You Can Change The World

December 31, 2007


In a brilliant blogpost – The Art Of Philanthropy, Dwayne Lattimore urges us not to wait until we can afford to make a bigger contribution to give something back. There’s things we can do now, on a smaller scale to improve the lives of others.

Of course, most of us make contributions to charity often. But have you ever felt guilty when doing so, because you know you could be doing more to help? I know I certainly have.

And many of us do start a business in the hope that we will eventually be able to help change the world. But, what if eventually never comes?

We can help so many people, if we do something now, instead of waiting until we have more time, or more money. Think about it this way – the efforts of 100 people all contributing a small amount of time can achieve far more than the efforts of one person putting in every single hour they have. But, where do you start when you’re spending virtually all your waking hours trying to grow your business?

It can be overwhelming just thinking about it can’t it? There’s so many people who need your help and so little time. And you have to be realistic and honest with yourself about how much time and effort you’ll actually be able to give. Because if you take on too much and you crash and burn, you’ll not be helping anyone.

If you’re going to volunteer your time to help others, in the early stages of your business, it’s probably wise to help in an area where you don’t have to learn a lot of new skills to be of any use.

For example, I have decided to help sufferers of PTSD and their families in 2008. I didn’t want to go down that route initially because I’ve had PTSD for many years myself, and I almost felt there was something selfish about wanting to help those with similar problems.

But, it’s a whole lot easier to help people when you understand the problems they’re facing, and have some idea of how to help them deal with it. And also, if those affected by trauma get help very early on, they may not suffer PTSD for the rest of their lives. So, helping would be very rewarding.

What are you planning to do to help others this year? Is there a cause you feel passionate about? Or is there an area in which you can put your skills or knowledge to good use?

If you’re not sure where to start, Tim Ferris has some great ideas in this blogpost: The Karmic Capitalist: Should I Wait Until I’m Rich To Give Back?

Posted by cathlawson | Filed Under Inspiration and Motivation | 5 Comments 

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