Hayden Kessinger
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Olivia,
I’m realizing you and I think much more similarly than I initially assessed. And yet, we also think very differently… I think. It seems we’re both learning and growing a lot, perhaps assisted by one another, which is cool! I totally feel you when you describe the responsibility of choosing for yourself. I relate it to letting go, too. It’s difficult and intimidating but frustrating when you fail to do so, and extremely liberating once you succeed.
I think I also used to view initiative somewhat similarly. It was like it was for certain people, or I could only employ it in certain ways. It’s becoming much more than that now.
I’m intrigued by our differences in the way we think about pursuing work/a career. Maybe it’s due to our current unique stages of life. I am hoping to try different things that I recognize as important and valuable for the world, with the mindset that even if it doesn’t immediately “speak to me”, maybe it will and maybe I’ll be quite good at it. On the other side of this, I really admire your ability to listen to yourself and say no to that offer that didn’t seem right for you.
Hey Beth,
That’s very interesting about the 6-week mark. Thanks for sharing and for your kind words!! Your participation and sharing throughout the course has been motivating and inspiring. Looking forward to developing our own projects separately, together 🙂
Exercise 10
Hi everyone. The Initiative class is over… kinda. This past week was officially our last week but I didn’t complete the final exercise. Given what I wrote about in my last post, I’m quite happy about this as well. I was able to get a lot done this week while also taking care of other important aspects of my life like my real job, socializing, exercising, relaxing, and sleeping. I didn’t push myself to have conversation after conversation because I wanted to prioritize rebalancing my life. It’s easy for me to say, “well, I can just grind it out this week and then get back on track next week.” But then I can say that same thing again, or some other version of it to rationalize another less-than-ideal situation. I do think there are times when doing that is necessary and helpful, but now is not one of those times.
This week I had 7 conversations with people I view as valuable in the field. The first was with Johannes, co-creator of Effective Animal Advocacy Austria (EAAA). This is a group that functions very similarly to the project idea that I came up with. I spoke with Johannes a few weeks back and he helped me see what I really wanted to create. He inspired me to shift my focus from improving communication skills to discussing effective animal advocacy and connecting members with more meaningful opportunities to help animals. After my chat with him on Monday, I decided how I want to move forward.
Together with his friend Kevin (who I also chatted with today), Johannes has spread EAAA to eight different countries around the world. The groups utilize the same resources and tailor them to their specific needs. So, I’m going to heed the advice I received from several others and not re-invent the wheel. Since I’m moving in two months, I won’t be fully establishing an “Effective Animal Advocacy Albany”, but I’ll be introducing it! I’ve checked with my boss and got the green light to have a meeting at the Five Rivers visitor center some time in October. The only sticking point is that I have to be clear that I am not representing DEC as it is such a large bureaucracy with specific guidelines and, as state employees, we can’t be involved in lobbying or anything like that. In the meeting, we’ll have time for socializing and snacking before we discuss a topic I have yet to decide. I initially thought I would give a succinct presentation of the core ideas of effective animal advocacy, then people could ask questions and we could discuss as a group. However, Kevin advised me to have a slightly more focused and open discussion so people don’t feel lectured at. Instead, they’ll feel invited and encouraged to share their thoughts, making for a more enjoyable experience and learning process. So, I have some thinking to do. Either way, I’m excited to put this plan in motion!!
From my call with Johannes I also realized that I could take this anywhere. I didn’t know it had spread to so many places already. Seeing their success inspired me to believe I could be a part of it too. I even considered the possibility of going all in, seeking funding for the project and making it my full-time focus. I could move to DC where I already have some connection to the Effective Altruism community and really make it happen. I’m not by any means committing to this now, but it feels good to consider it as plausible. Before, I was stuck feeling like my project was bound to fizzle. It’d be a good idea and maybe gain some traction, but it wouldn’t hold up. That can absolutely still happen, but I can at least see the possibility of success now. I can feel the excitement of actually creating something and helping people help animals.
