“World, we need your help!”
I am super passionate about social entrepreneurship because I think it is a great vehicle for creating businesses, which we know how to run. And harnessing them to create a social impact that will uplift our entire planet. I see the magic of this happen and our local community with social enterprises, tackling issues as complex as human trafficking, poverty people reentering the workforce after incarceration, and even big complex issues around the environment.
Now I get that not everyone is going to quit their job and go and become a social entrepreneur and join me in this revolutionary way to create change. Some people are already creating great change through vehicles, such as nonprofits or charities. And I certainly don’t expect them to change what they’re doing.
For some people, they think, “Hey, this is nice. I’m glad it exists in the world,” but that’s, as far as that conversation goes.
If you’re one of those last people, this article is for you.
You have the power to change with just a click!
In a recent conversation with Dr. Linda Ulrich of Ever Widening Circles, she spoke about how this wonderful world of people is creating great change that’s happening, but it’s almost hidden from view.
She highlighted how the regular ways that we interact with news and social media tend to direct us to things that are more sensational or negative or more tragic. This is certainly evident if you could read any of the major news sites, regardless of what political spectrum you’re on, that news tends to be slanted towards things that are shocking.
Part of this is completely intentional because we know what captures our attention most are those things that trigger us with sensations of fear or concern or shock.
Linda had a great perspective that the internet was built to share information and it was built on advertising revenue, which rewards how long websites or other mediums can capture your attention. So naturally, social media and the news have discovered great ways to capture our attention, focusing on negative sensational things or that kind of stuff you see on social media.
But the internet is highly tailored to you. And what Dr. Linda Ulrich conveyed to me is that you have the power to change this by changing what you spend your attention focusing on. Every time you click on an article, which is sensational, or gets you anxious or riled up those media organizations can analyze that data to generate more of that content.
However, you can affect the information that they show you by changing your behaviors. Unfortunately, quite often, the way we click on things is automatic and unconscious. And so you need to stop and pause before you go and click on links.
Practicing pause for more awareness
In her Ted Talk, the pause, Dr. Linda outlines four steps to accomplish this. I recommend you go and listen to that as it’s very enlightening as ways that you can change and interact with information. Just a simple pause, we’ll give you some space so that you can make a cognitive decision of whether or not you want to see more of what you’re clicking on or not.
If you can do this, then all of a sudden you have the power to choose what you click on, but also the power to choose what you share.
Here’s where we need your help
To raise what’s going on in this great world of social entrepreneurs, we need you to pay more attention to the news about social entrepreneurship.
We need you to click on it, to share it. When you see articles in different places, highlight them in those and like them and comment on them more important than your likes, those comments and shares that you do raises the value of that type of information.
For massive change to happen in the world, we only need to reach about 25% of people before something bubbles up into the mainstream consciousness of everyone. So if you take some time and intentionally go out and share articles and news or on social entrepreneurship, pretty soon, you’ll start to discover more of that news. And you’ll be able to share more of that with your friends and family and peers.
As you continue sharing this, it’s going to raise it to the rest of the world, and more people will see it and get involved. And that is how we can create massive global change. Even if you’ve never, aren’t interested in buying anything from a social enterprise or involved in starting one or running one, the simple act of sharing, positive news about organizations that are lifting our planet will create more attention on that and create an effect that will lead to global societal change.
This may sound overly simplistic. Partly it is. But as more people understand what is possible, more people will say,
“Hey, I want to join in and get involved in organizations like this.”
“I want to purchase from organizations like this.“
“I want to go to events that are centered around learning about social entrepreneurship or events that are serving my local community in really great creative ways.“
That might not be you, but if you’re the person that shares that article that somebody else sees, you’ve just magnified your impact by a huge amount, simply by doing what you’re already doing on your computer. So world, we need your help. We need you to pause and think before you click on links and share information, choose information and articles that lift our planet, things that you care about. And really care about.
I don’t mean like the weird dialogues around politics, where we have such polarizing views. I mean, things that touch us all and connect us all that when we put our attention to them will lift us all collectively, regardless of where you are on a personal ideology. So, please, go out and share one article that you find, which is lifting the world.
Helpful resources you can share
If you need some resources for lifting, upgrade articles, take a look at everwideningcircles.com, peoplehelpingpeople.world, or check out some other great sites, like ourgoodbrands.com or goodfind.io, or triplepundit.com.
If you’re here in Columbus, Ohio, check out social ventures cbus.com for great local news about social entrepreneurs.
It doesn’t take much to find these great organizations and share their information. So I call on you to stand up and help us raise awareness about what we’re doing and share pertinent, wonderful information with the world.
