Tag: action

What can I do to make a difference?

Posted on by philipdodson

We all think that we are too small to make a difference and there is a brilliant quote by the Dalia Lama that sums it up nicely “if you think you are too small to make a difference, try spending a night in a room with a mosquito”.

There are countless examples of where one person has done a small step, every single day and created an amazing change, one that springs to mind of Jadav Payeng who on a sandbank planted some seedlings and over the course of a lifetime created an entire forest that bristles with life. He created Molai Forest which is now home to tigers, elephants and a whole diversity of animals and nature that had disappeared in the area.

And while we are on trees how about the bravery of the Kenyan Wangari Maathai who through her dedication, in a time when it was unheard of for women in a country like Kenya to stand up and make a difference, she created the Green Belt Movement and with the involvement of the UN they were responsible for 51 million trees being planted.

Look at the unbelievable bravery of Malala Yousafzai, who stood up to the Taliban and campaigned for women’s education and ended up being shot in the face. The Malala fund helps to improve access to education for women worldwide.

These are just three examples and none of them was born any different to you and me, they just choose to make their difference and against incredible odds, they showed up for us.

We can all choose to be the example to inspire others and that means taking the first step, as Brene Brown says we have to brave the wilderness. If we want different leaders it is no good waiting for them, we can become the leader we want to see, and we can become the change that we want to see. 

What can I do? Make my difference by showing up. We all have to get off the bus and stand up for what we want to see not stay on there and wait for someone else to do it first.

Critics

Posted on by philipdodson

When we come from a place where we look for the good in what we do and see things how others see our work we start to get even better at what we do. When we start with kindness towards ourselves we change the internal narratives.

We have been conditioned to be our own biggest critic and that comes from the mind and its fears. Add to that the cultural norm of ‘you can do better’ mentality instilled in us from our formative years in order to satisfy the egos of others and to prepare us for a life of servitude to working for others. It creates a default reaction of self-criticism and it is a shield we put up to ‘protect’ ourselves from the perceived judgement of others. However, this behaviour only serves to affect our self-esteem and causes us to suffer within.

We never feel inspired or motivated after beating ourselves up.

However, if we choose to be our biggest fan instead then we are proud of our work and we grow in self-confidence and we feel good.

It inspires us to build on what we have already achieved and to look positively on what we have done not what we didn’t do or did badly in our eyes.

When we focus on what we did well we free ourselves from the negative energy of looking at what we think we did wrong.

Lastly, we are all already worthy of love and belonging from the moment we wake up in the morning to the moment we go to sleep, no matter what we did or didn’t do that day.