25 thoughts for changemakers.

About a month ago, I finished reading Social Entrepreneurship: What Everyone Needs to Know by David Bornstein and Susan Davis. It’s a relatively quick, inspiring, optimistic, and still very practical read, so needless to say I highly recommend it.

There are lots of reasons that I keep flipping it back open, but one major reason is a concluding section called “Thoughts for Changemakers.” The section contains a list of 25 suggestions, without any introduction, that anyone striving for change should read:

1. Begin with an end in mind.
2. Do what you do best.
3. Have people ask you questions about your idea.
4. Practice pitching your idea.
5. Study the history of the problem you are attacking.
6. Develop a theory of change.
7. Keep thinking about how you can measure or evaluate success.
8. Celebrate every victory, no matter how small.
9. Initiate new relationships.
10. Apprentice yourself with masters. (Work without pay if necessary.)
11. Volunteer for a political campaign.
12. Publish a letter to the editor or an op-ed.
13. Meet with a newspaper editor and a congressman.
14. Host dinner discussions about your idea.
15. Form a group to achieve a modest, short-term goal.
16. Ask a question at a public forum.
17. Engage people with opposing political views.
18. Ask for advice from people you admire.
19. Read biographies of people who have built things.
20. Spend some time working in a different sector, field, or country.
21. Practice public speaking.
22. Take a finance course.
23. Learn how to negotiate.
24. Find sources of inspiration and use them.
25. Hold to principles, be flexible about methods.

February 11′s daily design idea is almost everyone in a creative field is a changemaker of some kind. Maybe we should be pushing for more diversified education, jobs, and overall expectations.