Make It Happen » Personal Social Responsibility

31 Ways to Carry Out Random Acts of Kindness Every Day

Arvind Devalia — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 18:51:08 +0000

Are you generally a kind person?

Do you go around looking for opportunities to show kindness to other people who also share this wonderful world with you?

It’s well documented that by being kind, you actually benefit yourself in many ways.

In case you missed it, Saturday 13th was the annual World Kindness Day.

What kindness did you show on World Kindness Day?

No matter what, you don’t need a special world kindness day to how kindness to others.

You can do so anytime.

Random acts of kindness are a wonderful way of making someone’s day – and only their day but yours too!

Kindness is contagious. And it’s a truly win/win situation – the person you are being kind to benefits through your help whilst you feel good for having helped someone.

Ultimately, the world is a better place through your kindness.

Never underestimate the impact of a single act of kindness. I still remember, after many years, the time someone stopped and helped me after my car had broken down.

Since then, I have stopped on the road myself and helped stranded motorists a number of times. All because of that single act of kindness by a stranger, many years before.

Also, it is important to carry out your acts of kindness without expecting anything back.

So where do you begin?

To get you started, I have listed 31 ideas below – one for each day of the week.

Some of these are random and anonymous ideas. Also, most don’t need any cash outlay from you, just a desire to make a difference.

Put them into practice and also create your own:-

Send someone a hand written note of thanks.
Make a card at home and send it to a friend for no reason.
Buy a lottery ticket for a stranger.
Put some coins in someone else’s parking meter.
Buy a coffee for the man on the high street selling The Big Issue magazine.
Cut your neighbour’s hedge.
Walk your friend’s dog.
Give a compliment about your waiter / waitress to his / her manager.
Send someone a small gift anonymously.
Stop and help someone replace their flat tyre.
Let someone jump the queue at the bank.
Pay for the drinks on the next table at a café.
Treat a friend to the movies for no reason.
Give a huge tip to someone when they least expect it.
Hold the train door open for someone rushing to get in.
Give up your seat for someone, not just an elderly person.
Write notes of appreciation at least once a week.
Talk to a homeless person and have a “normal” conversation.
Pick up some rubbish in the road which would otherwise be lying around.
Compliment a work colleague for their excellence.
Recommend a competitor to a potential client.
Give another driver your parking spot.
Give a piece of fruit to a delivery person.
Help an elderly neighbour carry the rubbish out.
Tell all your family members how much your appreciate them.
Leave a copy of an interesting book on a train / bus.
Buy an inspirational book for a friend.
Send a thank you note to a person who has helped you in the distant past.
Smile a lot.
Pay the toll for the car behind you / food for the car behind you in a drive-away.
Clean someone’s house (e.g. someone elderly, sick, mother with new baby).

Please apply the above ideas in your life from today – and let me know how you get on.

Another idea is to share your own unique talents with the world and offer to do things for people in your area of speciality.

So for example, bloggers can offer to help others with their writing or teach others how to use social media properly.

Conversely, you could even suggest to all your friends that they subscribe to Make It Happen

Please also share your own ideas about how you spread kindness in the world in the comments below.

(Email subscribers, please click here to share your ideas)

What goes around is sure to come around – happy helping

Special announcement:- I am a section editor for The Daily Brainstorm and we have just published our first ebook 23 Ways to Rock your Mind.

Please get your free copy today.

Images courtesy of SweetOnVeg and katerha

What Do You and a Starfish Have in Common?

Arvind Devalia — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 09:28:48 +0000

This is a heart-felt guest post from my friend Jai Kai

A young man who was on vacation in Hawaii went for his morning jog along the beach.

As he was running, he saw from a distance an older Hawaiian woman standing at the edge of the water tossing something into the ocean.

He approached her and called out “Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?”

The Hawaiian lady looked up and replied “Throwing starfish into the sea.”

“Why are you throwing starfish into the sea?” asked the somewhat startled man.

To this, the woman replied, “The sun is now up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them in, they’ll die.”

Upon hearing this, the seemingly wise man commented, “But Lady, do you not realize that there are miles and miles of beach littered with thousands of starfish? You can’t possibly make a difference!”

After hearing this, the Hawaiian Lady bent down, picked up yet another starfish, and threw it into the ocean. As it met the water she said, “It made a difference to this one.”

You have probably heard a similar story before about making a difference to one star fish at a time. But what do you and a starfish have in common?

I will get to that in a few minutes, but let us first look at the broader picture.

Did you know that global warming continues to be a major concern for the future of our planet?

Yes, you have heard it all before, but more and more people are starting to turn to sustainable living practices and eco-friendly ways to help sustain our planet for future generations.

Eco friendly living involves every aspect of our daily lives including driving to work, mowing our lawns buying are food and helping in ways that sustain nature’s balance and well-being.

In this article, I’d like to focus on the last one – helping in ways that sustain nature’s balance and well-being – including the animals, plants and trees that make up the larger part of our planet.

I am not saying you become a tree hugging hippie or a granola eating activist to save the planet, but to simply have more awareness and compassion in your daily actions.

