[Hayden Kessinger]

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 🙂

[Hayden Kessinger]

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.

[Hayden Kessinger]

Hey Jim,

I agree, my initiative seems to getting more complex. Although, more so because I’m considering other options to pivot to. Were any of your conversations with employees in your company? Maybe you could rescue the program that appears destined to end? I hope so!

[Hayden Kessinger]

Hey Jo,

Looks like you had some valuable conversations! I recognized some similarities among the people you spoke with and those I spoke with about my project. Josh’s comment about other people being stuck in their ways and closed off especially reminded me of conversations I had. I noticed that a few people were putting the “blame” on others. I wonder if this mindset can lead to less effective problem solving. If people are convinced it’s someone else’s fault, and perhaps feel resentment toward the very people they are wanting to serve, help, or speak with, I can’t imagine they’ll be able to succeed. Perhaps there is a way for us to help inspire a mindset shift; it may not be Josh’s fault that others are closed off, but it can still be his responsibility to change that. Maybe we’ll have a chance to discuss this in class today.

[Hayden Kessinger]

Hey Olivia,

I wonder if it’d be worth asking the people if they had ideas on how to solve their own problem. Or simply ask something like, “do you do anything right now to manage the overwhelm?” or “have you thought about/looked into how to deal with this?”

Not sure if this would be advised against by Josh or others. I think it could be valuable in further understanding people’s emotions and how they feel the problem.

[Hayden Kessinger]

Exercise 5!

I found this exercise to be very very informative and helpful. I connected with nine people who I believed feel the problem I’m working on. The conversations were pretty easy and quite enjoyable. I felt like the people I talked to enjoyed them and benefited like I did. It felt good to talk with them and give them the opportunity to open up if they chose.

Here is the problem I would share with each person (I only mentioned the solution after hearing their thoughts on the problem):

Problem: Vegans and vegetarians feel tense and unequipped when discussing animal welfare with people who eat animal products.
Solution: Create an experiential learning group for vegans and vegetarians (open to serving others as well) who meet regularly to discuss effective communication skills, explore biases and blindspots, practice conversations, and increase our knowledge of relevant topics together.

Then, I’d ask them for their thoughts. Did they agree or disagree? Did they have additional thoughts? Were there different or additional emotions they felt?

For the purpose of the exercise, we were tasked with recording five quotes from five people who feel the problem. As I said, I spoke with nine people and each one gave me way more than one quote. Everything they shared was valuable, but below are five of the most clear quotes that I feel illustrate the problem I’m hoping to solve.

1. “Yes. Amen to that. I completely feel the exact same way. I feel like half of the time, people aren’t listening to me. I’m not being heard because people don’t want to hear the truth. I feel disrespected or like people don’t care. When I talk to people and get through to them, I feel very positive and powerful.”

2. “We tend to retract a little bit; we don’t feel heard, we feel like people don’t care about what we’re saying.”

3. “Most of us feel like we are not really being listened to. Most of us have experienced the difficulties and its not pleasant. It’s a problem so many people have and a solution would be very helpful and appreciated.”

4. “Not so sure I feel it’s a problem for me that I feel that but the problem is that I feel uncomfortable and I don’t want to turn someone off about veganism. I do sometimes feel uncomfortable, because I see it as a missed opportunity to make an impact.”

5. “There’s this feeling that caring about this is shameful… I know that when I’m uncomfortable talking about animals, I’m less uncomfortable than a dairy cow.”

A major connection between almost all of the conversations I had was a feeling of not being heard. People shared with me that they felt that they enter the conversation already at a disadvantage. They feel as though the average person will already have negative ideas about them, and won’t respect or listen to them. Several people also explained that the negative emotions they feel during these conversations are more associated with an anxiety around missing out on impact (as seen in #4). They said that they don’t care so much about how they feel, but they put pressure on themselves to effectively persuade someone to reconsider their relationship with animals. This anxiety about the outcome seems to be common amongst activists of any cause, including me. If we can detach ourselves from the outcome, it makes the conversations less stressful, more enjoyable, and very likely more effective.