Several of the other calls were not directly related to this project but they were all with people in the same field. I was gaining insights and advice on getting into a career and more volunteering roles in animal advocacy. In fact, one conversation was with Marine Lercier, founder of a brand new organization based in France called the International Center for Animal Rights and Ethics (ICARE). I applied for a volunteer fundraiser role and after our meeting on Thursday, it seems I got it!! This is an amazing opportunity to learn and grow a lot and potentially significantly help this new organization. Entry level roles in animal advocacy are hard to come by, and especially in fundraising because grant-writing and securing funds is so crucial to nonprofits they need people who really know what they’re doing. Marine doesn’t mind my minimal experience and said that I can learn as I go. There are online grant-writing and fundraising courses that I can take and more people I can connect with to learn from!
Right now I have one conversation scheduled for next week and a few more in the following week. I’ll be reaching out to more people over the weekend to try and set more up. I feel pretty good about the project and now just need to decide on my topic and start inviting people!
Reflections
I’ll be referencing the seven principles from Initiative, so here they are:
1. Personality matters less than skills you can learn
2. The idea of a lifetime comes once a month
3. Better than a great idea is an okay idea plus market feedback, flexibility, and iterations
4. Start where you are with what you have
5. Pitch and they’ll judge, ask advice and they’ll help
6. The problem leads to the solution
7. Almost nothing inspires like helping others so much that they reward you for itThis week felt like the perfect balance for me. I had a good number of meaningful conversations while also maintaining other important aspects of my life. I didn’t put too much pressure on myself to complete the exercise perfectly. I’m happy with how it went but have some things to improve. First, I drifted away from the script a little too much, I think. The conversations were still very helpful, but I forgot to ask for referrals or specific advice from most people. I think I got a little bit complacent, feeling like my project was where I wanted it to be, so I didn’t need more advice. That’s obviously not the case! I also wish I was more intentional with my meetings; I could have been more prepared with questions I wanted help answering or things that each specific person could help me with the most.
I think I’m getting better everyday at asking for help and advice instead of pitching ideas or solutions. I’ve been applying principle #5 in all parts of my life. It simply feels better to approach someone with humility and ask for their help than to come to them with an idea without inviting them to respond. When doing the latter, it’s often met with judgement and a kneejerk response to list all the problems instead of excitement to try to make it work. This can lead me to feel crummy about my idea and ultimately scrap it altogether. Similarly, principle #3 is proving to be as accurate as anything. Comparing what my project was at the start to what it is now is pretty impressive. I suppose it didn’t undergo an unbelievable transformation, but it has definitely improved and become more valuable to me thanks to advice and iterations.
Many of the other principles have been very applicable, especially as of late. My meeting with Marine about joining as a fundraising volunteer is a perfect example of the coming together of principles #1, #4, and #7. I’ll be jumping into a role with very little experience but it seems clear that I can learn the necessary skills. And Marine’s interest in bringing me on board felt really good, like I can really help her.
I’m thinking more about principle #6 because I have a new sub-problem that I need to solve. As I mentioned earlier, I’m not sure how exactly to run the meeting or what to focus on. It’s an introductory meeting, but I also don’t want people to feel the typical negative emotions (frustration, boredom, helplessness, resentment, etc.) associated with being lectured at or told what to do. So, my focus now will be figuring out the most effective way to structure the meeting to keep people engaged and interested in the concept.
Now at the end of the exercises, I feel pretty great about talking to people about things that are important to me. I still experience feelings of anxiety and think things like “who am I to take this person’s time” or “they don’t care” but it’s gotten way easier to push past that and just message them anyway. I reach out to several new people almost every day just to connect and see if they want to chat. It seems like everyone I speak with appreciates the conversation, especially when they have the opportunity to share things and help me. I’m learning to talk less and keep my points brief (although this is not easy for me!). I’ve definitely noticed improvements in my relationships at work because of this class. Not that I had any bad relationships but now I feel a lot closer to my colleagues because I’m asking for help more than doing stuff on my own. I’m much more open to advice and enjoy learning from others instead of shutting down when they give feedback. I know that I don’t necessarily have to take their advice (though I often do!), which takes the pressure off.
I’ll have an opportunity to share my ideas and plans tonight at a vegan potluck I helped organize. It’ll almost be like a test run for the test run.
Edit
The word fail in the last sentence is supposed to be crossed out. You can read my post on my substack where it’s a little more tidy.
