Reply To: Exercise 1: Initiative Personal Essay
by Hayden Kessinger
in
Home › Forums › Initiative Course 2024 › Exercise 1: Initiative Personal Essay › Reply To: Exercise 1: Initiative Personal Essay
What brought me here
Though I had a positive in the last course I took with Josh, I was quite reluctant to sign up for this one. At the midway point in my internship, I’ve started thinking a lot about what’s next and I was unsure of whether my time would best be spent taking this class or doing something else. I’m particularly interested in exploring other career options in effective altruism (EA) and animal welfare, so spending a few hours per week on this course would mean a few less hours per week to read books about EA or other career advice. I listened to the testimonials from past participants who will be taking the course again with me and was feeling more convinced that it’d be worth my time. However, no matter how many times Josh said, “if you feel like you don’t have enough time, that’s exactly why you should be taking this course”, I still thought, “but, I don’t have time!” It’s funny how we default to that.
It’s really easy to give up before even trying because it’s sort of part of our culture. For example, a few weeks ago I told my coworkers that I wasn’t using my A/C unit in my window and that the maintenance staff could take it out to put in one of the other rooms. That was met with immediate skepticism and uncertainty. They said things like, “we’ll see how long that lasts” or “wait till it’s 90 degrees.” I genuinely love all of my coworkers, and they meant well, but I was frustrated by their disapproval. Their messaging made me doubt myself and it made it easier to think “you know, it’s hot, I should just use the A/C.” Far too often we think about all the reasons not to do something instead of all the reasons to do something. We pick out the negative things and all of the excuses for why we can’t do things.
It has been really hot this week. I’m sweating in my room right now. I’ve yet to plug in my A/C and I’m happy. I honestly have very little interest in turning it on. Perhaps some of that is stubbornness and a desire to prove them wrong. But I think it has more to do with the fact that I made this decision because it’s important to me. I gave it a shot, and I realized it’s not that bad. I feel like it’s important to be a model of what’s possible amidst plenty of models of what isn’t (or what appears to be impossible). When I first started on this tangent, I was thinking that I’d probably end up deleting most of it. Who cares about me sweating in my room because I’m not using A/C? But as I arrive at the end of my rambling, I realize that it’s a key part of my motivation for taking this course. I want to be that model of what’s possible and do as good of a job as I can to inspire others to align their actions with their values. The amount of energy I’m refusing to use by not using my dinky A/C unit is pathetically small compared to global energy use. And yet, here I am, sweating in my room listening to the leaves rustle on a beautiful night because I have my windows open. I’ve been frustrated for a while by the general reluctance to take individual actions to be more sustainable. But I still struggle to explain my perspective effectively. I hope through taking this course I might figure out how.
Anyway, useful or not, that still felt like a lot of rambling. Another motivating factor was hearing a past participant explain that by going through these 10 exercises, he feels like he now has super powers and whenever he wants to do something, he knows he can do it. I was skeptical of this, so I decided to email another past participant to hear her thoughts on if this course would be helpful for me as I search for what’s next in my life. She shared her experience completing the exercises and provided quite a powerful testimony. Ultimately, she concluded: “My guess is that if you join this next workshop series, you will feel unlocked in a way that will answer your own (big!) questions about how to prioritize what you want to do with the rest of your time on earth. Maybe you find new clarity in how you want to approach the rest of your studies, or maybe you discover a passion for a project that becomes the first chapter of a whole new career.” The possibilities she offered are very exciting and exactly what I feel like want right now.
Still, I remain skeptical that these claims are too good to be true. There is a part of me that’s still thinking like my coworkers, seeing the reasons it won’t work instead of all the possibilities that it will work. But, I’m in it now. So I want to do my best to give the exercises the time and effort they deserve. I’ve already noticed that the “shiny objects” (all the things in life that take our attention away from what’s most important) have started to look more dull. I love cooking and baking but I realized that I was spending way more time making food than I needed. At the end of the day, I really enjoy very simple meals. I’ll still have fun in the kitchen, whipping up more intricate dishes from time to time but I can give myself SO much more time for other stuff just by being more strategic and practical in the kitchen. I’m excited to address more shiny objects that I’m not aware of yet!