I am especially interested in thinking more about the common theme of not being heard. As more and more people mentioned feeling this way, I started to think about the people on the other side of the conversation. So often it seems that arguments occur because of misunderstanding, rather than genuine disagreement. People on both sides may incorrectly feel that the other person is not listening or interested. What if we could let our guards down and be open and honest with one another? What if we entered all of our conversations with an open heart and open mind, allowing the individual to tell us how they feel and who they are, instead of assuming we know based off past experiences or stories we’ve heard? What if we all remained more curious and interested in others? Maybe we’d realize that we agree on a whole lot more than we disagree on.

A final common thread among the conversations I had was the importance of being around people who share your values. I’ve seen for myself the truth behind the phrase, “you are the company that you keep” and I believe most research supports this. It’s much easier to exercise and eat healthy when everyone in our house does too. I think the same is true when it comes to acting in alignment with our values. Though not reflected in the quotes above, everyone I spoke with touched on the value and energy they get from being around other animal advocates. Many of them even pointed out the conversation we were having was refreshing and beneficial for their own well-being. They were certainly beneficial for mine, and very motivating! One of my early project ideas was a social group for advocates to simply enjoy each other’s company without the pressure of taking action or even talking about animal welfare. So, as you’ll see later, I’d like to combine my current solution with that past idea.

Through this exercise I’ve realized how true principle 6 — the problem leads to the solution — is. Defining the problem as accurately as possible can totally change the way its solved. I’m having a tough time deciding how to move forward. Not only do I need to tweak this problem and solution to better serve the people and animals I want to serve, I’m also considering a shift in focus altogether.

Because I’m trying to get ahead of schedule for my vacation starting next Friday, I’ve also had six chats with people working in and around my field of interest (for Exercise 6). I spoke with one of the co-founders of Hive, as well as one their employees, a full-time activist, and several social workers with experience organizing community groups. My calls with Sofia and Kevin from Hive were especially thought-provoking because they work full-time in roles pretty similar to what my project would be doing. With years of experience in the movement, attending other events, and learning from others, they helped me think about how I really want to help animals, and how I could potentially have a much greater impact. I’ll save more reflections on this for my next post, but ultimately, I’m considering shifting my focus to fundraising specifically for animal welfare/advocacy. I’m not ready to do this just yet because I think I have good momentum with my current project and I want to try and make it happen. I’m definitely going to be thinking about this possible switch, though.

With allllll of that said, here is my new problem and solution based on conversations from Exercise 5:

Problem: People who care about the welfare of farmed animals (farmed animal advocates) feel anxious about having conversations with people who eat animal products.
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 (ideally provided from different members for an additional opportunity to connect). The second part of the meetings (1 hour) will be for sharing experiences, advice, feedback, and troubleshooting through practice and learning opportunities.

The exact structure, timing, and other logistics of the solution are still to be determined. I’m very happy with the way that this is going and excited to get more advice on my updated project. I’m also excited by the prospect of switching my focus to something more aligned with my goals and passions, if that ends up being the case!

[Hayden Kessinger]

Catch-up week reflections

How has this workshop compared with your expectations or other classes, if any, on similar subjects?

I haven’t been a part of a class like this before, aside from the Sustainability Simplified course with Josh. I definitely haven’t taken a course or workshop about entrepreneurship or centered around taking initiative. It’s going much better than I expected. I’ve enjoyed the exercises and have been rewarded by each. My network is expanding literally every day. I have used the inertia from the exercises to make more connections, build on existing relationships, and improve the work I was already doing. It rarely feels like a class; I almost always want to do the work.

How has interacting with each other factored in?

