#engaging vs. solving

1.     Public education in poor urban and rural areas:

a.     Outcome: Level the playing field for people that receive inferior educations by providing better education and giving them the tools to succeed in college and get out of the welfare trap.

b.     Actionable Step: Donate time to after-school mentor programs

2.     Equal Rights for Gays

a.     Outcome:  Allow people to feel comfortable being different and achieve equal legal rights to marry

b.     Actionable Step: Volunteer with The Trevor Project.

3.     Environmental conservation

a.     Outcome:  Create a sustainable living environment for future generations by reducing waste and encouraging the use of renewable energy sources

b.     Actionable Steps: Lead green-team in work environment by recycling printer cartridges, establishing double-sided printing standards, using recycled paper, encouraging energy efficiency, encouraging use of reusable cups

4.     Encourage adoption as an alternative to abortion

a.     Outcome: Promote Adoption by making it easier to adopt children and reducing the social stigma of teen / single-parent pregnancies

b.     Action Item: Volunteer for adoption counseling

5.     Special Olympics

a.     Outcome: Give special needs people a sense of self worth and an environment in which they can set and achieve goals.

b.     Action Item: Volunteer for Special Olympics events.           

Reflection Questions:

1.            Pick one of your actionable steps. How would this act make a difference? How might it lead to greater levels of engagement?

  The adoption counseling one is particularly intriguing to me because it’s something I hadn’t considered before. It would help by helping pregnant teens decide to choose to put babies up for adoption instead of the traditional decision between keeping the baby or aborting.

  2.            How will you choose which causes to engage?

  I will choose based on my ability to help under the circumstances.

  3.            What are other challenges in your life, unrelated to problems in the world, that you have procrastinated addressing? Consider relationships, finance, unstarted projects, personal development desires, and other items. How might the solving vs. engaging framework help you make progress on some of those issues?