Being compassionate towards all living things, and being conscious of your actions can really make a difference to all of us and our eco-systems, both now and in the future.

We often take for granted what our earth provides us, to sustain our needs and desires. We often litter without thinking, we use in excess of what we need and we don’t take the time to help our plant and animal friends.

So what I propose is that you take some time to give back to our environment, to our mother earth.

Here are some things you can do to show more compassion and to create a positive impact on our planet.

1. Take a volunteer vacation.

Find something you are passionate about such as birds, whales, panda bears, red wood trees, or rain-forests.

Do a Google search and type in “volunteer vacation: (your interest)” to find some organizations to volunteer for.

I recently volunteered for a weekend at a bird preserve & sanctuary near where I live. I enjoyed feeding and grooming some large birds of prey such as owls, eagles and hawks.

2. Donate to a wildlife foundation or charity.

If you don’t have the time to volunteer, a few of your dollars can help out.

Your donations will help pay for the needs of the animals and the staff working at the facility.

Find an organisation you are passionate about – maybe it’s a “save the dolphin foundation” – and do your research to find out exactly where your money goes.

3. Watch a documentary.

There are many documentaries out there that create awareness, educate us and give us examples and ways of how we can make a difference.

My favourites are The Cove, Shark Water and Flow.

4. Leave nature as it is.

Often we feel a need to pick those flowers, cut down that tree or stuff those shells we found on the beach into our pocket.

This can have a negative impact on the animals and eco-systems because we are destroying their homes and habitat.

How would you like it if someone picked up your house and moved it, leaving you to build a new one?!

5. Don’t litter.

Tossing your garbage where it doesn’t belong disturbs wild life in their natural surroundings.

Think of the bee getting stuck in a soda can when it should be pollinating a flower.

Why not pick up some garbage you see scattered around you and reverse the effects?

6. Plant some trees.

Trees have an enormous role to play in our eco-systems, and more are being cut down than there are being planted.

You can plant a tree in your back yard, somewhere in your neighbourhood or in a wildlife reserve.

You can even volunteer for a day (organise a tree planting day) or get paid to work for a tree planting organization.

So back to my original question.

What do you and a starfish have in common?

Well, starfish often need help from human beings or nature to help sustain their wellness and livelihood. They need someone like us to throw them back into the water, or the waves of the ocean to carry them back to the sea.

Just like the starfish on the beach, we rely on the help of other human-beings and nature for our wellness too.

We are all inter-connected in this vast web of life.

Have you seen the butterfly effect movie? I believe that what you do really has a cause and effect.

Remember to perform your actions without expectations.

Have fun and enjoy that state of feeling good, knowing that you are making a difference in your endeavours to preserve wildlife and the environment.

If you know of any other ways to make a difference or to have a positive impact on our planet, I would love to hear them.

Jai Kai is the founder and creator of PlanetWell.com – an eco-blog empowering you to live a more simplified, healthy and eco-friendly lifestyle. You can subscribe to Jai Kai’s RSS feed here for his latest tips, strategies, insights and ideas.

images courtesy of easylocum, schristia and jaewalk

Do Something Remarkable Without Being Buried Alive!

Arvind Devalia — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 12:40:16 +0000

A miracle happened this week – 33 miners were rescued after 69 days being stuck underground.

Unless you too have been stuck somewhere underground for over the last two months, you will have heard of this story.

Millions of people watched around the world as each man came up to be met rapturously by their loved ones. Many tears of joy were shed – and I guess the party in Chile is still going on.

Did you cry too?!

I did and it’s okay to admit that you did so too. You and I are only human after all. One can never be failed to be moved by such human stories.

So a happy ending all around and really wonderful for the families of the 33 men who less than 3 months ago had given up their loved ones as literally dead and buried underground.

There is so much we can learn from this story of human survival, sheer guts and endurance. I can’t even imagine what those men went through in the first 17 days before the rescuers made contact.

What would you do if you were trapped underground for 69 days?

We really have to admire these 33 men and also all the many people who came together to get them out.

A lot of other countries helped with the rescue attempt and it was a truly global effort.

But here’s the thing – for me the tragedy is that the world doesn’t seem to come together when the events are not played out in the global media spotlight.

For a while, as the drama in Chile developed, it was almost like a watching a TV reality show with all the wall to wall coverage and especially so over the last few days as the men were about to be finally rescued.

What can the world achieve if other “less sexy” events were to be given equal prominence?

My thoughts were summed up by this poignant message from Marianne Williamson on her Facebook page, soon after the first few men had been brought to the surface:-

“Deeply grateful about the Chilean miners rescue operation going so well. Cried like everyone else as I watched men arriving on the surface. At the same time, I marvel with sorrow at how 33 men trapped in a mine can inspire such compassionate action from the entire world, while 17,000 children starving every day gets a sort of “Too bad, but what can you do….?” attitude in comparison.”

Every life is just as precious, be it 33 rescued men in Chile or the 17,000 children starving to death everyday around the world.

And yet, what’s really happening is that we live in a world where we have become despondent about true change.

