You, as most of us, probably have a vision of a utopia, or at least you know the world would be a better place, if only X would be the case. Then you probably also know the frustration of not seeing anything happen and not knowing exactly what to do to change that one thing. How do you go about to make this change happen? A lot of us are just stuck on the internet reading and spreading information with people we know (or don’t know) and hoping that everything will turn out alright. This is good, I agree with the point that spreading information and creating awareness is the most important thing we can do.

For me this was never enough though. Sometimes I’d have discussions with people and they would say “well, if you’re such an idealist, why are you here discussing this with me, instead of out there and making a change?” The answer was that I simply did not know HOW. I saw all these things happening around me and thought “how can I, as one person, have an influence on this”. I was so stuck in the “how”, constantly looking at the external world, that I didn’t know where to start to make a change. So after seeing films like “Pay It Forward” I told myself that I should go out of my way to do one good deed per day. I decided to do some volunteering so some days would be covered even before doing anything – I knew that I would do something good that day.

It still kept me frustrated though. I knew I was doing the right thing, but didn’t feel it yet. Then things clicked.

It’s REALLY easy. If you want to make a change, then change what’s easiest to change… Yourself!

If you don’t like the meat industry; become a vegetarian. If you don’t like overconsumption; design your lifestyle in such a way that it will require minimal consumption. Make it part of who you are. You can do all kinds of things, but that’s external. You need to start internally to gain the energy and strength to really change something in the external environment.

A bonus! If you sort things out internally, things become really clear about what you need to do externally. You know where to start, you know how to change things. Gandhi said “be the change you want to see in the world”. I always saw this as something abstract. It’s not, it’s literal. You want peace? Be peaceful – get rid of the anger in your emotional spectrum. Focus on being instead of doing. Your actions come from your identity, but your identity can not come from your actions.

Change yourself and the world will follow. I promise.