It seems as though what we’re about to say may be so obvious that we feel a little silly saying it, given that the mission of postconsumers is to help people find the things in life that make them satisfied, and we all know that philanthropy and altruism are by nature satisfying. However, we didn’t all grow up with parents who made us sell daffodils every year for cancer or volunteer at the senior citizens’ home. It’s possible, in fact probable, that many of us know that we’re searching for something to be involved in that gives us purpose, but don’t know how to go about finding a cause that we like and then getting involved. Here are some tips to find, and get involved in, the right cause for you!
Make a List: The first thing that you need to do is to make a list of what in life is important to you. Is it animals? Is it education? Is it the plight of the poor? Is it political issues? The environment? As you can see, the options are really endless. What you want to do is narrow down what you’re most passionate about and what will make you feel as though you’re contributing to something. Make a list as big as you can think of that includes all of the things you’d like to help fix or make better. Then keep narrowing that list down until you find the one thing that you feel most passionately about.
Set Your Time Parameters: This is an important step not to be forgotten. Remember, you’re finding a cause because you want to get satisfaction and remove stress from your life. It’s worth your time now to determine how much time you have in your life and set some boundaries. Because you’re picking an issue that matters to you, it’s very likely that it will be easy for you to get swept into dedicating a lot of time to it. It’s better to set realistic expectations for yourself and others about what you can and can’t provide in terms of hours before you start making commitments to your newfound cause.
The Internet Can Be Used for Good! We often say around here that we all spend too much time on the internet. However, the internet can be used for good. In this case, you can use the internet to research organizations that are related to the cause that you picked when you made your list. Once you’ve found organizations, email or call them to find out if there’s a chapter near to you, if they’d like you to help organize a chapter in your region, or ideas they have for other ways that you can get involved. Be sure to only commit to things that are in the time parameters you established above though! This isn’t supposed to make you more stressed out!
Then, get out and get started. You’ll find that when you’re dedicating your time to something that matters to you, you’re less tempted to dedicate your dollars to things that don’t!