Directing my focus
So, now to talk about the field I’m interested in focusing on. When we discussed this aspect in class, I jotted down nine things I had an interest in. Many of them are related. Some are more specific, like creating/participating in another fundraising bike/walking tour. Others are more broad, like sustainability or environmental education. The point of the course is not to engage with all the ideas we have — as amazing as they might seem — but to pick something to give our full attention to. Josh writes that it can be changed later and can be as vague as “something with people” to start. It’s also low-stakes so I needn’t worry about getting it perfect the first (or second or third) time.
Broadly, I want to start with a focus on animal welfare. I have quite a few ideas that would make this more specific, which I’ll include below for my own reference and for anyone to share thoughts/insight on. But for now, I’ll refrain from committing to anything more specific than an interest in animal welfare. I’ll see how the next class session goes and specify (or maybe restart) from there.
- Long-distance bike/walking tour to raise funds for effective animal welfare organization(s) like The Humane League or Mercy For Animals and bring more awareness to the suffering of animals raised for food. I could connect with people along the way, have conversations about the way animals are treated, and the impact of animal agriculture on the environment and human health. I could find vegan (and non-vegan) restaurants and other businesses to support me on the journey and provide them with publicity in return. I’d want to make sure I’m learning from everyone I talk to, rather than trying to preach my own ideas. I want to understand the complexities of this issue, its relevance to all types of people from different cultures, backgrounds, and beliefs. I want to have conversations, not arguments.
- Podcast similar to This Sustainable Life and Tooth and Claw where I chat with interesting guests and/or tell stories about amazing everyday animals (dogs, cats, chickens, pigs, cows, etc.). The goal would be to connect guests and listeners to animals more deeply. Create a space where we can appreciate the individuality of animals and consider how we treat them. I could guide them to making their own commitment that would bring joy to their life while also helping animals in some measurable that they choose.
- Cooking show/blog/other project where I cook/bake fun, easy, delicious, and healthy vegan meals. I’d focus on saving money, making it tasty, and getting people excited to try eating this way. I could host a free potluck for communities once a month (an idea I’m stealing from other students).
- Coordinating with local schools or other organizations to implement a more plant-based menu.
- Similar, but slightly different idea: coordinating with organizations/companies to present animal welfare and/or sustainability education to students, staff, executives, etc.
- Working with The Humane League to run protests and events in the Capital Region. This is something I’m already doing but perhaps I could expand and improve on it. Getting more people involved, making it more effective, etc. In the same vain, I’m working to gain relevant experience to set me up for a high impact career working in animal welfare, environmental protection or other fields. So, I could come up with some sort of project to achieve this goal.
For the penultimate piece of this exercise, I need to create three lists of three people.
Three people close to my field of interest
- Sydney Fox (The Humane League northeast field organizer)
- Sophia Balderson (Hive co-founder)
- Caitlin (A new friend I met through Hive who works on Capitol Hill)
Three people with high status or value in the field
- Peter Singer (Philosopher and author with a focus on animal rights and practical ethics)
- Melanie Joy (Psychologist and author with a focus on injustice and building healthy relationships)
- Lewis Bollard (Open Philanthropy’s animal welfare program director)
Three relevant role models (I’m lucky to say that my family members are probably my top role models in life but I’ll keep this specific to animal welfare)
- Henry Spira (early animal advocate and one of the most effective)
- Rich Roll (vegan athlete and podcast host — he has interesting conversations with all kinds of people and is great at asking questions)
- Joaquin Phoenix ( I love his oscar speech — I wish more celebrities used their platform like Joaquin)
To bring this ship to shore, I am supposed to reflect on the value of taking an experiential, exercise-based course in acting with initiative.
Taking a course like this is valuable to me because…
- While I know the value of taking initiative, I haven’t mastered it in all settings, and I want to get closer to mastery.
- I have enough knowledge of all the things I can do but not much knowledge on putting that into action. I hope this course will help me figure out what works and what doesn’t. I’ll largely be learning by doing and with the support from classmates, I can work through difficulties even easier.
- I want to do more things that intimidate and challenge me.
- I believe it will be difficult to manage alongside work and other interests. Constraints inspire creativity, so I think if nothing else, it will make me better at managing my time and identifying priorities.
- I’ll be completing the exercises with 5+ other students who have similar interests. I’ll make new friends and connections that will likely help me a lot in my future.
*NOTE: I wrote and posted this on my Substack as well. I think when I copied it from there to here, the format may have gotten a little wonky.