Act With Wisdom, Courage, and Compassion To Make a Better World
Think Globally. Act Locally. Practice Daily.
The next 4 years will be among the most important in our nation’s history. We all have work to do if we are to build thriving, equitable, and sustainable communities and a strong democracy for future generations.
We need everyone to develop the leadership mindset, habits, & skills to be better human beings, inspire others, and “be the change we wish to see in the world.”
1. Get off the sidelines: Make a concrete difference in the life of a child as a tutor or mentor… or get involved in some other way!
2. Stand up for your values and practice courage: You will inspire others, too!
3. Make time to practice solitude — deep reflection, meditation, or prayer — to feel connected to something beyond yourself.
4. Get outdoor physical exercise every day — whether as part of your solitude practice or not — to boost your energy and endorphins and reduce stress.
5. Grow in self-awareness of your needs, emotions, and actions because reflexive anger, frustration, annoyance, and “othering,” or a compulsive need for action and stimulation harm us in the long term.
6. Cultivate positive emotions of gratitude, joy, hope, and kindness, which bring us together in friendship and community.
7. Don’t avoid seeing and feeling the suffering in the world, the looming challenge of climate change, and the daunting task that us primitive human beings face in building and sustaining good communities and healthy democracies. Our empathy can be a source of energy and strength for us.
8. Integrate your deeper values into your actions, large and small.
9. Find inspiration learning about the stories of people like Dr. King, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Nelson Mandela who have worked to help humankind make moral progress, and about the latest social science showing that a “prosocial” approach to life works for us as individuals as well as for the larger world.