Hey Evelyn,
As I touched on in my essay, I’ve also come to the concept of a support group as being very valuable. In my case, most people I spoke to felt like they needed or wanted more support as vegans/animal advocates so the need is clearer. However, as someone who currently works with “environmentalists” I know they all have negative emotions associated with the environment and sustainability. I definitely agree that in general we as a species don’t see plastic etc. the same way we see substances, but my coworkers constantly talk about how much they hate the waste around them. And yet, they consistently purchase take-out, coffee in plastic cups, single-use… well, everything! These are the people most interested in protecting the environment and they cannot align their actions with their values. They do want to change and tread more lightly on our planet but they don’t. Though the “pitch” may be challenging, I think they would really value a support group for “quitting plastic” or something like that (and so would I and many others!). Not sure if this was helpful or just sorta repeating what you said in a different way. But I’m here to support you in your efforts to support others!
🙂
Before joining this class, I knew taking initiative was valuable. I’d heard many people speak about how valuable it was in the professional world and I received compliments on my own initiative many times. After two months of deliberate initiative-taking, I think it’s probably the most important skill to develop. Initiative comes in many forms and I feel as though it is more like a trait (like charisma, for example) than a skill (like writing, for example). Although the word trait often makes people think it’s something you have or not, I know for a fact they are able to be learned and developed just like any other skill. I describe initiative as a trait because once you develop it, it becomes natural and part of you, just like charisma or being funny. Whereas writing is something that you do with conscious effort. Often taking initiative is nonconscious.
That all said, I’m not suddenly a lifelong initiator. I’ll have to continue practicing forever. Through this class, I’ve leveled up my confidence beyond what I ever expected. By the time we’re done, I will have probably contacted over 50 strangers and had conversations with 20-30 of them. Coming up with a project that was mine but required the advice and help from many others has been a wonderful process. I felt responsibility to continue developing it each week. Pretty early on, I had people expecting me to create this group and let them know how it went. With each conversation my people skills grew and my shyness fell away. I still feel like somewhat of a burden when I ask others for advice, but much less than when I started. I’ve noticed that the simple action of contacting someone with intention and a clear(ish) focus, is very appreciated. People want to help but they can’t help if they don’t know you want it.
Interestingly, I’ve learned a lot of other things about myself since we started in July. Some of these are very likely related to the exercises and taking initiative while others may not be. An important part of this learning process has been balancing my time, energy, and motivation. My motivation peaked around weeks 4-6 and I was working on my project every chance I had. This was fun and exciting… until it wasn’t. My flame has since fizzled a fair amount. Currently, I’m not super motivated (hence finishing this essay late) but I’m here, showing up. In the moment, when I had so much excitement and motivation, it was hard to reign myself in and say no to more work or more conversations in order to sustain or preserve some energy and motivation for the future. Though it’s kinda fun to experience the peaks of nonstop work, eventually the valleys remind me why it’s important to set boundaries and maintain a balance. Just as discipline and deliberate practice are required for work, I think they should be applied to play, too. I realized that I need to schedule in time to relax, recharge, and nourish myself in other ways before I crash and end up doing nothing but relaxing and recharging. Eventually, the pendulum swung too far and I was neglecting the majority of my healthy habits in favor of “burning the midnight oil” (though I did manage to keep a somewhat consistent early bedtime :)). Don’t get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed the work. But I suppose that was part of the problem. To keep this from becoming a self-therapy essay, I’ll move on from this topic and end by saying that I’ve spent more time focusing on myself the past couple of weeks and now the pendulum is returning to the middle. To address my lack of motivation, as many of you know, I try to live by the phrase, “mood follows action.” Because it truly does.
In addition to learning more about balance, I really appreciate that Josh wasn’t lying when he told us that through the exercises we will better understand what’s important to us. He spoke of all the “shiny objects” that naturally pull our attention in many different directions, making it nearly impossible to fully connect with what is most meaningful to us. Just as I am not suddenly a lifelong initiator, I am not suddenly cured of my propensity to pursue the next exciting thing. However, my focus is narrowing and my true values are becoming clearer. I remain very open-minded to the possibility that I don’t quite know my true passions and values yet. But I feel different. I feel like I have a better idea of how to figure these things out.