We standby and we wait for others to do something. We resign to nothing changing and we say to ourselves – who are we to make it happen?
We gorge ourselves on junk food and then wonder why we get so ill, fat and run down. We then resort to all kinds of drugs.
We sit in front of a television set and then spend a fortune trying to lose our flab and to look good again.
We spend endless hours surfing the net, emailing each other and on social media, and yet we don’t really talk to each other anymore.
We invade and bomb other countries, sell arms to all the fighting factions and then offer these same countries aid and investment to rebuild.
Our companies focus on their bottom line and on selling us more unwanted stuff, without a care for the long term impact of their activities.
Our children and the youth of today spend hours playing mindless video games rather than exploring the huge bounty that nature offers us

Okay – before you shoot me down, maybe I am exaggerating my points.

Or am I really going over the top?

Isn’t this the way the world would appear to be today?

And yet, I live in hope. We are a remarkable and resilient species and if anyone can make our world a better place, we can.

You are capable of being remarkable being your wildest dreams. And it’s going to take each one of you to be remarkable to make it happen for a better world.

Those 33 men rescued from the mine will always see their lives in a new way with fresh eyes. They have been given a fresh start.

You too can today start your life fresh and anew.

So here’s my challenge to for today – start fresh and do something remarkable in the next 69 days to change the world!

Commit to doing one thing that will stretch you and which will leave a lasting impact on the world around you.

Whatever it is you do, make it big and significant – why play small?!

Remember, feel the fear and change the world anyway.

Please share below just what you will do for yourself and the world in the next 69 days.

You owe it to the world and those 33 rescued men:-)

Thank you

Image courtesy of jurvetson

Be Remarkable to be Remark-Able

Do You Want to Help the World? Then Be Selfish

Arvind Devalia — Fri, 07 May 2010 09:35:37 +0000

This is a guest post written by John Anyasor, the author of HiLife2B.

Are you a giver or a taker?

Do you eat all the cake yourself or do you share it with others?

Everyone is a giver at their very core. We portray the world to be a place full of self-centered blowhards, but we couldn’t be further from the truth. Every day of our lives is spent giving in some way.

Each morning, we give our best effort to get out of bed. Come on, up and at ‘em. You have somewhere to be and a boss to milk for your yearly bonus.

Throughout the day, we are frivolously giving away our time to people and actions that we don’t need. The jobs we do (for most of us), classes we attend, gossip-driven friends we converse with, channels we flip through, emails we check, routines we memorize: you could live without them.

We give our hard earned cash (or cash hardly earned, for others) to the big buy-in-bulk stores that think they’re giving us exactly what we want. Two jumbo jars of peanut butter? I’m sure you only wanted one regular-sized jar. A massive big screen TV that will soon be eclipsed by a much bigger 3-D display? How can you keep up?

Regular conversations are given our best effort to maintain — mostly because we have nothing more interesting to talk about. My day was good. How about yours? Good. Oh, I couldn’t have guessed. Anything exciting happen? No? Interesting… same here.

Holding back our real feelings about life is highly encouraged and forced upon us. We give everything we have to not appear out of control when something bad happens. If someone crashes into our car, we’re expected to keep our cool, lest we be perceived to be crazy or immature.

You, selfish? I don’t think so

If anything, we aren’t selfish enough. We give away our time, our politeness, our money, our dreams, our confidence in the future, our real feelings, and our sense of adventure until it hurts. And what do we get in return? The delusion of happiness brought on by the normalcy of life.

We’ve been way too yielding. Have you ever asked yourself:

What do I want to do?

Is what I’m doing now truly satisfying to me?

Why am I giving so much and getting so little in return?

What people say is wrong: you can have whatever you desire. The catch is, however, that you have to be willing to be selfish enough to get it. It’s okay to give when you want to, but if you end up giving away everything you need just to please the world, you won’t last long.

You must keep yourself alive and happy in order to be able to give. The most abundant givers are the most initially selfish people. Don’t give when you have nothing to give.

How to be more self-centered

Not everybody can be self-centered. Some of us need to keep giving and giving until we can give no more. Some of us are too generous to stop giving now. For those you, discontinue reading this post. Your life would not have been changed anyway. Keep doing what you’re doing — you will get the same results.

But if you want to discover the benefits of selfishness in your life, read on. These timeless tips have proven to be very useful for me. I’m giving away this value, because I know what I’m gaining weighs more than what I’m putting in: the satisfaction of helping others change their lives for the better.

1. Eliminate the unnecessary

What mindless things are you putting your time in? Checking your email? Reading the local news? Engaging in small talk over at the water cooler with your less-than-exciting coworkers?

Eliminate these trivialities. They do not deserve your time, effort, or generosity. Focus more on what will provide value for yourself and others instead.

2. Start doing what you enjoy

The best things in life continue to move you long after you put them down. Do you enjoy reading or writing stories? Speaking in front of large crowds? Providing inspiration to the masses? Going to plays or the opera?

Go do it.

Stop putting off your gratification for matters of lesser importance. Work, taxes, bills, and routines; these are nothing in the face of doing what you love. Make time for these hobbies, since it is when you take part in them that you feel the most alive.

