A lot of young and passionate individuals have come to me making this statement repetitively.
One of the common mistakes you make as a youth is the fact that you see money as everything, as much as this can be true to a great extent, there is also a need for you to know that you are too big to limit yourself only to what money can do.
You can make a positive impact in your society even when you are not fully financially buoyant.
There are so many other ways to cause a change in your society without money.
The most important thing here is: what is the state of your heart?
Does SOCIAL IMPACT really matter to you?
Is it something you are willing to devote yourself to even when nobody is rewarding you for it?
Ask yourself these questions.
Let’s quickly go through a definition.
Social impact is the effect of your actions on people or your society.
Looking at the above definition, you would realise the keywords: EFFECT & YOUR ACTIONS.
This brings me to ask you another question.
What does your daily action look like?
What do you do with your day?
How do you relate with people?
What comes to your mind when you see something that is obviously wrong or is a social injustice in your society?
What’s your response like when non-profits reach out for volunteers?
Do you ignore the child around you who doesn’t go to school?
Do you ignore the child around you who has nothing to eat?
Do you look down on a young girl who has now become addicted to sex because of how she was consistently being raped right from the age of 4 until she began to see it as normal and couldn’t control herself anymore.
What goes on in your mind when these things come to play in your eyes?
How do you respond to it?
🚫Debunk that mindset of anything goes, I can do anything I like.
If you read the definition of social impact carefully, you would discover how important every of your actions is.
From the good morning you said,
To the smile you gave,
To response you gave just now,
To the words you shared with someone,
To the look you gave to that girl who needs healing and closure,
Like virtually every of your actions has an effect one way or another
🟢 5 HACKS TO MAKING IMPACT WITHOUT MONEY.
1️⃣ USE THE POWER OF YOUR PEN:
No matter how you might want to claim that people don’t longer read, books are still being published and are fast selling than you can ever imagine.
So WRITE.
Use your pen to write on societal issues around you especially the ones burning so much in your heart. Write expressively and boldly through any platform of your choice.
Ensure you are providing a solution through your writings or giving hope to someone as the case may be.
The most important thing when writing in this category, is that, you must ensure you are speaking to your audience from a place of someone who really understands them. Write out your heart. Let them feel you.
Don’t just write for writing sake but because you want someone to be truly helped, you want a particular change in your society.
You must be so passionate about this that it shows in how you communicate through your words.
I’ve really lost count of how many people who reach out to me telling me how one off my write up helped them in making one decision or the other, how it improved their self esteem, how they got encouraged to dream again, how they got inspired to take responsibility for their lives.
There is a lot that can be changed just through you picking your pen to write.
2️⃣ BRING SERVICE TO THE CENTRE OF YOUR SKILLS:
What is that thing that you are so good at effortlessly?
Is it drawing?
Is it teaching?
Is it sewing?
Is it dancing?
Is it cooking?
Is it being funny?
What are your skills?
Don’t just offer your skills to people just for the sake of money alone. I can’t stop emphasising this. You are too big to belittle yourself only to money.
Ensure every of your skill offered has a way of creating significant and positive impact in someone’s life.
“Not everybody can be famous but everybody can be great because greatness is determined by service. You only need a heart full of grace and a soul generated by love.” ~ Martin Luther King
Think about what kind of product or service you can give that would bring about social impact.
Or think about how your service or product can directed in the line of social impact.
What you keep missing out on is this:
People now get to buy more from businesses that support in changing the narrative of one social issue or the other because people still want the world to be a better place to live in.
So you stand a chance to gaining more you even think.
3️⃣ MAXIMISE SOCIAL MEDIA WISELY
Some of you have lots of followers but what exactly do you promote?
Leverage on your influence.
Don’t just post your selfies alone.
Take up any of the SDG that resonates with you.
Create contents around it.
This is you using what you have to achieve a greater purpose.
Let’s take CLIMATE CHANGE as an example, you can make your detailed research and share this knowledge creatively. You can make designs, animations, videos etc.
Make it interesting for your audience to want to engage with.
Social media is a great tool that you should begin to maximise today for social impact.
Others have started, don’t be left behind.
There are lives to be impacted online too.
Enough of negativity taking the lead on social media.
We are waiting for you.
We are counting on you.
4️⃣ DO OUTREACHES:
This is one of the most cost effective ways of achieving your social impact goals.
Reach out to secondary schools and educate the students on any social issue you are passionate about.
Plan out your program well.
Pick out attractive but meaningful topics that the students can learn from.
Ensure you tailor your message in such a way that it has a lasting effect in their lives.
You can decide to this monthly or whichever way that suits you.
The most important thing is, you are impacting someone.
5️⃣ VOLUNTEER:
Never joke with volunteering. I know many people run away from this in the name of I don’t have money to be donating, bla bla bla….
You can be an effective volunteer without spending so much money.
Give your time.
Use your skills to contribute to whatever goal the organisation you decide to volunteer for is pursuing.
Help them write proposals.
Share their contents.
Share their donation fliers.
Use your mouth to talk to people about what they do and how you can be of help.
Don’t fold your hands and do nothing in the name of I don’t have money.
You can cause a change with the little that you have.
It's not how much we give but how much love we put into giving.” “I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.” “At the end of life we will not be judged by how many diplomas we have received, how much money we have made, how many great things we have done.
~ MOTHER TERESA
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