This may sound like a marketing slogan – but it actually inspires many people to plant seeds of hope during their lives. People must feel that what they do will make an impact. They can start by focusing on things that are ‘small enough to be possible, yet big enough to make a difference’. Otherwise they may simply feel de-powered because the task is so large. Certainly there must be radical change to tackle some of the challenges facing the world. In the meantime, however, everybody can work to encourage present and future generations. Let’s explore three steps for making this happen.

1) You can identify things that fit this criteria.

Start by focusing on specific projects – however small – where you have a good chance of success. You may wish to encourage a child at school, create a beautiful garden at home, raise funding for a charity, publish know-how on the web or whatever. Many pioneers start their work by taking one step, helping one person, planting one tree or whatever – and achieving a success.

Christina Noble took this route. Growing up in Dublin, she is a former street child whose foundation now helps thousands of street children in Asia. Reporters compare her with Mother Teresa, but she has none of it, saying: “I am no saint, I am wild.” Christina swears, drinks double whiskeys and harangues conferences about children’s rights. Writing in her book Bridge Across My Sorrows, she explains:

“When I began here in Vietnam, people said that what I wanted to do was impossible. ‘You’re only one person,’ they said. But when I was a child, I needed only one person to understand my suffering and pain, one person to love me. One is very important. There are many ones, and they add up.”

You will have your own way of doing good work, so try tackling the exercise on this theme. Start by identifying something you can do that fits the criteria of being ‘small enough to be possible, yet big enough to make a difference’. Then identify the benefits of doing this work. Try completing the following sentences.

The specific thing I can do that would be ‘small enough to
be possible, yet big enough to make a difference’ would be:

*

The benefits of doing this would be:

*

*

*

2) You can implement things that fit this criteria.

Richard St. Barbe-Baker took this step and helped to give birth to the modern conservation movement. Writing in his book My Life My Trees, he describes how in 1894, at the age of 5, he had an unforgettable experience which charted his future path. After much coaxing, his nurse allowed him to explore the woods by himself. St. Barbe writes:

“No explorer of space probing the secrets of the other planets could have felt more exultation than I did at that moment … I had entered the temple of the wood. I sank to the ground in a state of ecstasy; everything was intensely vivid … The overpowering beauty of it all entered my very being … In the wood among the pines, it seemed that for one brief moment I had tasted immortality … I was in love with life: I was indeed born again, although I could not have explained what had happened to me then.”

Returning from his walk in the woods, Richard was a changed person. The world seemed more magical and, in 1920, he began to translate his passion into action. Visiting Kenya, he enlisted the backing of the chiefs and elders to start a programme which planted over one million trees. He co-founded ‘The Men of Trees’ and was invited to speak around the world. After helping President Roosevelt to establish the Civil Conservation Corps, he instigated the ‘Save the Redwoods’ campaign in California. He also founded the ‘Green Front’ action group, returning to Africa to develop re-forestation work in the Sahara. During his life Richard is believed to have personally planted several million trees.

You will find your own way to translate intention into action. Looking at the specific thing you intend to do – your chosen ‘project’ – describe the steps you can take to make it happen. Try completing the following sentence.

The specific things I can to do
implement my chosen ‘project’ are:

*

*

*

3) You can inspire other people by showing the impact of things that fit this criteria.

Success stories give people hope. Robert Jungk understood this after spending much of his life fighting against totalitarianism. An Austrian living in Germany under Hitler, he was arrested, released and went on to produce subversive press articles. After the war he campaigned against nuclear weapons - then focused on getting people to shape a better future. During the 1970s Robert became known as the ‘inventor’ of future workshops. People were encouraged to develop ‘social inventions’ – specific projects that improved the quality of life. Despite considering himself ‘not an optimist’, he believed people must see light, rather than darkness. So at his home in Salzburg he compiled ‘The Catalogue of Hope’ - a data base of several hundred positive projects around the world. Robert’s work inspired many similar compendiums that can be found on the web today. The Global Ideas Bank in London, for example, is one such resource and their latest book is 500 Ways To Change the World.

So how can you translate your project into a ‘product’? You may want to write article, create ‘before and after’ photographs, run a seminar, make a short film or whatever. Try completing the follow sentence.

The specific things I can do to inspire people by
showing the impact of my chosen ‘project’ are:

*

*

*

People want to build a better world. Sometimes taking the first step calls for believing their contribution can make an impact. You can make this happen by choosing a project that is ‘small enough to be possible, yet big enough to make a difference’. Even if the difference is just for one person in the world.

You can find out more about The Global Ideas Bank at:

http://www.globalideasbank.org/site/home/

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