3. Focus on the direction you want life to take

You’ve lived long enough in this world to know what you supremely want for yourself. It’s time for you to start putting your efforts towards that end.

Do you want to end up traveling the world for rest of your life?

Do you want to become a wealthy CEO?

Realize that buying hand bags and gas-guzzling trucks will only keep you that much further away from your life’s dream.

Begin cultivating the valuable skill of saving. Label a jar called “For my life’s dream” and start with one penny. The amount of money in the jar will accumulate if you’re frugal enough.

4. Give selectively

The best givers are the most selfish: in other words, they give away the things worth giving.

Take Bill Gates for example. He was selfish enough to use his mind to jump-start one of the greatest computer monopolies ever known. Now that he’s gotten what he wanted, Gates is a giver. But you’ll never catch Bill Gates giving away 5 dollars to charity.

Gates is in the process of giving a large chunk of his wealth away to charity.

Be like Bill and give what is worth giving away. Don’t give something that nobody (yourself included) would accept.

You’re already on your way

The fact that you were selfish enough to finish this article means you’re already walking in the right direction.

Improve yourself and you improve the lives of others. This is selfishness at the highest level.

To learn more about how to improve your life, check out John’s blog, HiLife2B. Follow him on Twitter.

photo credit: harrietbarber

The Silent People – and Why You Should Not Be One of Them

Arvind Devalia — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 18:41:25 +0000

The world faces a lot of challenges today and it is easy to turn a blind eye to some of these things and hope that they will either go away or miraculously get sorted.

So many of us go through our lives, remaining silent about what matters to the world and other people. It is as if we are on auto-pilot, day after day.

“First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak out.” -Pastor Martin Niemöller

Sometimes, I feel that there is so much that could be done in the world, but where does one begin? Having the desire to change things is great, but what about actually following up?

Is just being compassionate enough?!

During my recent trip to India something strange happened to me – I became aware that I wasn’t really as compassionate and kind as I used to think I was – I found myself turning a blind eye to some of the squalor and poverty around me.

After a few days of seeing street children in rags, I realised that I was blanking them out. It was as if the people living on the side of the roads in cardboard shacks simply didn’t exist in my peripheral vision, whilst I was being taken around in a rickshaw.

The paradox of India

India, the land of the Rajahs, elephants and outsourced call centres, is quite an incredible place and one that never ceases to surprise and shock me. But amidst all the splendour of cities such as Mumbai, and the acclaim for the supposed economic boom in India, remember that there is still so much poverty in the country.

Though India may be getting richer through its rapid development, the disparity in wealth is huge and shocking. I reckon that the poor people in India and perhaps other countries too, have simply no idea just how wealthy the rich are.

Conversely, the wealthy have no idea what it is like to be so poor as to be living in the streets and not knowing where your next meal was coming from.

So there I was, feeling like a king being driven around in a rickshaw and after only a few days amidst this huge contrast of wealth, I found myself switching off from the beggars and the sight of the street children. Compassion became pity, which then became annoyance and then finally indifference.

So what happened and what made me feel the way I did?

What made me become so silent and passive?

More importantly, knowing why, how will that stop us all from being silent people:-

1. Feeling overwhelmed

After a few days I simply felt overwhelmed – it was as if I could no longer even see what needed to be done and I just switched off. There seemed so much that needed to be done from feeding the hungry to clothing the street children that I didn’t know where one would start.

Maybe we all need a pit stop before compassion fatigue kicks in.

2. Weariness

It is easy to get disheartened and tired if you are doing so much for others without actually enjoying it.

What you therefore need to do is ensure that you take enough self-care and also that you make your acts of compassion more fun.

3. Shame

I remember feeling some shame and even anger at how we can tolerate our fellow human beings to be living in such sub-human conditions. I was also angry at the apparent indifference all around me.

Shame is okay as long as it triggers us to take some action. Recognise that it is okay to feel like this.

Also, be wary of having any feelings of guilt e.g. I have so much and they have so little. It is what it is – and you can make things better for them.

4. Sheer helplessness

It is easy to give in to helplessness at the sheer magnitude of the suffering of our fellow human beings.

Just where does one even begin?

No matter what, feel the fear and change the world anyway.

5. Snobbery

Huge confession time!

I admit that I can be snobbish and I can harbour a sense of superiority at times. Thankfully this is something I am working on but the thought process goes like this – why should I get my hands dirty?!

And the more I am aware of feeling like this, the more I put myself into situations where I can work through it.

So no matter what you perceive yourself to be, be willing and able to pitch in and help out.

You should only look down on someone when you are giving them a helping hand -

“Never look down on anybody unless you are helping them up” – Jesse Jackson

6. Indifference and scepticism

Funnily enough during my time in India, I felt the greatest indifference to poverty was amongst the local, relatively wealthy Indians. Perhaps they were hardened or simply felt hopeless – and strangely I found them to be also sceptical about helping the poor and even questioned just how poor they really were.

Okay, granted some of the poor were probably not as poor as they made out to be, but at the same time, coming from the privileged West, we are still so much more wealthier.

And if we have the means and more importantly, the desire to make a difference, why be indifferent?

