I define positive change agents as people who are committed to:
- making the world a better place than they found it (or improving the conditions in which others live)
and
- making themselves better people.
Both are necessary. Neither is sufficient by itself. (Personal development without care and compassion is only inwardly focused: a form of egocentric narcissism. Wanting to change the world, but not attending to your own growth and evolution, can lend itself to the kind of blind spot that takes positive change initiatives down again and again. And it’s also a form of narcissism: I’m evolved enough, thank you very much. And if the whole world just saw things my way we’d have heaven on Earth.)
Positive change agents go by many names: changemakers, cultural creatives, sustainability activists, evolutionaries, and social entrepreneurs — to name a few.
And one thing that greatly undermines our community is when we get into a mindset of “my way of contributing to change is the only valid way.” And we start sniping: why are you buying food that’s not organic? Well, why are you driving? Back and forth.
We need to remember this:
We are all doing our best. And we can all inspire each other to do better and better.
The word inspire is key.
And that happens most effectively through connection and community building. Not by making others wrong.