Activism is not a one-time thing. It's every day, for everyone. And it's not as hard as you think.
One of the hardest questions in life is: "now what?"
This holds true in the context of business, relationships, and life. In my career, I've held my team's feet to the fire more than once for an A+ analysis with no plan of action. Great, but what should our client do now that we have this information?
Action matters.
The Women's March is over. I can't recall a time in history where there was an organized movement around the world, from New York to Los Angeles, Antarctica to Iraq. Much of the media is reporting that the DC crowd was bigger for the March than for the inauguration.
Okay, now what?
We do not have time to march every day. And you, like me, are probably not a celebrity with access to millions. But that doesn't mean you can't continue to take action.
Here are five things you can do without ever leaving the house:
1. Donate to the new Obama Foundation. If causes you care about are getting the shaft by the new administration, the Obama Foundation is prioritizing its focus areas as health care, climate change, equality and more. These aren't Democratic causes, they are human ones. Even if you don't donate, you can share an idea -- free.
2. Get Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance. Hat tip to my friend Benji Rosen at the Christian Science Monitor. The reason why this matters: Trump aside, the anger and the fear that many Trump voters feel is legit. Trump just tapped into it. We better start paying attention. I am hopeful this book will shed further insight; we are all Americans.
3. Become a virtual journalist on sites like Presterity.org. The distortion of the truth appears to be more rampant with this administration than others. Sites like Presterity are working to make sure FACTS MATTER. You can become a "citizen watchdog" and share your knowledge with the world. Hat tip to my friend Eleni Kavros DeGraw.
4. Respond to falsehoods with truth. Social media has its downsides, but never before have we had the opportunity to instantly publish -- for free -- our voices to the world. Celebrities with massive followings take advantage of that, but you can do the same by responding in the same feed to also reach those many followers. Fact-checking must be relentless, and the onus is on all of us:
5. Contact your congressperson. Letters, emails and phone calls on what you think about a given topic really matter, because politics is local. Contact your Representative in the House by entering your zip code here. Contact your Senator by entering your state on the Senate page here.
This is your America. Some assembly is required. What are you doing starting today?