Do Your Individual Actions Actually Matter?
You have probably been there about a gajillion times. You want to do whatever you can to make this world a better place but then you can’t help but wonder if it’s pointless. With so many companies in big power continuing to fuel the problem and with most of the world still clueless about what we need to do, are your small actions having any impact at all?
I have been asked this question many times and asked myself the same question just as many, and what I’ve come to realize is that YES — they absolutely matter, for four main reasons. Let me tell you why!
ONE — Mend Anxiety
Your individual actions help mend anxiety! Since climate anxiety is something we feel when we get closer and closer to an anti-goal (something we don’t want to happen) and we feel like we lack the power to do something about it, small individual actions will edge you away from that place of anxiety and into empowered action.
It’s simply about putting yourself back in control and in doing so, mending that anxiety. Call it rebel sanity if you want and if the only reason you’re doing this is to make yourself feel better, then so be it! I think it’s totally OK to be a bit selfish in this movement too.
TWO — Build Character
But it’s not just about feeling better, because those small actions will create new habits that will start to reshape who you are. How you show up in the world and who you identify as will change, and you will bring forth a whole different kind of energy to the world around you.
By being the change, you start to believe in the change, and that is also the energy you’re spreading to others. You’re proving that change is possible and showcasing the world you wish to see moving forward.
THREE — Shift Culture
This leads me to reason number three, which is how we’re always having an impact on the environment around us, whether we know it or not. We are social creatures and therefore constantly look to our surroundings - consciously or subconsciously - to see what’s acceptable, OK, not OK, and cool. The more of us who do something, if that’s bringing our own coffee mug to the coffee shop or wearing the same outfit to multiple parties in a row, that new thing will soon become acceptable. When something becomes acceptable, it starts to create a new norm, and that’s how we shift culture.
And we should never underestimate the power we have when we shift culture because that is how we change the system and, ultimately, the world!
FOUR — Plant Seeds
Last but not least, remember that you’re always planting seeds. You may not know how much you’re influencing someone else but that person might see what you’re doing, think it’s really cool, and then try it out for himself.
The beautiful thing about being the vessel of change is that you don’t always get to see the results, but rest assured that the impact is there. As long as you show up in your actions with light, love, and excitement, as long as you do you instead of shaming other people into doing what you think is right, you are planting powerful seeds. And before you know it, you will have a beautiful forest of positive change growing all around you.
I want to take a second to remind you that you ARE a vessel for change. You are the hero we need today and you can choose to activate that change whenever you’re ready. It’s time to recognize what an exciting time we live in and start making history together. It’s time to step out of doom, fear, and denial, and into curiosity, courage, and positively inspired change.
Do you agree?
