Picking Your Battles: The Art of Selective Engagement

Of the issues you thought were important over the last year, how many of them did you contribute meaningful effort towards improving?

This is a tough question, but it needs to be asked: Is it more important to appear compassionate, or to act compassionately toward the people you claim to care about?

This might be a radical idea, but I’m of the mind that posting a black square on Instagram doesn’t actually help anyone; but spending time volunteering in a disadvantaged community does.

Yelling about the travesty of working conditions for cobalt miners in Africa doesn’t mean shit if you’re not willing to buy a Fairphone and keep it for more than a year or two. For better or worse, voting with your wallet can be more effective than voting at the ballot box.

This is not to say that spreading awareness isn’t important: it absolutely is. There’s a lot of wrong in the world that people are completely unaware of, and sometimes society needs to become aware, then show support, before it’s possible to enact change.

But if we never move past step one—if we just bounce from one ‘flavor of the month’ cause to the next, endlessly spreading awareness—then real change never happens.

Real impact means moving beyond the optics—figuring out where your actual energy, time, or cash can make a dent, and doing something; especially when it’s uncomfortable or inconvenient. That’s where change truly begins.

So, next time you feel the urge to post about The Current Thing, ask yourself: what would the next step—real action—actually look like for you? Action is never convenient, but it’s the only thing that moves the needle.

This is part 3 in a series on escaping from the addiction of performative compassion, and spending your time, money, and attention on things that truly matter. Read the rest here.