How many of you feel like you have to do all the things to save the world?
*raises hand*
With so many movements happening, it can feel like you need to do all the things and fight every fight. There isn’t one issue that is more important than the others, so how do you prioritize and choose?
I’ll step up and be the one to tell you that you don’t have to fight every battle. If it was up to just one of us to save the state of humanity, then they wouldn’t be human.
A lesson I’ve learned over the years: you can’t be everything to everybody.
You hear the saying all the time, “Pick your battles”, but how do you even begin to do that? Here are three tips to help you feel like you don’t have to do it all.
Remember your values. Your values can help guide you to pick what is important to you. Not in a way that you only care about directly affects you, but it can help you find direction.
Learn about how different issues intersect. Once you figure out how oppression is all connected, you can can have your focus, but learn about how your work in those areas benefit other movements. It’s all about coalition building.
Find your lane and play up your strengths. You don’t have to force yourself to fit into roles you don’t feel natural doing. If you are extroverted, staff call centers and knock on doors! If you have a flexible schedule, go to marches!
Keep these things in mind when next time you feel overwhelmed by which movements you should be a part of. If you are a part of everything, you risk making little to no impact. But if you find your focus, you can really make a difference.
Need more direction? Read this book: Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds by adrienne maree brown
Liberation is Lit 
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