Just take some precautions to avoid being taken advantage of – and at the same time, even if you get taken for a ride, you will have still helped someone! If so, then take the learnings and move on.

7. Fear of standing out

This is another big one for me and I suspect a lot of you – we hold ourselves back for fear of standing out – and even shining.

But always remember, who are you to not let your light shine?

The way forward is to stop fretting about the small things.

It is so easy to become indifferent, remain silent and not do anything about some of the huge challenges the world faces today – such as social injustice, poverty, famine, discrimination and so on.

And yet we all fret about our own daily challenges and grievances in our own little worlds, which in the big scheme of things are actually quite petty.

We worry about who said what to whom and why.
We complain bitterly about a train that arrives five minutes late and
And we hold grudges for years against someone who may not even know that they had offended us.

If only people were not so hung up on the small, petty things in their life, they would have more energy and desire to seriously take on the real challenges we face today globally.

So today, the moment you find yourself stressing over anything, ask if it really matters in the big scheme of things.

At the end of the day, every little bit you do to make the world a better place makes a difference – and it really matters.

Compassion is the key here and no matter what else is going on for us, if we can continue to have compassion for our fellow human beings, then even just having that compassion alone will make a difference.

Also, remember that compassion is not something you reserve for when visiting places like India, but it begins at home.

It is finally time to stop being silent.

Look around your life now and see where you are being silent – and why.

Develop a broader outlook and see what you can do for the world, beyond your own life.

And most important of all, remember to never be one of the silent people again.

“Happiness depends on what you can give. Not what you can get“. – Mahatma Gandhi

top photo courtesy of wili_hybrid

Start to Alleviate World Poverty Today in a Fun Way

Arvind Devalia — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 22:50:57 +0000

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to give someone a helping hand?

And what if you could help a stranger halfway around the world succeed in their business?!

What I have learnt over the years is that people do not just want charity or straight donations. Everyone has their own pride and dignity and they want to be able to look you in the eye.

What’s even more inspiring is that no matter what their life situation, people around the world can be incredibly enterprising, hardworking and determined to improve their life. And yet they could be facing seemingly insurmountable odds just to even survive each day.

All people want is a helping hand to improve their lot and simply be given a chance to get ahead a little bit.

What would it be like if you could plant a little seed of hope amongst such people?

A few years ago when I was in India I took a taxi to visit an internet start-up company on the outskirts of Mumbai. I wondered why the driver was so surprised I wanted to go there. It was only when we got nearer that I realised why.

We had to drive through some of the worst run down areas of Mumbai and the road was like an endless row of run down decrepit huts and shacks. And yet what really struck me was how much activity was going on all around.

People were running little businesses such as barbers, tailors, teashops and selling all sorts of knick knacks. It was like a huge industrial estate and though these people were living with just enough to survive day to day, they were still doing the best they could with their limited resources.

It really was incredible to witness that even within what seemed liked a hell hole there was so much enterprise and passion for making a living and to make the most of their limited means.

At the time I wondered how I could ever help them and how I could give them a helping hand.

Today thanks to the brilliance of the internet, we can help such budding entrepreneurs around the world in the best possible way – by giving them greater access to loans for starting up and expanding.

I do mean giving them small loans and not just straight donations, as once such a loan has been repaid, it can be lent to other entrepreneurs.

Just imagine what we could do for the world by harnessing the huge power of blogs with all their millions of readers to make it happen for such entrepreneurs?!

Today, you and readers of this and other blogs can do just that!

Here’s how:-

Together with Mary Jaksch’s blog GoodLife Zen, Make It Happen has joined forces to host the Blog with Heart Challenge 2009/2010.

Which blog community has the greatest heart? Each blog is invited to join a friendly challenge to alleviate poverty during the month of December 2009. The top ten will be the nominated winners of the Blog with Heart Challenge.

As I explained above, the best way to alleviate poverty is to give people a hand-up, not a hand-out. That’s why the Blog with Heart Challenge 2009/2010 uses Kiva, a highly respected micro-lending non profit organization.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWgAEJE1FuM[/youtube]

Kiva allows you to lend as little as $25 to a specific low-income entrepreneur in the developing world and as they repay the loan, you get your money back.

Here’s how the “Blog with Heart Challenge” works

Each blogger who wants to participate in the Blog with Heart Challenge joins Kiva and forms a lending team that carries the blog’s name.

(If you’re a blogger who wants to participate, click here for details on how to enter your blog).

As a reader, you can join a blog’s lending team. Once you’re a part of the team, you can choose to have a future loan on Kiva “count” towards your team’s impact. The loan is still yours, and repayments still come to you – but you can choose to have the loan show up in your blog team’s collective portfolio, so your team’s chance of winning the Blog with Heart Challenge 2009/2009 will grow.

The ten winners of the Blog with Heart Challenge will be the blogs who have the biggest Kiva portfolio, relative to their number of subscribers. This means that small blogs can compete with large ones.

So will this blog challenge alleviate poverty?

Well, it’s a start!

We’ve already contacted some bloggers and have had a great response. One of the first to join was Leo Babauta of Zen Habits!