Last week, Josh brought up the word “decide.” He explained how the ending, “-cide” is just like in “pesticide.” It means to kill or get rid of. So, deciding is less about choosing what to do, where to go, how to do it, etc., and more about choosing what not to do, where to avoid, or how not to do things. This is a tough concept to grasp and I ended up taking it a little too seriously. I stripped so much away — thinking they were all shiny objects — to focus on my project and the bare essentials. In doing this, I’ve realized that many of the things I was avoiding were actually critical to my wellbeing. Their necessity was not obvious in the moment or day-to-day life but over time their absence has become clear. I need them to sustain a happy, healthy lifestyle.
So, I don’t want to get rid of all these things or potential paths. But by avoiding certain things, it doesn’t mean I can never return to them. That door might just be closed for now, making it easier for me to walk past and explore the next door. If, through my exploration, I realize the next door isn’t quite right, I can always go back. Josh made it clear that switching topics is not something we should avoid. In fact, he explained that many students do exactly that as they learn what really matters to them. It’s a bit of tricky wicket isn’t it? We want to avoid jumping around from shiny object to shiny object, but we also mustn’t be afraid to drop an interest or project that no longer serves us. The difference is the former is superficial while the latter comes from a deeper connection as a result of doing the exercises.
Josh was also right when he explained to us at the start that as humans, we tend not to pursue or speak about what is most meaningful to us. We keep these beliefs and passions much closer to us in order to avoid ridicule or failing in something so personally important. It’s easier to have the same “passions” as everyone else. To go with the grain. Again, I’m still figuring out my true passions and identifying the less important shiny objects. But I really appreciate that through this class, I’ve been invited to explore this. And with seven other people doing the same thing, I am privileged to have the opportunity to accept the invitation and go against the grain with some support. Meeting every Sunday, hearing everyone’s challenges and successes is hugely validating and encouraging. If they can do it, I can do it. And if I can do it they can do it.
All my life I’ve strived for independence. As a young kid I remember always feeling frustrated when older kids or adults would let me win games or sports. I felt like I didn’t deserve it and like they were patronizing me. This has persisted into my young adulthood and often to my detriment. For whatever reason, it’s a common reaction for me to assume someone is being patronizing. Maybe in some ways I still feel like a kid who doesn’t know as much as everyone else or isn’t as strong as my peers or whatever it may be. When I embark on new goals or make changes in my life or even begin planning something with/for others, I tend to do so quietly, without asking for help. I want to do it myself and usually feel like involving others will make it harder. But then, I sometimes get frustrated when I’m left doing all the work. I know that including others, working as team, asking for advice, and sharing the responsibility is almost always better than going it alone. I’ve been able to see this play out in this course. My project would be nowhere near where it is now without all the great conversations and support from others. It would probably just be an idea that I concluded would be too hard or wouldn’t work. Instead, I’m going to host a meeting in a few weeks. Working with others and asking for advice is scary because I have to be vulnerable and I have to consider perspectives other than my own. I have to relinquish some control to others. As scary as it is, it’s worth it. It feels so good to let go.
Though recent progress has been marginal, my project is coming together. I plan to host a meeting or two before I move back home from New York. To remind you, this will be a meeting for animal advocates to feel supported by one another, socialize and make friends, and learn how to engage with the most effective animal advocacy that is also most interesting to them. Despite my desire for independence as described in the last paragraph, I’ve learned that I am a much more social creature than I thought. I typically lean more to the introverted side but I get so much from social interactions. I love talking to others and I especially enjoy when I can give them meaningful advice or guidance. In addition to aligning very strongly with my own interests, my updated project seems to fill a need. In almost all my conversations for this project, the person mentioned the importance of a strong social connection and feeling supported and heard. So, I pivoted from an original idea to focus on improving communication skills as an advocate to a combined group for socializing and advocacy improvement. I switched from improving communication to a sort of effective advocacy mentorship process because many people currently working in the space reminded me that there are much more effective and impactful ways to advocate for animals than through conversations. Since I will be moving out of the area, I’m not sure that my project will blossom into what I envisioned. Still, I want to go through the process of organizing and hosting at least one gathering and see what comes of it. Perhaps it will morph into an online group. Maybe someone else can pick up where I leave off. I could try implementing it back home or wherever I end up next. Even if nothing comes of it, that’s okay too. At least I will have tried.