Although our weekly hour-long zoom calls seem to fly by, and we don’t get to interact much, knowing there are 7 others completing the same exercises at the same time has helped a lot. It’s great to share my difficulties and successes while hearing others share theirs. I genuinely feel inspired by my classmates projects and want to help them as much as possible. I’m not sure I would’ve made it this far if I was doing these exercises on my own.

Any suggestions to improve the experience?

I think we could all benefit from more discussion in the meetings. It’s always hard to manage, but I think sometimes one or two people talk a lot while others only get to share a little. Maybe set a timer for each person? I’ve gotten value from listening to only a couple of people talk for longer periods, though, so I’m not sure if setting a timer would be a good thing.

What have been your biggest surprises so far?

I have been surprised by my own initiative, motivation, and commitment to the exercises and work. I’ve been very pleasantly surprised by how easy it is to initiate, schedule, and follow through with conversations. I’ve also been surprised by how much one conversation can change (and usually improve) things: my thoughts, the project, my interests, my motivation, and more. With close to 20 conversations behind me at this point, that’s a lot of change!

What do you think the rest of the class will be like? Or the leadership part?

I have a feeling it will get a bit more complicated and difficult. I say this because I think we’re still in the honeymoon phase of our projects. We’re still developing them, changing them… it’s exciting and new. Soon, I imagine it’ll be time to kick it up a notch and get into the nitty gritty of making our exciting ideas reality. I’m sure this will be enjoyable too, but probably harder and maybe a little frustrating. I’ll be happy to be surprised more, though.

I have no expectations for the leadership part yet. I think it’ll be great, though. And I’m sure it’ll make the running of my project (assuming I create it) a lot better. I hope the rest of Initiative and the leadership course will continue to help me discover my passions and have the courage to act on them for the benefit of myself and others.

With the way I’m heading right now, in- and outside of the class, I have a very good feeling that I’m creating a life I will be proud of and very happy to live.

More reflections

Once again, leaning into feelings of uncertainty and fear has proven to be very valuable. A few years ago, I wrote some quotes on sticky notes and put them on my bedroom door. I don’t remember all of them, but one that has rarely left my mind reads “commit now, figure the rest out later.” I don’t know if someone especially interesting or credible said this, or if it was just some random person on the internet. Whoever it was, I have to thank them. I also have to thank podcaster, Rich Roll, for consistently touting the phrase “mood follows action.” These two mantras put together have helped me overcome emotions that would otherwise prevent me from doing cool things and reaching my potential. I’m not always able to embody them but when I do, good stuff happens.

Josh pushes a similar message in Initiative and in his efforts to be more sustainable. More often than not, we don’t need to come up with the perfect plan. It’s impossible to get everything right the first time anyway, so why not get started now, and learn along the way? I have enough brains to not apply this mindset to everything. Neglecting to plan past day one of a three day hike, for example, would probably end quite poorly. I love planning things and there’s nothing wrong with a well-thought-out plan. However, over the last couple of years, I’ve been getting better and better at avoiding “analysis paralysis” and learning how to plan after committing to the thing and/or adjusting on the fly.

[Hayden Kessinger]

Love it, Bonnie! Looking forward to talking with you about the problem/solution you choose to focus on when you’re ready!

[Hayden Kessinger]

Welcome, Bonnie!

After reading your essay, I’m very excited to have a conversation (or several) with you about your project(s)! I already have some of my own ideas but I’ll wait until you’ve read more and developed your project. Enjoy the exercises!

[Hayden Kessinger]

Just shy of 10!

I’m pretty exhausted after 9 conversations about my animal welfare project idea. It was hard work to schedule and complete 10 conversations! Especially since a few were with fellow workshop participants which meant receiving and giving advice.

Almost every day I had calls scheduled, I felt stressed about them. I didn’t feel like following through. I was excited, but with a social job, more socializing before/after work was tough. That said, once the conversations began, I often didn’t want them to end. People gave advice on specificity, goal setting, organizing, ambition, practicality, audience, advertising, direction, visualizing success, the importance of reflection and defining the “why”, and more.