What YOU can do:

As a c0-host of the Blog with Heart Challenge, I will not be participating, but each of us can help to make the Challenge a success. Here’s how:

Readers, contact your favorite bloggers and ask them to join.
Bloggers, join the Blog with Heart Challenge. You can find out how to join here.
Tweet up a storm
Join a lending team and lend $25.

If you want to know more about the Challenge and about Kiva, you can read more about the Blog with Heart Challenge here.

Also, I have collected some cool Kiva videos here.

What do you think about the Blog with Heart Challenge? I look forward to your comments and feedback.

Lets make it happen!

Do You Really Own the Earth?!

Arvind Devalia — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 16:17:42 +0000

A while ago, I came across these words from Chief Seattle from the time when his people were required to give up their land in the middle of the 19th century.

Chief Seattle’s Prayer

Every part of this earth is sacred to my people.
Every shining Pine needle, every sandy shore, every
mist in the dark woods, every meadow,
every humming insect.

All are holy in the memory and experience of my people.
We know the sap which courses through our veins. We are
part of the earth and its part of us. The perfumed flowers
are our sisters. The bear, the deer, the great eagle,
these are our brothers.

The rocky crests, the juices in the meadow, the body
heat of the pony, and man, all belong to the same family.
The shining water that moves in the streams and rivers is
not just water, but the blood of our ancestors.

Each ghostly reflection in the clear water of the lakes
tells of events and memories in the life of my people. The
water’s murmur is the voice of my father’s father. The rivers
are our brothers. They quench our thirst. They carry our canoes
and feed our children. So you must give to the rivers the
kindness you would give any children.

So you must give to the rivers the kindness you would give
any brother … Remember that the air is precious to us, that
the air shares its spirit with all the life it supports. The wind that
gave our grandfather his first breath also receives his last
sigh. The wind also gives our children the spirit of life .

Will you teach your children what we have taught our children?
That the earth is our mother? What befalls the earth, befalls all the
sons of the earth.

This we know: the earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth.

All things are connected like the blood which unites us all.

Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.

– Chief Seattle 1855

Though there are various versions of this “prayer”, the essence of Chief Seattle’s wise words come through – it is our land and it is up to us to care for it. Just what would he make of all the damage we are currently causing to our planet?

The point is that it is up to US to do something about it.

When will you start?!

Eat well and Save the Earth!

Yes We Can! Yes We Will!

Arvind Devalia — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 00:49:10 +0000

Today it is exactly a month since President Obama’s inauguration. What a euphoric day 20th January was!

Perhaps never before has so much been expected of one man. And yet President Obama is just another human being and he cannot achieve everything on his own.

What the world needs is many more people ready to take up his call for personal responsibility and to do their own thing, not just for themselves but for the greater good.

The challenge now for all of us is to go from “Yes We Can” to “Yes We Will”. Check out my new video above to understand President Obama’s message of personal responsibility and my own take on it.

(For those of you getting this blog post in your in-box, click on the image above to take you to the video. If you still have a challenge viewing the video, then please click here).

What we have to realise is that our time here on the planet is so precious and yet so short. Both individually and collectively.

We each have only a short life on this earth. Also, the way we are all living is destroying the planet, so collectively too our time here is limited!

We are all responsible for what we do and what happens in our life i.e. we all have personal social responsibility (PSR).

So knowing about PSR and also that our time is limited means that we ALL must do something TODAY. Quite a responsibility – and what a challenge!

We all spend so much time, energy and effort on things which are ultimately futile. Knowing that our time is short should spur more people into action.

We all need a CAN do attitude. As well as “Yes We Can!”, it is time to say “Yes We Will!”

To get you started, please download my free eBook today – “Yes We Can! Yes We Will!” - and make President Obama proud of you.

Besides, the world needs you to make the most of yourself.

Please pass on this post to your friends and do share the eBook with as many people as you can. We need as many “Can Do” people as possible

World AIDs Day – Time to do Your Bit

Arvind Devalia — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 18:07:40 +0000

Today is World AIDs Day.

Every now and then bloggers around the world unite to blog about a pressing issue of our day. And AIDs is just as big a challenge that we face today as global warming, poverty and war.

Some of the statistics about the scale of aids are just staggering:-

• People living with HIV/AIDS globally – 33.0 million
• Adults living with HIV/AIDS – 30.8 million
• Women living with HIV/AIDS – 15.5 million
• Children living with HIV/AIDS – 2.0 million
• People newly infected with HIV in 2007 – 2.7 million
• Children newly infected with HIV in 2007 – 0.37 million
• AIDS deaths in 2007 – 2.0 million
• Child AIDS deaths in 2007 – 0.27 million
• More than 25 million people have died of AIDS since 1981.
• Africa has 11.6 million AIDS orphans.
• At the end of 2007, women accounted for 50% of all adults living with HIV worldwide, and for 59% in sub-Saharan Africa.
• Young people (under 25 years old) account for half of all new HIV infections worldwide.
• In developing and transitional countries, 9.7 million people are in immediate need of life-saving AIDS drugs; of these, only 2.99 million (31%) are receiving the drugs.

