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Many high-achieving women are lead by a drive to make a difference and to give back to the world.
While it’s a beautiful and noble dream, done the wrong way your dream of changing lives could also seriously mess up your karma.
Here’s an example of how things can go wrong:
A few months ago this story was in the news.
It’s started like a prank.
A father and a son were driving through a national park in the U.S.A. and saw a baby bison.
They thought it was cold and they decide it needed to be rescued…
Against the rules of the park (which clearly stated that they should not interact with the animals) they took the baby bison in their car and drove it off to a nearby ranch post for medical assistance.
They were so proud of their ‘good’ deed.
They didn’t expect what followed.
What they didn’t realize is that by separating the calf from its mother they had tragicly disrupted the cycle of nature.
The rangers tried to reintroduce the calf to the herd however this was to no avail.
Eventually the calf was euthanized.
Way to go calf saviors!
Probably not how they wanted to make a difference but the harm is done in any case.
Here’s some food for thought if you’re dreaming of a big impact and you want to avoid becoming a karmic destitute.
Dreaming of making a BIG difference? Watch out for karma! Click To Tweet1. STAY IN YOUR LANE
Are you an expert on bison? Elephants? Tigers?
No.
Then maybe it’s best that you don’t get involved. There are experts who spend years studying these species to know what’s best for them.
Let them do their work.
The same rationale can be applied to foreign cultures: are you an expert on Cambodia? Honduras? Zambia?
No.
Well then, take a breath (or a few thousands) before you get involved.
You don’t know what it takes for an Hondurans, a Cambodian or a Zambian to thrive.
You can only speculate based on your own culture.
And just like bisons are not humans, Hondurans are not Brits, Cambodians are not French people, Zambians are not Italians.
All have different needs.
It’s important to respect that or chaos can ensue.
There are plenty of things to handle at home: you know that place where you actually have a grasp of the culture, the needs, the stakes.
While it’s probably easier, more exciting, more exotic to sign up to fix some exotic cause half way across the world, try to resist the temptation to embrace your inner adventurer.
There are plenty of things to handle at home: you know that place where you actually have a grasp of the culture, the needs, the stakes.
The place where you are more likely to be equiped to make a positive contribution and less bound to make a mess.
Additionally think of it this way: if everyone takes care of their own backyard the whole world would quickly be taken care of.
2. EDUCATE YOURSELF
When I was in school, we were made to donate rice and money for starving children.
Noble idea.
In practice a catastrophy.
A few months later, news started to surface that the food and the money donated never reached their intended recipients.
Instead some of the money had been embezzled by the organizations in charge and the food had been redirected to support the actual oppressors of these starving children.
We had been sending money and supplies to murderers.
Ouch!
There have been many similar stories over the years (like this, this, this or this).
What may sound like a good cause may not be a such good one if you take a closer look.
Do your due diligence: learn as much as you can on the key players, the issues, the organizations before anything.
You don’t want blood on your hands (huge karmic overdraft!) you’re trying to help people.
Don’t fall your for emotional campaigns, study the facts.
Don't fall your for emotional campaigns, study the facts.#socialimpact Click To Tweet3. EMPOWER PEOPLE
In school you may have had a friend who wasn’t so gifted.
Because you have a big heart you may have started to help them with their homework.
By helping, I mean you did their homework.
And it worked: they had great grades!
Well at least until the real test came…
There they flunked.
Normal, they didn’t know anything, so when time came to stand on their own they couldn’t do it.
You know the saying: ‘give a man a fish…’. Well there’s a point to it.
Helping people should not cripple them, it should empower them.
Helping people should not cripple them, it should empower them, make them stronger and more autonomous.
If your long-term presence is required for the people you help to stay successful, you’re probably part of the problem not the solution.
And your karmic balance just took a deeper dip.
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4. FOLLOW NATURE’S COURSE
I am all for food without causing carnage but one thing makes me uneasy: vegan cat food.
Unlike humans (or dogs) who can thrive on plant-based diets, cats are obligate carnivores.
Cats need meat or they face serious health issues (blindness, heart failure…) and vegan cat food is high in grains which cause cancer to cats.
I do see the moral argument but it’s unfair and dangerous to subject cats to a diet that’s so against their nature and drastically heightens their risks of life-threatening diseases.
Some causes may stir your heartstrings, however you may consider checking that they also hold up to logic and life-enhancing principles.
There are many appealing causes that follow a similar problematic course under scrutiny.
Take obesity and the fat-acceptance movement for instance (I am about to make friends here, I know…).Obesity is a disease.
People who suffer from it should be supported and helped.
So far so good.
Now when it gets tricky is when in the name of supporting and helping obese people fat gets promoted.
Fat is the result of an accumulation in toxins in the body. Toxins as in toxic products.
A fat body is a body overloaded with poison.
A morbidly-obese person has so much fat (toxins) in their body that they are putting their life at risk.
How in the world can we support and encourage people poisoning themselves more under the guise of promoting a good cause?
This is akin to encouraging suicide.
People need to be supported in thriving not in killing themselves!
Again, some causes may stir your heartstrings, however you may consider checking that they also hold up to logic and life-enhancing principles to avoid a huge overdraft on your karmic bank account.
