I want to change the world. One world at a time. Maybe starting with mine or yours.
We often feel powerless when considering all of the problems in the world, so this mini-mission only requires you to think about one. Change One World. One person, one life, one problem, one world.
They key to changing one world is to solve a problem, or lend support during the problem solving time. Here are a few ways to get started.
How to change one world
- Ask the question. “How can I help?”.
- Contribute financially. If you know a financial contribution will help someone, give it. Don’t loan money, but give freely if it’s available to you.
- Praise progress. If you see that someone is struggling to move forward, help them to celebrate the small steps.
- Send a care package. Put together a few items and send them off with a simple “I love you.”
- Remove conditions. Offer to help without condition or expectation of pay back.
- Remove judgement. If a sandwich or cup of coffee will brighten someone’s day, give it to them. It’s not up to you to decide if they deserve it. Give freely.
- Share your story. Your personal experience and view of the world will inspire someone else to take action.
- Send a note. A small note or email to say thank you, I’m sorry, I love you will go a long way.
- Vote with your dollars. Spend money with people doing good business.
- Help yourself. It’s second nature to put everyone else first. Remember that in order to give your best, you have to be your best. Take care of you.
- Make connections. Maybe you can’t help but know someone who can. Make the introduction.
- Ask for help. Be vulnerable and let someone help you. You will change their world, and they might change yours.
- Shift your spending. If you drop a few dollars every day on coffee or lunch, shift those dollars for a month or more to really make a difference.
- Live Lean. Choose less. The less you need, the more you have to give.
- Give suggestions. Think about what you would do in a certain situation and offer that advice.
- Give silence. If you sense suggestions will fall on deaf ears, offer friendship, solidarity and silence.
- Be honest. Say things like “I know how you feel.” and “You are not alone” when they are true. Say “I don’t know” when you don’t know.
Take on this mini-mission and change one world. Just one. Chances are, another one will follow. Thank you for all that you do. Feel free to share more ways to change one world, your story or ways that others are helping in the comment section.
For more experiments to simplify your life, read Mini-missions for Simplicity. It’s available on the Amazon Kindle store, but you don’t need a Kindle to read it. Kindle books can also be read using the Free Kindle Reader App for your Web Browser, PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone, BlackBerry, or Android.
I love this so much — thanks!
Awesome 🙂 The ones that resonate with me are “send a note” and “make connections”
My first step in this direction is to commit to contacting one friend every day. So often we lead busy lives and it’s only when I was forced by circumstances recently to take stock of my life that I realised how many friendships I had let drift. So I am consciously, each day, making an effort to contact one person – not for my benefit, but to try and brighten their day by having someone out of the blue, who doesn’t want anything, just to take an interest and make them feel special.
It’s working great so far – I’ve re-established come connections and friendships, and its amazing seeing the power of how something so simple as reaching out to people and making them feel good about themselves, makes a big difference!
Great post as always Courtney!
Thank you so much for this post today. As my life goes I’m usually doing 90 mph and I have very little time to stop and think about simple things like this (altough I am working toward a goal of being more with less). So I am going to make a list and send some cards, a few packages as well as print this list for my refrigerator. Thanks for making a difference!
Trisha, Don’t overwhelm yourself with too much to do. Do one simple thing. Send one card or package. and then… send another. Being more with less is a life long journey. This is a marathon, not a sprint. 😉
WOW…Needed this list today…
In my area, (and maybe others), there is something called freecycle.com. I am always on to see who might need something I can help with, and the other day a mom posted she needed gloves for her 5 and 2 year old sons. I felt like I could easily help with such a simple request, and went to the store, where I purchased gloves & hats (on clearance) for both boys. I was ecstatic at my finds! Emailed her & arranged to bring them to her this morning.
I have to say that I did not get a good feeling from this girl, kind of like she is a taker, you know?
BUT, all I can say is, I immediately thought, whatever… it’s ok. This apparently was meant to be, and I bless her & her family and wish them the very, very best.
Likein your post…”give it to them. It’s not up to you to decide if they deserve it. Give freely.”
Amen… I thank God I’m able to give!
Great post! Compassion is so important.
I was really a world-changer millitant too, even my blog had it in the headlines. The more I discover, the more I see that our lives are perfect journeys. However, love matters on our paths.
Great post Courtney! Yes sometimes we forget how “powerful” we really are by the things we do and how we can influence change. We just need to be reminded, so thanks for the reminder!
it is easy to get bogged down with how terrible the world is and how little we can do about it and forget about the difference we can make. I am wanting to work on the first one ‘asking how I can help’ and teaching my kids to respond to situations with that question.
WONDERFUL post, thank you!
I’m sharing it with everyone I know.
I’m so glad that Barbara Winter had a link on her Facebook page so that I could see it.
Right now the one world I’m changing is my own. This week has thrown me a curveball, and things have been said that in another week, might have had me reeling. But instead I’ve taken it as the opportunity to reaffirm who I am, what I believe in, and why it’s important. Changing your own world, doing something for yourself, is sometimes the most important thing you can do! 🙂
Thanks for being an inspiration as always.
Great post. I love the care package idea. It can be so easy to feel overwhelmed and do nothing. Focusing on the little things we can do is a way of keeping our momentum going.
Excellent suggestions – thank you for writing this.
Courtney, so very true that a donation can help. I shared with my kids that no amount is too small as only $1 donated by 100,000 is $100,000. We discovered KIVA http://www.kiva.org/ and have been moved by their mission to partner up and aid those financially challenged in starting sustainable businesses. I “loaned” $25. years ago (it is a loan and the donor can receive the money back when it is repaid). I chose to have my $25 keep rotating and re-loaning for new businesses. 🙂
I also believe volunteering is an endorphin boost to the max! I began volunteering in LA’s Skid Row several years ago and then as a result, found and fell in love with a church down there. I was the one who benefitted from my time at the Midnight Mission and the people I served were profoundly beautiful in spirit and soul. 🙂
Thank you for such meaningful articles. Your archives are priceless! 🙂