Changing the world is easy. Right? As anyone who has worked to change oppressive systems or even just to make a positive difference in the world knows, it is tough. It is especially difficult to sustain these efforts over time.
There are plenty of strategies out there for systems change, advocacy, disruption, volunteerism, humanitarianism, and so on. Many are wonderful and are truly making a difference in the world. Yet, there is a key challenge that all change efforts face—they require human beings. Without healthy humans, change initiatives have a tendency to reach less than their full potential.
But that’s the catch—it’s hard to be healthy when there is so much pressure pushing back against positive change in the world. It can be so difficult to keep the energy and focus required when it feels like the challenges are unending and insurmountable.
Still, I am a firm believer that us human beings can change the world. Especially when we are well equipped for the work. Access to the strategies for social impact is often readily available. Access to information about how to contribute positively to your family, friendships and community is readily available. Increasingly, access to all training for all the practical skills you might need is available.
Yet, it remains hard to access the core psychological skills that enable and empower your ability to take action and follow through on all this information. I can’t tell you how many times I have personally gotten stuck in information input mode without actually putting it to use.
Worry not, there is a specific set of skills we can learn through Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT) that can help us to get unstuck, liberate our minds, and ultimately become more effective in our efforts to pursue the betterment and liberation of all people.
I believe that real social change comes when individuals find freedom and then use that freedom to free others. Sometimes, all it takes is a single conversation to catalyze the start of personal change. And as this freedom multiplies, the world really can be changed.