So it really is time for us all to wake up to the scale of the problem.

Here are some useful links to check out to learn about Aids / HIV and of course how to take greater care:-

1. HIV / AIDs awareness day

2. Learn about the link between drugs and aids.

3. Video series to show how even non-injection drugs can lead to HIV.

There is so much ignorance about Aids and I really hope the awareness day today helps spread the word extensively. It is about educating others and supporting those who already have contracted it.

Coincidentally, last Thursday I met this amazing lady Getrude Matshe, originally from Zimbabwe who is working relentlessly hard to help the aids affected children in Africa.

I have offered to market her book “Born on the continent – Ubuntu” in the UK via word of mouth and Amazon UK. Every little bit helps to spread Aids awareness and I am inspired to do my bit by supporting Getrude and her work.

As for what you can do, just be aware of the dangers of contracting AIDs and also show great understanding and acceptance of anyone who is HIV positive.

What else will you do?

Time for Personal Social Responsibility!

Arvind Devalia — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 14:55:58 +0000

Today is a big day for me, as it signals the fruition of a project that has taken me 18 months from initial concept to completion.

My latest book “Personal Social Responsibility” is officially published today! After a number of false starts, revised editions and cover designs, the book is now available for ordering on Amazon and via the book image on the right hand side here.

One of my key areas of interest has always been how we as individuals and groups can improve the world. To me it is all about addressing how we live our lives and the impact we have on everything and everyone around us, both locally and globally.

This book is my contribution towards making that happen. It is in a workbook format and offers business people a road path towards bringing more social responsibility into their lives and their businesses.

The point is that everything we do matters and makes either a positive or a negative impact on everything around us.

Remember Gandhi’s famous quote - “Be the Change you wish to see in the world”.

From the being, comes the doing and ultimately the having. So we now have the message – “Do the change you wish to see in the world”.

The time has come when we cannot just rely on others – each one of us has to our bit. Increasingly more and more companies are also waking up to their responsibilities to the environment, the larger community and the global implications of their activities.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is no longer just a buzzword and in recent years, CSR has become a crucial part of company. But it is now also time for people to be more and more aware about their Personal Social Responsibility (PSR).

I feel that PSR is an idea whose time has come – it is all about doing to others what you would like others do to you. It is about recognizing how your behaviour affects others, and holding yourself accountable for your actions. For example, contrast someone being well mannered with someone being rude.

Ideally a PSR aware person will:-

1. Always endeavour to have a positive effect on others.
2. Have a mind set to contribute.
3. Refrain from causing negativity in his environment e.g. by throwing litter on the ground, or by gossiping.
4. His social and economic activities will have a positive or neutral impact on the environment.

A socially responsible person will endeavour to have a positive effect on others and enrich his environment. He will strive to make a positive contribution, and will not pollute the atmosphere, both physically and metaphorically.

So from today onwards, start by firstly becoming aware of the concept of PSR. By coming from a place of being socially responsible for all your actions, you will immediately begin to think differently.

Then start acting from this new found awareness of PSR. For example, even by giving way to a motorist when its your right of way will help improve the world. Recall how great you feel when you have done just this, and the other driver has graciously acknowledged you.

Another idea is to write a letter to the manager of someone who has served you well. Become someone who is gracious and generous with authentic praise and appreciation. Also look to carry out random acts of kindness.

So you see everything you do, does make a difference.

As I say in the introduction to my book:-

Make your life and your actions count from today. Make things happen.

Come from a place of being socially responsible – you owe it to our future generations.

Achieving the Impossible – Lewis Gordon Pugh, Part 5

Arvind Devalia — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 23:50:25 +0000

In my last 4 articles, I have enjoyed writing extensively about the exploits and achievements of Lewis Gordon Pugh, swimmer extraordinaire amongst many things.

In this 5th and final article, it is proper to round up and learn what further tips and insights he can share with us about high level achieving and also what is next for him.

Four months after his historic swim, Lewis wonders how on earth he actually did that swim!?

However as he said at the YES group meeting, it is clear why:-

1. He had a dream, a clear vision of what he wanted to achieve.

2. He assembled a world class team to help with his vision, a dream team.

3. He planned and prepared meticulously, from the logistics to his physical and mental training.

4. He stuck to his vision, whereas there was many a time when it would have been easier for him and the team to compromise or give up. Everyone had the courage and self-discipline to keep going. A sense of humour also helped.

Lewis has only recently had the feeling in his hands return – the damaged cells and nerve endings have finally healed and he has fully recovered.

What next for Lewis?

Lewis has now dedicated the rest of his life to save the polar regions from industrial development, oil exploration, mineral mining etc. He is convinced that the protection of the polar regions is absolutely vital to the survival of our plant and mankind.

His goal is simply to keep the oil majors out of the polar regions.

During the four months since his swim, Lewis has met over 500 political, business and religious world leaders, to press home his message about saving the Polar Regions.

The response he has received so far has been mixed – the people he has met have ranged from pessimists and cynics to realists, optimists and daydreamers. (By the way, for the team he gathers around him, Lewis normally goes for optimistic realists).