I felt like a burden during every conversation. Even when they went really well, I felt like I had taken valuable time away from the person. They helped me much more than I ever expected; I learned a lot from everyone. I feel like I owe them all something. I enjoyed giving advice and especially loved connecting other participants with friends who I thought could help them. I felt excited to see where each person’s project would go. I think others feel the same about mine. Several people were very interested in what I would develop and encouraged me to keep going; they thought the project would be helpful in the animal advocacy space. Despite feeling like a burden, the conversations were fun and engaging. I made new friends and became closer with my existing friends.

The result of this long week full of great advice is this updated problem and solution:

Problem: Vegans and vegetarians feel tense and unequipped when discussing animal welfare with people who eat animal products.

Solution: Create an experiential learning group for vegans and vegetarians (open to serving others as well) who meet regularly to discuss effective communication skills, explore biases and blindspots, practice conversations, and increase our knowledge of relevant topics together.

I’m remaining open to the specific direction this will go. Maybe after this week, I’ll have a stronger sense of what the people I want to help want. If I’m still unsure, I may try creating a group with an overarching goal of improved communication, specifically related to animal welfare, and use the participants to help guide the program (i.e., each person suggests an area they want/need help in). Ultimately, I want to help people feel more confident and comfortable communicating this topic and in general.

I’m also starting to look into what else already exists. I’m thinking that along with the work we do in the group, I’ll compile a list of educational resources for people to utilize on their own accord. I can pull from many things that already exist, simplify them, and make a more user-friendly resource. I think it will be much more beneficial to create a group that focuses heavily on communication and message delivery and much less on the content of the message. People remember the way you made them feel, not the the facts you told them.

My old project:

Problem: Animal advocates feel tense when discussing animal welfare with people who eat animal products and find it difficult to talk about.

Solution: Create a communication-learning group for animal advocates (and anyone else interested) who meet regularly to discuss effective communication skills, practice, and increase our knowledge of relevant topics together. Develop practices to handle tension (i.e., breathing technique). Encourage others to share their expertise, bring in speakers/experts. Perhaps include a book club!

[Hayden Kessinger]

I came up short this week

Hey everyone! I only managed about 3 and a half conversations this week. More people I asked to chat with are available next week so I plan to get their feedback then. I haven’t picked a project to dive into quite yet, although I’m nearly there. Below is the advice I did receive, as well as my reflections from the week. I apologize in advance for the length — I won’t be offended if you don’t read it all!

I think a lot of the advice I got is a bit lacking. More like opinions or separate ideas. But honestly, it was all still helpful. I struggled to get them to give real advice.