All causes are not good causes. Click To Tweet5. KEEP YOUR EGO IN CHECK
More on the heartstrings:
I once had a conversation that really shocked me. The details have been changed for privacy reasons.
A woman feel in love with a man who lived in a foreign country. Her country was richer and was considered more advanced while his was more simple and traditional.
Due to the economic advantages her country offered she was convinced the man should move there.
She was excited by this prospect and she was raging a fierce campaign to get him on board.
She reasoned that her country offered plenty of opportunities and he would surely be able to prosper there.
He wasn’t thrilled by the idea.
And I could understand where he was coming from.
He was an extremely accomplished musician skilled in a traditional form of music mostly prevalent in a remote region of his country.
His skills were non-transferable.
He didn’t speak the language spoken in her country.
He was not used to the climate.
There was plenty of prejudice against people from his country in her land.
She was basically setting him up for a huge cultural shock, tons of economic hardships and quite a bit of discrimination.
He would have had to give up everything he knew and he loved: his craft, his family, his land to move to place he had no affinity for.
She was so caught up in her savior complex and the narrative that ‘my country is better because it’s richer’, she could not imagine how things could go wrong.
She could not grasp the fact that a poorer land could have much more to offer to its people than any richer foreign land ever could.
She could not comprehend that a performer deeply involved in and committed to an arcane traditional and regional artistic scene might find it hard to hone his craft in a country that could not tell the most virtuose rendition of this music from the honking of a horn.
Her over-inflated ego was blinding her to the truth and turning her into his worst enemy.
Moral of the story: keep your feelings and your ego in check. It’s not about you, it’s about the people you’re trying to help.
6. KNOW YOUR LIMITS, EMBRACE YOUR STRENGTHS
After watching the news about a terrible situation in a war-zone, one of my friends decided she should to get on a plane and go help the victims.
We’re talking your average coddled westerner who has a fit whenever she breaks a nail and who has never seen a drop of blood in her life…
Can you guess what would have happened if she had gotten on that plane?
She would have been in the way!
She would have been waaaaaay out of her comfort zone and fully panicked.
And on top of dealing with the danger and the horror at hand, the medical teams she so wanted to reinforce (without any prior medical training, mind you!) would have had to deal with her freaking out as well. A little bit like what happened with these well-meaning but poorly skilled volunteers.
The point is: you may not be cut to be a nurse, a social worker, a vet. It’s ok, you have other strengths.
Maybe you’re a great teacher and you can show illiterate folks how to read?
Maybe you a maestro in the kitchen and you can prepare healthy food for the needy?
Maybe you have great organizational skills and you can help manage a community project?
In the words of Arthur Ashe : ‘Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.’
‘Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.’, Arthur Ashe
I love the example of Ron Finley who started guerilla gardening in the heart of one of the toughest neighborhoods in LA, or this man, Jon Nash, also in Los Angeles, who started a summer camp for under-privileged children where he provides them with a safe environment, healthy raw food and character strenghtening activities to keep them out of trouble.
They show that you can do great things and start a movement right in the heart of your community.
Simple things go a long way and can get the ball rolling.
Personally, I am a fan of random acts of kindness.
You can start by paying it forward, picking up trash, learning about your neighbors, carrying the grocery for an elderly lady.
It may sound trite but to make a difference and really change lives you don’t really need big heroic gestures like traveling half-way across the world to a war-torn country, you can simply start by caring for your community.
7. YOUR BIGGEST IMPACT: SHOW UP AND DO YOU!
I am a firm-believer that we all have a gift and that when we play our role in life we thrive.
Ultimately I believe that the way for you to make the biggest impact is to stop hiding, start doing what you came here to do and share what you have mastered with others.
A great way to do this is to fix something your younger self would thank you for.
I believe that the way for you to make the biggest impact is to stop hiding
If you’ve lost weight and reconquered your health, share that.
If you’ve survived abuse and learned how to thrive, help others do the same.
If you’re a master of money-management, show others how to manage their finances.
In my opinion this is really where you can make a difference.
This is where you’re the expert, where you know the playing field, where you know the traps, where you can tell the con-artists, where you are skilled, where you have stakes and a big meaningful why to drive you.
No one can do a better job, be more driven and have a greater impact than you in this position!
This is your place of power, the place where you can really make a difference with lasting impact and change lives.
Want to make a BIG impact? Show up and be your best self! Click To TweetMore often than not big dreams of changing the world are nothing more but poorly disguised attempts at fighting boredom, adding excitement to your life, feeding a deflated-ego.
They have nothing to do with actual benefits for the people supposedly helped.
And because they are nothing more but selfish displays of grandeur at the expense of others, they are the karmic equivalent of going bankrupt.
By being in the center of your life, being the best version of yourself you can be, by sharing of yourself selflessly on topics you’re an expert on and you deeply care about, you’re sure to make a difference and hit 10-figure status on your karma balance in no-time.
Changing lives can start right where you are. Click To Tweet
VIP Vault member Bonus:To go further I have put together a checklist to help you make a big impact without messing up your karma. Click here to learn more. Not a member? Click the link to join!
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Ed. on Dec.15th, 2021 .