Somewhat surprisingly, I feel I have made leaps and bounds towards my goal of finding a full-time career in animal advocacy. Because of my project, I’ve connected with many people already working in the space who have seen my motivation and initiative and might be able to connect me with job openings. I’ve also connected with many people in the same position as me, trying to get a foot in the door and finding where they best fit. I’ve made new friends and even strengthened existing relationships. The joy and energy I got from conversations about my project inspired me to call other friends and family just to chat.
I feel like I could continue to go on and on in this essay. Evidently, I’ve learned and changed a lot since July. Much of this can be attributed to Initiative, some of it unrelated (I think). I’m not yet clear on what I want to spend the majority of my time doing, which is fine. In some ways, more doors have opened up to me as possible entry points to a life full of joy and meaning. I’m excited to explore them all and although I know some are shiny objects, I feel capable of identifying those faster and moving onto the next. I don’t want to be afraid of running full-speed through these doors. I think now more than ever is the time for me to do exactly that. Try and fail learn and try again.
Here is my spreadsheet
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1yTRnqxkT5Srhx-dqnmfO1KaFrRS1nNYciaZTDUq41qY/edit?usp=sharing
I have no intentions of generating revenue through my project, nor any assumptions that there will be costs involved. If there are costs, I would anticipate they would be very small and I’m okay with not being profitable. For the purpose of this exercise, I could apply for funding, ask for food donations, or require a small membership fee for participants. Perhaps this would be something to do in the future if the group grew substantially. For now, I get free food because I have food SNAPS. I can also host meetings at my workplace which will not cost anything. The only costs I can see right now are my own time and effort. I believe that the rewards (fulfillment, friendship, new perspectives, experience organizing, etc) for my time and effort will greatly outweigh the “costs.”
I do feel I understand my project a little bit better and I’m beginning to consider the potential for complexities that may arise. The only revisions I made were to host it in a different location and consider how to pay for food in the future. I’m sure I have some blindspots, so please reply if you see them. I foresee potential problems if I let this project consume too much of my time, thereby taking away too much from other profitable work to sustain my life. Also, if I plan to continue this once I move out of New York state, I will have to pay for food out of pocket. However, others will also bring food for the potluck and thus I think the cost would balance out with the free food I’d be eating from others. If necessary, I can ask for a small participation fee and/or apply for funding to pay for food and space. It’d be nice to talk with Johannes again about organizing this sort of meeting to get an understanding of how he managed the logistics.
Hi Beth,
I had similarly gratifying experiences when speaking to people who felt the problem. I wonder if the same people you’ve spoken to would be interested in kick-starting a clean-up group. The five of you could just go out one day and pick up litter for an hour. It might not be exactly what you want with your project, but maybe it would help you and them feel better and possibly inspire others to join or consider the way they deal with waste. And perhaps by doing a small-scale clean-up, you’ll learn some things you need/want to do/not do.
I hope you don’t mind my unsolicited advice/ideas!
I think I have some work to do
I’ve created very early-stage models that I think will be developed. I’m looking forward to receiving feedback from y’all in class because I have a feeling I am forgetting some people and/or groups that will be involved in my project.
As a reminder, my project is a social, discussion-based learning group focused on creating community amongst animal advocates and empowering them to be as effective as possible in their chosen forms of advocacy. I plan to create a group that meets in-person once a month to socialize for ~30 minutes and discuss effective animal advocacy for ~1 hour.
Hopefully you can see these photos of my hand-drawn models: Visual models
Reflections:
I feel like I understand my project’s operations a little better. Perhaps because this is my first time creating something like this, I’m not realizing all the different pieces involved, but I can’t think of anything else. It’s a simple idea: a social group that learns together. Many of the resources and information will come from the internet or books (I guess these could still be included in the model as giving resources and receiving ad traffic or money). The majority of the interaction will be occurring between me and the other group members and amongst themselves.I didn’t revise my project during this exercise. I think revisions will come after hearing feedback from the group. I also think I can have follow-up and/or new conversations with an emphasis on bringing a project like this to life. I’ll need to ask more questions specific to logistics and people/groups that I need to involve to make it happen.