Advice received:
1. Not all animal advocates feel this tense when discussing the subject. Some don’t speak about animal welfare in specific situations — what are those situations? and what can we do about that?
2. Have news stations normalize conversations about animal welfare. Get it on radio, tv commercials. Use the same methods that meat industry uses to talk about animal welfare.
3. The reason animal advocates are tense is because most other people are uncomfortable and unfamiliar with the topic of animal welfare.
4. Perhaps it would be easier to convince them to do smaller steps at first; just reduce meat consumption at first. This makes it easier to get them involved (read book “How to create a vegan world”)
5. When talking about animal welfare to others, make sure to reflect on my past to connect with where they are now… “I use to eat meat and buy the cheap meat, etc.” Be super transparent and honest where I came from. Make it clear that if you feel guilty now that there’s nothing you can do to change the past but you can move in the right direction now.
6. Focus on alternatives = lots of success stories. Focus on the change and not on the situation. Show the % of change over time, the proportion of vegan products. Easier to convince someone to go vegan by saying more and more people are going vegan, instead of x% are vegan because people new to the movement will feel like a minority. If it’s more positive, it will be more exciting like a trend.
7. Have a graphical representation of where we were 100 years ago compared to where we are now. Show that in the present moment it feels like nothing is happening but our efforts do have an impact
8. Making vegan food for others turns something that was negative and tense into a nice bonding moment with family and friends. While it can feel isolating to have a strong viewpoint, people like good food! You can talk about veganism or not while eating but it’s a first step.
9. Feeling lonely/isolated depends on where you live. Finding these groups is harder in smaller cities; they have to rely on online groups. Online networks already exist, offline: create one group locally, though it can be difficult
10. Some farmers don’t see the problem. There are already programs that exist helping this transition occur. Would be hard to give advice for transitioning without background in farming. IMO, more important to decrease the demand. Younger people will [hopefully!] start new business that are more plant-based
11. Try to organize with the workers to boycott a farm. Would likely be difficult but could have a big impact if all workers got on board. Stop subsidies of meat because the reason the jobs are there is because meat is so subsidized.
12. Problem 4 has the highest level of solvability and the potential to make a significant impact relatively quickly. The solution for number 4 would be the easiest to implement. Probably many of us might have considered this, but there might be a lack of initiative/resources/etc. Also, this would be very beneficial as many animal advocates experience isolation and a lack of connection. It would help individuals continue advocating, supporting animals and maintaining their dietary choices. While there are some existing options, much more is needed.
13. In general, everyone I spoke with asked for more specificity

My updated project ideas:
Problem: Animal advocates feel tense when discussing animal welfare and find it difficult to talk about.
Solution: Have more difficult and uncomfortable conversations about animal welfare (just me)! Create a group of animal advocates who meet regularly to improve knowledge of relevant topics and gain confidence by acting out potential uncomfortable conversations. (Possibly pursuing)

Problem: People who eat animal products feel guilt, judgment, and resistance when spoken to about the animal agriculture industry.
Solution: Help guide people to make consumer choices that reflect their values. This could also be through a podcast, similar to This Sustainable Life. I could do the Spodek Method, animal edition. (I didn’t edit this, but have advice on how to be most effective with it… definitely considering pursuing)

Problem: Animal advocates feel hopeless about improving the lives of farmed animals.
Solution: Expose more people to the amazing work that is already being done for animals, what they can do, and the potential for huge change in the future. I’m still interested in organizing a large-scale fundraiser like a long-distance bike tour, but am interested in first building my volunteer organizing with The Humane League. I want to help other volunteers grow as advocates. (Although this one received no votes, I’m leaning towards pursuing it)

Problem: Animal advocates feel lonely and different from others. They can struggle to connect with friends and family.
Solution: Create an animal advocate social network. Start with local advocates that I already know and invite them to social events. Ask them what they want. (Considering weaving this into the project above)

Problem: Slaughterhouse workers and farmers feel trapped in their jobs that exploit animals. They want to treat them better but the demand for animal products makes higher animal welfare impossible.
Solution: Meet with farmers and/or slaughterhouse workers and ask how they feel about their position. If enough are disgruntled, organize group to disrupt the factory they work for. (Very unlikely I will pursue this one)

Votes:
1, 2, and 4 were each voted for as a favorite. My half conversation hasn’t led to a vote yet.

My Reflections

I have to say, this week was the toughest so far. It was difficult to set up conversations with people to give me advice. Three different people I contacted this week happened to be on vacation or at a work retreat, unable to help me until next week. I plan to chat with them when they’re available and get their advice. It was also a challenge because of the nature of the problems I’m proposing. The people I reached out to were all, for the most part, on board with the overarching mission. I didn’t feel comfortable asking my coworkers or other friends to give advice on this topic because I felt like it’d be weird for me or them or both. I recognize that by being picky with who I spoke to, I may have missed out on valuable advice from people with different perspectives. This will be something I hope to change moving forward.

