How can you engage in charity and social activities in a way that helps others without harming yourself? What should you pay attention to, and what should you prepare for?
Goal
First of all, you need to formulate a goal — why am I getting involved in this? Ask yourself in advance — how will this change my life, the lives of my loved ones, how ready am I, what are my motivations, how well do I understand my place in charity work, how will I make a living? Many people leave charity precisely because they went into it on emotion, without thinking it through. Acting on emotion, without a specific, normal goal or mission, is useless.
Judgment
Another question is whether I am ready for judgment. Because there will always be dissatisfied people, those who will point fingers. No matter what you do, there will always be those who will bark at the caravan. Is the caravan ready to move on calmly, or will it stop and fight with every dog?
Communication
The ability to communicate, speak, and negotiate all relate to the ability to present oneself. Many public figures believe that since they are doing good work, people should accept them as they are and respond positively. Many simply break down on this point. After all, they have to communicate with officials, businesses, the media, and completely different categories of people… The task of a public figure is to convey in various ways to those on whom the provision of assistance depends that this assistance is necessary. So that they want to provide it.
Education
A person who enters the public sphere must strive to continue learning. It may seem that one’s existing education, past experiences, or personal charisma are sufficient. However, it is essential to continuously improve oneself. A public figure without personal growth will not be able to do their job properly. And in this sense, even if there are problems with point 6, that is, with communication skills, if you make an effort, you can acquire this skill.
The more a person proves something to someone, the more tired they become. It is as if they are employed to prove something. In order not to be employed, you need to train yourself, like a good infantryman, in some kind of training camp.
Design
The next stage is the ability to design. This is called social engineering, when we take a problem, study it, find ways and means to solve it, create a product — a project, look for resources, and then connect agents of influence, start implementing the project, get results, describe them, and create a methodological guide. This is a complete cycle that also needs to be learned and requires a certain amount of energy, because every project is a construction, a movement from point A to point B.
First, it is worth doing small projects, gaining some experience, and learning. What is the difference between a commercial and a non-commercial product? For example, if a brewery produces a batch of beer and it does not sell, it will simply throw it away. If a social activist has done a project and it doesn’t work out, the social client will suffer, and the resources spent will not be recouped. Therefore, it is very important to calculate, understand government policy, the social client’s order, resources, and, accordingly, the risks that may arise in the implementation of this project.
Life
It is important not to stop living a full life. Often, people who get involved in charity do not enjoy life and see everything around them only in terms of charity. They cease to be part of society, perceiving their activities as heroic, sacred, and therefore willing to sacrifice everything for it. You don’t have to shut yourself off from life.
Boundaries
It is important to be able to distinguish between your public and private life. We worry about social clients and think about them when we are with them. At home, we think first and foremost about our loved ones and solve their problems, not the problems of strangers. It is very important to be able to immerse yourself in someone else’s story and then step out of it. If a person does not learn to step out of it, they may become a social client themselves.
Focus on the task
There is no need to spread yourself too thin. It is essential to focus on the social group that you have encountered, know about, or come from yourself. Why is focus important? Because the problems of the group we are dealing with have a certain cycle. That is, we take a social client, work with them, then help them climb the social ladder, and they become a social part of civil society. In other words, the task in interacting with a social client is not to enjoy ourselves and receive pats on the back and shoulders, but to bring the social client into a social reality in which they can cope on their own, and we will no longer be needed. If we set ourselves such a task, it will require enormous effort and perseverance in order not to abandon this social client.
The result
When results are not visible. Often, people do not see the results of their activities and leave the sector, thinking, “I work and work, but nothing changes in the end.” In fact, the existence of the process is also a kind of result. Because sometimes it happens that you never see the result in your lifetime. And so the task is to do everything as much as possible so that the next person can complete the task. To do this, you need to work on methodology: publish comics, books, write some kind of literature. Because it is on these, so to speak, basic things that someone will take the next step, make the next breakthrough, the next leap, and so on. And perhaps, over time, one problem or another will be overcome.