However, Lewis is determined to make his mark and continue to spread his message at the highest level. He has found his message being more receptive amongst the younger generation whereas generally the older generation and especially the religious fraternity are fairly out of touch with the challenges faced by the world today.

Current world leaders are simply overwhelmed with the messages about climate change and the urgency to do something. But we all HAVE to start somewhere before it is too late.

So to save the Polar Regions, how can the ordinary person help?

Firstly we have to recognise and accept that we are all currently over-consuming. Therefore if we all learn to consumre less and live an eco-friendly life, then we may still have a future.

For Lewis, there are 2 clear ways forward.

1. Less consumption.
2. Reduced birthrate.

The ordinary person can help by reducing their own footprint and only voting for the leaders who take climate change seriously.

One final key tip for success from Lewis

Lewis was asked what empowering questions people can ask themselves. He suggested that everyone should focus on gratitude first thing in the morning. Start the day with this question and spend 5 minutes reflecting on this:-

“What am I grateful for today?”

What made Lewis give up on his corporate life? What made him follow his dream?

Lewis recalled a time when he visited the Arctic for the first time and how he simply fell in love with the Arctic.

Upon returning to his office desk, he used to dream of the barren Arctic landscape. He continues to thank the Arctic everyday for giving him back his soul.

Ultimately, Lewis’s dream is to create a drill free zone in the Arctic and to create a law to protect the Arctic forever. And the only way to do this is for the world to create renewable energy sources.

His ultimate dream is to be a world environmental leader.

I would say that Lewis is already just that.

And I bet that if anyone can save the Polar Regions, Lewis Gordon Pugh can.

So there you are – some powerful tips and lessons from a world leader.

On my way home that evening after listening to Lewis Gordon Pugh, what struck me most was how we all tend to dream small.

If we are going to go for a goal, why not make it big and world changing!?

Also, once we do have such a worthy goal, how often we simply lose focus and give up far too easily.

So this is my challenge to all of you. If you have been inspired through these 5 articles about Lewis Gordon Pugh, I invite you to do this:-

1. Spend some time reflecting and getting clear about your own world impacting goal. Do whatever it takes to get this clarity. If it helps, read through these 5 articles again and get inspired by one man’s amazing feats and mission to save the Polar Regions.

2. Then go all out and do whatever it takes to achieve your goal. Train your mind to remain focussed on that one goal and nothing else. Create your world class dream team. Do whatever it takes but just do it.

Maybe one day, you too can then share your story at the YES group.

The world needs more leaders than ever before. Why not become one of those leaders yourself?

Achieving the Impossible – Lewis Gordon Pugh, Part 4

Arvind Devalia — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 23:20:55 +0000

In my last three articles I wrote about the many key life lessons to be learnt from the astonishing achievements of Lewis Gordon Pugh. Do check out all three previous articles if you haven’t yet done so.

In part 2, I wrote about Lewis’s training regime which involved both mental and physical prepation.

So just how did he prepare himself mentally for his incredible feat?

Lewis was helped in his mission by two mind coaches – David Becker, and Martin Jenkins who was also present at the YES group event.

Martin Jenkins spoke for a few minutes and explained how Lewis wanted someone to help him to do the impossible. Martin’s brief was therefore to help Lewis model and emulate people who had performed extra-ordinary feats.

He recommended 2 books for anyone else interested in learning and applying some of the techniques used by him:-

1. Confidence: How Winning Streaks and Losing Streaks Begin and End by Rosabeth Moss Kanter

2. Psycho-cybernetics by Maxwell Maltz

Martin mentioned how most human beings are very conditioned with coming up “yes, but…” type excuses and reasons when they are required to get focused on achieving a particular goal.

Being a world leader on mind coaching and goal setting, he shared some key tips:-

• The trick is to get so focused that no part of your mind is able to focus on any doubts. Such expression of certainty requires an extra-ordinary level of concentration and single-mindedness. This is what Lewis went through.

• To get you focused at this level, one has to get our soul to connect at some level with our goal. Get the life force (invariably called Ki, Chi, Prana) to connect.

• Get very clear about your life goal. To make it even more powerful, include the whole world in your goal

• Make a recording in your own voice of your life goal, and listen to it everyday.

• As long as your goals are congruent with your soul, you will start getting instant results.

And my favourite – don’t just be ordinary nor extra-ordinary – aim to be outstanding!

Finally, Martin Jenkins shared 2 essentials for getting astounding results just like Lewis Gordon Pugh:-

1. One must have the skills and competences – Lewis had plenty of these, developed over many years of training and practice.

2. One must mitigate any risks – Lewis and his team did everything necessary to mitigate the risks of failure.

So there we are – we now know just what it took for Lewis Gordon Pugh to achieve what he did. I shall wrap up in the 5th and final part of these series of articles about “Achieving the impossible”, but in the meantime, here are some questions for you to ponder on:-

How will you prepare yourself physically for your top, life-changing goal?
How will you prepare yourself mentally?
What skills and competences will you develop?

Remember – don’t be ordinary, aim to be outstanding!