Another challenge was getting advice rather than feedback or brand new ideas. Everyone was interested and helpful but also sort of not. A couple of people I spoke to are well-involved in the animal advocacy space and therefore thought quite critically about the ideas. They considered how impactful each one might be as well as how realistic they were. This was helpful but also a little discouraging because it sort of squashed my ambition. Although I suppose feedback like that is pretty important and simply part of the process.

Everyone I talked to expressed interest in hearing about how the rest of the course goes. They were curious about which project I might develop and wanted to know more. The conversations were enjoyable but because my ideas started pretty broad, the people I spoke to had some trouble coming up with advice, so they were a little bumpy at times. Some of them gave me resources that could help develop the ideas.

My understanding of the problems and potential solutions definitely improved. This was both because of more time to think about it myself and because of the advice I received. I learned that I really need to be as specific as possible. I also became more committed to the goals of the exercises: connect to the specific negative emotions and figure out how to change them.

[Hayden Kessinger]

The exercise

Before I list my problem-solution pairs, I want to clearly state that my chosen field of interest is often associated with anger, righteousness, ridicule, judgment, and a bunch of other less-than-ideal emotions. My intention is to simply state problems that I see. My statements related to the treatment of animals may seem extreme or silly, but I am simply speaking about the reality of our food system. My statements about people are generalizations and not necessarily true for everyone in the group that I describe. I hope to inspire meaningful reflections and create conversations, not arguments.

Human problems related to animal welfare:

Problem: Most people feel tension (and the emotions listed above) when discussing animal welfare and find it difficult to talk about.

Solution: Have more difficult and uncomfortable conversations about animal welfare! Perhaps through a podcast or simply by chatting with people.

Problem: People who eat animal products feel guilt, judgement, and resistance when spoken to about the animal agriculture industry.

Solution: Help guide people to make consumer choices that reflect their values. This could also be through a podcast, similar to Sustainability Simplified. I could do the Spodek Method, animal edition.

Problem: Animal advocates feel hopeless about improving the lives of farmed animals.

Solution: Expose more people to the amazing work that is already being done for animals, what they can do, and the potential for huge change in the future.

Problem: Animal advocates feel lonely and different from others. They can struggle to connect with friends and family.

Solution: Create an animal advocate social network. It could be a slack channel (like Hive) where people can chat about a variety of topics, related and unrelated to animals.

Problem: Slaughterhouse workers and farmers feel trapped in their jobs that exploit animals. They want to treat them better but the demand for animal products makes higher animal welfare impossible.

Solution: Work with farmers to transition to a more just and sustainable business. Or decrease demand for animal products somehow (work for alternative protein company, create culture that views plants as primary food source)

Animal problems related to animal welfare:

Problem: Animals feel pain and suffering when they cannot escape poor conditions on farms.

Solution: Improve conditions on farms so animals feel less or no pain and suffering.

Problem: Dairy cows feel grief when farmers take their calves away from them immediately after birth.

Solution: Change the standard practice of separating mothers and calves. Make it illegal to separate them.

Problem: Pigs feel fear when they’re forced through the slaughterhouse to the kill floor.

Solution: Change the slaughterhouse standard design and practice to make the experience less horrific.

Problem: Factory farmed animals (99% of animals raised for food) suffer immensely their entire lives.

Solution: Work to create stricter animal welfare standards that do not allow for animals raised for food to live on factory farms.

Problem: Farm animals want to live normal, healthy lives.

Solution: Remove animals from the food system!

Exercise reflections

This exercise was more challenging than I anticipated. Thinking of the problems was easy. The hard part was choosing which problems to focus on and making them specific. At first, I also struggled to think of problems from the perspective of the group that is experiencing them, as well as the specific emotions involved. Though it’s a slight shift, changing the language to reflect the group instead of projecting my own idea of the problem onto them, made a big difference. I’m sure I’m still projecting some with the problems I chose, but I’m learning how to prioritize the problem to then find a solution. There are a lot of solutions that I want to find problems for. I’m seeing that that is misguided, ineffective, and honestly quite arrogant and disrespectful.

