Our third great source of personal power is use your voice… in other words, be an Influencer:
Get in the habit of actively influencing those around us, in our daily life, our economy, and with our elected representitives.
People around us in our daily life respond to social clues… be one of those people who sets the tone, rather than being a follower.
Influence the businesses who crave our buyng and investing power… they are actually kind of afraid of what we think of them, and that gives us great power to shape that which they provide us. Your spending is a vote; use it that way – and let them know you know.
Actively influence our leaders at every level of government – so they know we expect no less than strong progress in the fight to slow global warming. Let them know that if they do what we want, we will reward them with our vote. And if they don’t do what we want, we will cripple their careers.
Our voices are real power and each of us has much, much more clout than we realize…
- Use your voice to advocate using letters and social media, and by participating in the civic life of our cities and towns.
- Use your voice by never, ever missing an election: VOTE!
- Use your voice to influence the people around us, in our daily social interactions.
- Use your cash donations to influence mission-critical policy or to further the good advocacy other folks are doing.
- Use your voice: Support the petitions of others.
A bonus: Once you get going on Using Your Voice there is a snowball effect, as we discover power we didn’t realize we had… (especially when we deal with the subtle “learned helplessness” that infects much of the modern world).
A key ingredient here, which is especially useful to Busy People: Like all good managers and executives, much advocacy WORKS THROUGH OTHERS and thus has a virtuous multiplier-effect!
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Not sure how to start saving the planet (civilization, really)… Start by remembering that “Hope is a renewable resource.” Keep your morale up.
Then, our immediate practical first step becomes “Deeply know our personal Superpowers,” those skills over which we all have 100% control:
1) To save the planet, CHANGE OURSELVES FIRST;
2) To save the planet, INVEST OUR WORKING LIVES;
3) To save the planet, USE OUR VOICES and take advocacy seriously in all its many flavors: Never miss a vote and never stop influencing your government. Influence the vast business world by voting with your buying power… business listens when you speak its language. Set a solid example in your personal life. Tell friends what we must do. Finally, have a carefully-chosen annual donor program. All of these are ways you can use your voice.
No one can take your personal power away. Stay focussed on the list of substantive global warming solutions.
And at all times, cast aside the “learned-helplessness” that infects so much of modern life… the time is now for action.
Never give up.
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Global Warming, You and I 