We Should Treat Our Energy and Engagement the Same Way We Treat Our Money

Donald Trump’s been president for about a year already – or is it a month? I really can’t tell anymore. It certainly feels like it’s been forever. At this point, we’re all tired, we’re cranky, and it feels like no matter how hard we try, nothing much changes. 

Right after he was elected, I wrote a plan for how to get involved on an issue. It talked about learning the field, building relationships with those in power, developing a plan of action, and getting to work. I refer to that piece a lot, but there’s more to add to it. 

One of the greatest lessons I’ve learned over the past few years is that I can have the highest impact if I really focus on just a few issues. If I pare down my main causes to just a few, I can legitimately become an expert in them. I can position myself to be a go-to person for others and I can build meaningful relationships with those in power. 

When I try to focus on too many issues, I find that I get nothing done. I’m constantly overwhlemed and I feel hopeless. The hardest lesson to learn was that I had to let some things go, and trust other folks to take on those fights while I focused on what moved me the most.  

My background is education, and when I work with students – of any age, really, – I often talk about the need for a mission statement. We know that businesses, particularly non-profit agencies, often create a misson statement, but I’m a firm believer that people need a mission statement, too. I think we’re more successful when we can literally write down our guiding principles. I think everyone should do it. 

It’s not hard to write a good mission statement. It should be short, to the point, and use strong, active language. A mission statement should be no longer than one sentence and it should always be as clear as possible. This is not a time for flowery language.

Here are a few examples of what that might look like in practice:

“I will fight for stricter gun control and expanded reproductive rights because I am truly pro-life.”

“I value education and safety for LGBT kids, so I focus on transgender equality in schools and anti-bullying programs.”

“I believe in racial justice efforts and programs because I want everyone have an equal opportunity to be successful in life.” 

You’ll notice that these statements are very specific and include just a few issues, as I described earlier. Creating a personal mission statement doesn’t mean you don’t care about other things. I absolutely care about many things, but I also know that I can’t take on everything.  

When it comes time to the issues that don’t make it into my personal mission statment, I spend some time identifying people in my community and my inner circle I trust who focus on those areas. I follow their lead when it comes time for action. If they ask me to make a phone call to an elected official or show up to a rally, I know that they know what they’re talking about.

Having a mission statement also helps keep me centered and calm because I can focus my anger and rage (and there’s a lot of it these days) into places that will always be useful. I really, really want to care about certain aspects of foreign policy, for example. But, I have absolutely no training in it, almost no education in it, and the likelihood of me making an impact in that area is slim to none. So, when those issues come up, I know that I have specific folks I can look to who will help me understand what’s really happening without me spending every day in a perpetual state of freak out. 

Having a mission statement not only keeps me calm when dealing with the issues I do care about, it helps me make peace when I can’t get involved with other issues. There are times when I just have to say, “I’m sorry, but this issue just isn’t part of my personal mission, I can’t use my energy for it.” That may seem harsh, but we do the same thing when we donate money to charity. We sometimes have to say no to a very worthwhile cause because we don’t have enough money to support everything we care about, and we have to make hard choices. Our mental energy should be thought of in the same way. We just don’t always have enough of it to go around. 

Take some time today to write a list of the issues you care about most. Then, go through that list a second time and decide which of them you have the best ability to impact and are most passionate about. The top two or three belong in your mission statement. You’ll find that as you go through the week you’ll be able to focus your energy into something useful, and the issues won’t feel so large and abstract anymore. And hopefully, it will renew your sense of action so you can continue to fight for the things you believe in. 

 

Robbie Medwed is an Atlanta-based LGBTQ activist, educator, and writer. He’s a much calmer person now that he can say, “I really want to get involved in that, but I just can’t.” Follow him on Twitter: @rjmedwed

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