Idealistically speaking

I would think that most people, either consciously or unconsciously, have some sort of idealistic vision.  Whether it's an idea of how they think their own life would be perfect, or society or the world in general, there is some sort of vision for how things should be.
The question that should come up, behind all of this, is that of origins.  From where does this vision come?  What are the motivating factors and what is the ultimate end goal, either recognized or not? 
What does your perfect life look like?  What does a perfect society or world look like, in your understanding?  To make this thing ultimately practical and thus worth our attention, what steps can you take today, this month or this year to bring that about?  What are you willing to sacrifice to make this happen?  The answer to that question will reveal just how important the ideal is to you. 
I would suggest that if the ideal life, society or world involves the changing of other people, rather than yourself, then your ideal is perfectly upside down.  The Christian life and the subsequent sanctification intertwined with it are all about the things you do, not others.  Think to yourself, "I am to love God, I am to love neighbor, I am to repent." 
Start from here and two things will happen.  One, your definition of ideal will change and two, your progress toward the ideal will move forward.  You are going to be moving, it's unavoidable, every moment of your life.  You might as well make it a move in the right direction.