Monday Inspiration: Create a Positive and Meaningful Difference in the World

The current political, social, and economic climates are turbulent ones—both here in the United States and abroad. You may feel like you are helpless to do anything about this fact, but, in fact, you can make a positive and meaningful difference in the world. You can have impact—even by doing small things.

Not only that, as citizens of this world, you and I have an obligation to start creating impactful change that makes our planet a safer, more stable and peaceful environment—for everyone.

To be clear, “environment” encompasses more than just the rainforest or the oceans. It includes our food, streets, how we treat each other, the government…literally everything.

Making impactful change, making a meaningful and positive difference, doesn’t require vast sums of money or unending volumes of free time. It just takes a little initiative and a lot of willingness to take action.

Develop the Make-a-Difference Habit

Think of making a positive and meaningful difference in the world as a new habit—a habit of taking small actions regularly that inspire or influence change in lives, communities, organizations, your country, or the world.

Your positive, consistent habits can improve schools or political and healthcare systems, for instance. They can change bad situations to good ones. They can influence others who have more power than you or I to make decisions that affect our country or the world at large. They even can persuade friends and family to join causes or do good deeds.

Each and Every One of Us Can Make a Difference

If you feel you have no way to make a difference, think again.

Writing a single letter to your congressman or attending a single protest in your hometown can have huge impact. Feeding the hungry affects the lives of the homeless in your community. Volunteering at the local animal shelter improves the lives of the animals there. Donating to the ACLU or Planned Parenthood helps the organizations do their jobs.

Make your acts of kindness and activism habitual. Do them regularly…often and on a schedule.

What’s Your Cause or Movement?

What cause do you feel especially passionate about? What movement are you excited to start or support? Find one to which you feel emotionally connected. That increases the likelihood that you will follow through and take consistent action to make a positive and meaningful difference.

Do you have a talent you can use to help people, organizations or a cause on a regular basis? Take an accounting of your special gifts… Can you put them to use to help and support?

Maybe you are a good negotiator and can use this skill to work with the diverse members of a particular movement.

Or maybe you are bilingual or trilingual and can help translate for those who want to speak out but can’t be understood.

If you like books, volunteer to read to older people in retirement homes or young children at the library.

If you’re a talented gardener, start beautifying local parks.

And if volunteering isn’t your thing, try writing articles or blog post to inspire others to support a cause or movement.

But take one of your talents or passions and incorporate that into a weekly habit that inspires or creates positive and meaningful change.

Consider Authoring Change

If you are a writer—that’s your special gift—you can author change. Use your writing talent to become a change agent. Writing is one of the best ways to invoke fast and lasting change in the world.

You don’t need to write a book. Start simply, like with a blog. Write one thoughtful post a week, and share it with your friends and family. Write words that inspire or call attention to something of great importance to you and that motivates others to this cause.

Or if you’d rather write for a publication that offers an established following, try your hand at op-eds. Submit them with regularity to the Huffington Post, Digital Journal, or even your neighborhood newspaper.

Speak Your Way to Change-Agent Status

Don’t like to write? Use your voice!

Podcasting and vlogging (video blogging) provide fantastic mediums through which you can start changing the world for the better. You can speak about your movement, and reach like-minded people all over the world.

While podcasting require a little more in the way of time, effort, and capital to set up, video blogs are incredibly easy to create. If you have a smartphone and a YouTube or Vimeo account, you can do it!

Or simply get up on a stage or in front of a room of people. Use your voice, passion and purpose to inspire the change you want to see.

These are all ways you can have a meaningful, positive, and lasting impact. If none of them resonate with you, brainstorm. Find your unique way of becoming a change agent.

And the next time you’re feeling powerless to create change or feeling inspired to make a difference, channel your energy into a habit that can lead to a better tomorrow.

How are you inspiring or creating change?

Do you need to create change in your life before you can motivate others to change? If so, please give me an hour of your time; I promise you will gain insight, tools, and strategies to help you get from where you are to where you want to be. To do so, apply for a FREE high-performance strategy session application. Download and complete the application, and email it to me at nina@ninaamir.com. Learn more here. Sign up by February 1 for a 12-session Certified High Performance program and receive a FREE ticket to Brendon Burchard’s High Performance Academy in San Diego, CA, March 9-12, 2017 (value $997).

Photo courtesy of coombesy / Pixabay.com