What will you do with your emotions today? Can they be channeled for social good?
President Obama has left the White House after eight years and the man who is taking his place could not be more different. No matter your political affiliation, this inauguration day is a day of strong emotions.
Emotions are important. By paying attention to what evokes strong emotions in you, you learn something about your values and your life’s purpose.
By Noticing Your Emotions, You Understand Your Purpose
For you, what creates a sense of love, empathy, injustice, disgust or moral outrage? What kind of news stories evoke your emotions? Is it poverty? Gender equality? Income inequality? Climate change? Criminal justice system reforms? Strong emotions can be a gift, directing your life. They whisper to you, “This way.”
Tonya Surman grew up experiencing hunger. Her mother left when Tonya was four years old. Tonya remembers “My father raised us on love and not food.” Tonya can trace her strong sense of social justice to that moment. Today, she leads the Centre for Social Innovation (CSI) in Toronto and New York.
Julius Ibrahim noticed the people around his university in London who were sleeping on the sidewalk, in doorways and in parks. It spurred him to start Second Shot Coffee.
Kathleen Colson was invited by a friend to visit Northern Kenya which was in the midst of a terrible drought. Being witness to that suffering was the catalyst behind The BOMA Project.
Paul Rice went to Nicaragua for what he thought would be a one-year visit. When he got to know poor farm families, he ended up staying for eleven years. This eventually led to the founding of Fair Trade USA.
In each case, they transformed emotion into action. As a result, they created disruptive change.
Social Entrepreneurs turn Emotion into Action to Disrupt the Equilibrium
You may be experiencing strong emotions. The only question is, what can you do with them?
You can hold your emotions inside. But this can lead to negative consequences to your mental and physical health.
You can express your emotions. But how?
You can march, protest and advocate for of the disadvantaged in our society. We need that.
You can provide services for those who can’t help themselves. That’s important too.
Or, you can create systemic change, permanently disrupting the equilibrium. That’s what social entrepreneurs do.
How to Turn Your Emotion Into Action
What will you do in the first 1oo days of the Trump administration? Do you want to make an impact?
You are a compassionate person. You want to be a changemaker. But there can be a big gap between compassion and changemaking. You need the clarity to know what to do and how to do it. Clarity creates confidence. Confidence fuels your courage. And, when you are courageous, you can commit to being a changemaker. It all starts with clarity.
How will you gain clarity? Let’s work through this together. Let’s meet on February 1 at Noon Eastern Time for a free webinar, Start Your Social Good. We can interact there. Did I mention that it’s free? I have nothing to sell. This is not marketing. This is a movement. If you want to start a movement for social good, you can register here: http://tonyloyd.com/startnow. But hurry. Seats are limited.
Looking to Scale Your Social Good?
If you are already working on your social good idea, and you’re ready to scale, join me on February 8 at Noon Eastern Time. I’ll be holding another webinar, Scale Your Social Good. This is for changemakers who are working on their social good idea but need to take it to the next level. Again, the webinar is free. To register, go here: http://tonyloyd.com/scalenow. Seats are limited, so be sure to register today.