More reflections and a long list of advice
Reflections
I’ve realized that I was getting a little too wrapped up in scheduling and having calls. It was exciting to talk with so many people and felt good to hear their encouragement. Though no doubt a crucial part of this project, I think I started using the calls as a means to avoid actually developing it. I have tons of advice and ideas to work with now and am feeling a bit nervous about turning it all into something real. But, the gears are turning and I’m making progress! I think as I work through exercise 7, the project will become clearer.Advice
— Preventing “veg-recidivism” through social groups and support is valuable (It’s hard being the only vegan)
— Don’t try to do too much
— Consider having a detailed structure and plan for the program
— Know what the end goal(s) is
— Learn from challenge 22 and veganuary
— Remain open to criticism and possibilities for improvement
— Make it easy for people to say yes
— Be clear with goals; what am I offering for people and why should they join?
— Consider counterfactuals; can they get this elsewhere?
— Avoid echochambers; make sure to maintain effectiveness and mission
— Start with a low barrier for entry into activism and gradually increase
— What are the effective forms of advocacy/activism that we can do without having to improve communication skills? Maybe people can have a huge impact without going the typical route of in-person conversations and convincing others
— Advocates will likely feel more comfortable talking about it if it is more normalized; this is why social groups can be so impactful – they make us feel more normal and comfortable and confident
— Our attitudes are strongly shaped by the world around us
— Group could follow units from AAC online course?
— Street outreach is very difficult to get feedback on – hard to know how effective it is
— Don’t forget the non-advocates; is there a way to include them too?; Lots of people care about this issue and they just don’t know yet
— Could it scale up? And be run all over the countries?; If so, have occasional virtual meetings with everyone
— During socialization period, I could have different prompt questions (like icebreakers to get people talking to one another)
— Include time for check-ins but don’t let everyone ramble
— Consider who we’re having conversations with; most effective strategy will change depending on who is involved
— Provide critiques from place of support
— Learn how to judge people’s potential receptivity
— Roll with resistance and ask questions; be curious
— Potlucks make veganism easier – they model behavior and make it more socially simple
— People often don’t want to sit and be lectured to
— Make activism fun and engaging for everyone
— Consider the individual: their experience and comfort
— Assign homework like spodek method
— Actively listen and only proceed with conversations after both agree; Don’t reject before listening
— Notice the “hitman” and fade him to be your authentic self
— Use emotions to the benefit of everyone in the conversation; “I’m happy when you say…”
— Remember that speciesism is built-in to our culture; don’t lay blame on the individual
— Be aware of making the issue your own control or winning vs. losing. The issue is the issue
— Make sure everyone participants and is encouraged to participate
— Have multiple angles/entry points to advocacy (i.e., effective donating to offset meat consumption)
— There is a part of everyone that wants to have these conversations, but also an invisible barrier because everyone is afraid of being attacked by the other side
— When talking about food, vegan stuff doesn’t have to taste like animals… does it just taste good!?
— Animal advocacy sounds big and intimidating… it shouldn’t be this way; We should feel comfortable being advocates without feeling extreme
— People want to feel involved with things that will have impact
— Do research on which messaging and organizing platforms to use
— Keep meeting minutes – i could assign someone to do this
— Could have reset meeting every once in a while to set new topics; Everyone could do research before the meeting and bring their interests/ideas to the meeting
— It’s not just the words we say, but how we say them (be aware of facial expressions, reactions, body language, etc)
— Be prepared for conflicts within the group
— Have a plan for mediating disagreements
— Have a simple code of conduct that explains values and rules for groupReferrals/resources to learn from and use:
— Center for Effective Vegan Activism
— motivational interviewing and street epistemology
— Sit-in on vegan toastmasters and learn from what they do; their structure and flow
— Use Johannes’ Effective Animal Advocacy Austria resources to help group find impactful careers, volunteer, and ETG opportunities
— Plant-based universities
— New Roots Institute
— Paula Gonzalez with Challenge 22
— Laura Hart
— Audrey Caplan
— Chris Hendrickson
— Robert GrilloHey Olivia,
I second the advice to consider doing this in a group setting. Based on the conversations I’ve had, everyone seems to value a stronger social connection with like-minded people and/or others feeling the same problem. My solution was always based around a group discussion, but its evolved to put more emphasis on connecting with others in the group, strengthening social bonds, and providing support to one another. The group setting will also take pressure off of you to be ‘all-knowing’ and instead allow for many different perspectives which is always valuable.