I benefited from getting started early in the week and letting my thoughts simmer for a few days, jotting down new ideas every once in a while. I think I did a decent job brainstorming rudimentary solutions that could turn into real action, especially for the human-centered problems. Identifying problems centered on farm animals is extremely easy because there are so many, however finding a specific solution for each is more difficult. Somehow, it feels more abstract. I called on the help of others, asking for ideas from people in the Hive community (an organization that I could maybe emulate in a slightly different way to fill a gap in the movement) which was very helpful.

Last class, we met a former student named RJ. Through the class (he took it at NYU), he took a huge idea of helping Gaza, and made it real. He founded and directed a non-profit called LEAD Palestine for three years. Though he and his team decided to end the program in 2018, it seemed like it made a positive impact on the youth that they served. Below is a description from RJ’s LinkedIn.

“LEAD Palestine is an initiative that aims to inspire, motivate, and empower the next generation of Palestinian youth. Working in collaboration with local organizations, community centers, and university students, we will offer young Palestinians one-on-one mentorship and a fun, hands-on, leadership-based summer program where they will develop a sense of their own capacities and acquire the necessary skills to solve the problems they face. We believe that everyone has the potential to be a leader, and we want to cultivate that potential. We want every child to know that they are capable, talented, and cared for by positive mentors they can look up to.”

I haven’t done much other research on LEAD Palestine, so I can’t say one way or another that it was an effective program. I only know what RJ and Josh shared with us. I’m not doubting it was positively impactful, I’m only pointing out that just because an idea or program sounds good, doesn’t mean it is. But for the purpose of this workshop, it was cool to hear from someone who truly made something happen. RJ took a massive idea and created a tangible program, working on the problems he cared about.

It was encouraging to hear that RJ was considering revisiting the program, too. It was also encouraging to hear the way the course ignited his passion and made him excited to do all the exercises. He talked about staying after class to chat with Josh and other students, working out kinks in their ideas. Outside of creating a project, RJ shared how taking the course made him a better salesman at his family business; he became a natural people person, connecting with each potential customer rather than trying to push products on them. If improving my social skills is all I gain from this course, I’ll be pretty happy.

[Hayden Kessinger]

Here are my reflections on my essay:

Was it easy to think of relevant experiences, goals, and role models? – Yes. I have a relatively clear idea of what I want to focus on and some people to learn from. However, I need to narrow my goals and take specific actions.

Have you thought of people to share reflections with? – Yes! All of you, maybe some friends/family, and perhaps people from the community group, Hive.

What’s the point of naming people, not positions? – This makes it real, specific, and personal. It makes that person a human being and more attainable.

General thoughts:
I enjoyed writing the essay. As writing often does, it helped me think through ideas and make them more real. I connected with what I think I want to get from this course: improvements in articulating the importance of individual action and mastery of taking initiative in all parts of my life. I came up with people who I can learn from and I think simply writing this essay made me take more responsibility (I reached out to more people and scheduled meetings to discuss specific things like career choice, skill-growing, volunteer events, etc.). I was able to jot down all of my ideas within animal welfare so hopefully I can narrow my focus later or lean on advice from some of you.

[Hayden Kessinger]

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

1. Sydney Fox (The Humane League northeast field organizer)
2. Sophia Balderson (Hive co-founder)
3. Caitlin (A new friend I met through Hive who works on Capitol Hill)

Three people with high status or value in the field

1. Peter Singer (Philosopher and author with a focus on animal rights and practical ethics)
2. Melanie Joy (Psychologist and author with a focus on injustice and building healthy relationships)
3. 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)

1. Henry Spira (early animal advocate and one of the most effective)
2. Rich Roll (vegan athlete and podcast host — he has interesting conversations with all kinds of people and is great at asking questions)
3. 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.

[Hayden Kessinger]

I think it worked!

[Author]

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