224: Clarifying my strategy
People commonly misunderstand the goals of this podcast. I tried in this episode to clear up two common misunderstandings:
- They mistakenly believe my goal is individual change—to influence one person at a time.
- They mistakenly believe I act on my environmental values to lead people by example.
On point 1, this podcast focuses on leading people through community. You may hear me leading one person at a time per episode, but I’m not picking people randomly. I’m picking people on more people’s community than most others. My goal is for listeners to feel, “I’m not the only one doing this. People in my community are too. It’s time I acted more.” I’m working my way to people known by hundreds of millions of others.
I’ll note that I offer value to these well-known people: a legacy valued by billions. I walk them through a process that shows them as authentically and genuinely acting, even if they don’t know much about the environment, so listeners want to support them, not judge.
On point 2, I act as everyone does. I do what I think is right for myself. You probably don’t blow smoke in babies’ faces or in hospitals. You probably don’t kick puppies. You don’t do these things to make sure others don’t smoke around babies or in hospitals or kick puppies. You don’t kick puppies because you think it’s right. You’re probably happy if your behavior leads others to avoid smoking or kicking puppies, but you’d not kick puppies even you knew you wouldn’t affect anyone.
I expand on these point, including notes about Oprah Winfrey, LeBron James, and a few others.
Bottom line: I’m focused on a strategy I think can work where everyone benefits. I’m not just hoping for the best.