Your discovery about the root cause of accumulation is very interesting and I think makes sense. I look forward to seeing how you work with that knowledge!
Exercise 6
This week I spoke with six new people about my project idea (making 12 total for exercise 6). Most were very helpful, some were not so much. I had a few more conversations scheduled, but they didn’t end up happening.
It was an extra exciting week because my project is evolving. I’ve gotten SO much advice, it’s a challenge to think straight and utilize the helpful pieces and leave behind the unhelpful. But, I’m doing it! I’ve been having lightbulb moments during each conversation where the person I’m speaking with says something that makes me think, “aha!” or “of course that’s what I want to do!”
In addition to the evolution and, in my opinion, improvement of my project, I’m getting WAY more confident and competent as a communicator. In general, I’m finding myself more confident as a person, too. It feels like my project is forming into a combination of several of the ideas I brainstormed in week two. I think it’s becoming a project I really believe in and want to bring to life.
Here’s my updated problem and solution:
Problem: People who care about the welfare of farmed animals (farmed animal advocates) feel unsupported and overwhelmed by the prospect of engaging in effective advocacy.
Solution: Create an in-person social group for farmed animal advocates where they can feel supported and heard. The initial part of the meetings (first 30 minutes) will be for casual socializing and include food and drinks (provided from different members for an additional opportunity to connect). The second part of the meetings (1 hour) will be a group mentorship discussion focused on a pre-chosen topic about effective animal advocacy. The goal is to support, inspire, and empower advocates from all backgrounds and experience levels to take the most effective actions that are meaningful to them to improve the lives of farmed animals. I plan to utilize ideas and help from Effective Animal Advocacy Austria to run this group.
This evolution of the project now includes two key components that were brought up in almost every conversation: social support and effectiveness. As an advocate of any cause, the goal should always be to be as effective as possible. I’d bet that almost all advocates agree on this. However, because of the passion and emotions involved in advocacy, I think many are not effective at all (and may even be harmful). We get wrapped up in what we believe and want change immediately. We want everyone to see the world the way we see it. But if we can’t use our passion strategically, it’s worth nothing.
I think the typical ways an animal advocate will act on their desires for a better world are street activism, talking to friends and family, or posting on social media. These modes of advocacy are the most obvious solutions to a problem that feels unbelievably overwhelming. They can be very impactful and are important but other modes can sometimes be much more impactful. If my project is successful, it will help advocates reduce that feeling of overwhelm and increase the effectiveness of their advocacy. This is great for the people and the animals they want to help. Before this most recent iteration, I felt less confident in the potential for my project to have an impact. I thought it was a good idea, and so did the people I spoke with, but I didn’t think it was great. Now, I feel like I’ve sold myself on it, which is pretty cool.
I’m keeping this post short and somewhat incomplete because I’m now home and want to cherish my time here! I plan to revisit this and further reflect on the exercise while I’m on the train in a few days 🙂
Hey Evelyn,
Love this new direction and your attitude around the uncertainty of the project. I’m glad my initial doubts have helped rather than hindered you. Really looking forward to how it develops!
Hey Bonnie,
I love that you value learning new things and humility. Though it can be a bit jarring it’s exciting to have our eyes opened to things we never expected! I hope to have many more experiences like that in my future.
Hey Beth,
I felt that same spark of curiosity and excitement when you and others asked me for advice! I’m sorry you’ve been hit with illness and hope that you’re feeling better now. I think your strategy to focus on the current assignment is great — there’s no reason to worry about the end. You said yourself you’ve enjoyed the work, so just keep doing what’s in front of you (I’m speaking to myself here more than you, lol… thank you for the reminder)!
Also, I smiled when you wrote about your heart singing. My unsolicited advice would be to really listen to that passion. And ask if your current project idea is really what you want to spend your energy on.
Looking forward to hearing more in class today 🙂
Hey Bonnie,
I like that you mention the workaround to contacting busy people… just try someone else! I think we give up because of things like this way too often. It’s almost a relief when we realize we don’t have to actually do the work. There’s an easy excuse: the person is busy! That’s hardly a surprise, so why not just talk to someone else? It seems so silly that this solution has always been available but, at least for me, rarely utilized because I’d rather take the path of least resistance. Now, a small roadblock like that hardly makes me think, I just move on.
