avoid taking responsibilities and giving orders since they fear someone will take off without credit for it.

All this silence and apathy backfires by creating a vacuum of leadership which other people then try to fill. Sometimes it works, but more often than not, a new leader will make the same mistakes the old one did, only worse because he didn't have enough time to fix them.

Conflicts arise

All large, complex systems require energy to stay stable. Systems that have enough energy can remain in equilibrium, but will eventually reach a state where they are no longer able to balance out. At this stage, there is a risk of catastrophic failure or collapse.

In order to avert such a crisis, there must be a way for some part of the system to give up its energy. This usually happens when someone or something outside the system comes into contact with it.

If a third party intervenes appropriately, then new relationships may form and work well, preventing disaster before it even occurs. But sometimes this intervention is not possible or warranted. In these cases, you have a choice: accept the status quo, which is almost certainly going to lead to disastrous results; try to stop the harmful activity, which also likely won’t work; or facilitate transformation by creating an environment that is more conducive to change.

This last option is what makes revolutions happen. You use power to help your opponents gain strength, and once they do, you withdraw yours. By leaving them without our support, we ensure that they will surely fail and thus save ourselves from catastrophe.

Revolutions occur because powerful people lose control over their domains. They become too invested in its success, so they invest less in transforming it and keeping it that way. When they do try to change it, others resist and prevent successful implementation.

The government does not react

Recent events have shown that our current administration will do almost anything to prove that it cannot be trusted with power. This includes actively seeking ways to overthrow the United States Government and installing an authoritarian rule in its place.

This is not theory, this has happened before! In fact, we are living through what some call the Second American Revolution!

In 1775-76, British colonials fought back against their colonial masters for the right to govern themselves. They stormed out of meetings where they were denied representation and threatened force if they were not listened too.

They eventually declared independence and won their freedom. A group of people took action to achieve a goal, which included changing the government and leadership.

A second revolution happens when groups of individuals take actions that contribute towards creating change. It is not just one event that leads to revolutions, but many.

People get rebellious

Recent events have shown that our society is reaching its breaking point. Systems are completely out of control, people are becoming more aggressive as time goes on, and riots seem to occur almost every day across the globe.

We live in an era where technology has totally taken over our lives, and we feel like our futures depend on how much money we make or don’t make.

It is hard to believe there was a time when we didn’t know most of what happens outside our home towns, but now it seems impossible to escape this information.

In fact, many experts say we are living in The Information Age, which means we will always be aware of at least some aspect of what is happening around us.

All of these factors contribute to why people become rebellions. It can be because they experience something they consider harmful, wrong, or unfair. Or maybe they just cannot take any more of something.

Whatever the cause, sometimes one person starts a revolution that gets picked up by other individuals. Sometimes it spreads via word of mouth, spread through conversations and eye-contact.

Most times, though, it is done through media. A way to reach more people quickly is through sources such as YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter.

A few years ago, someone could have said anything on television and no one would have listened, but today anyone with a smartphone has access to the world wide web.