Thursday Edition

dispatches from the new world of work

100 Ways to Succeed #148:

Now Is the Perfect Moment to Get Truly Community-minded!
Don't Let Tomorrow's Sun Set without an Effort to Move Forward, "Full Speed Ahead," on Community Involvement!

Your candidate (at any level) may have lost, but if you did campaign work you discovered (1) that there were many kindred, local "activist" spirits working for the public good and (2) that you can make an insta-difference, as you saw through canvassing or driving for get-out-the-vote or whatever. Maybe you fell short on General Election Day. But there are 729 days to go until the next General Election. So what are you going to do for the community during those 729 days?

For starters, perhaps: Get together with some of "your activists"—and, yes, "their activists" and talk over some of the local, typically non-contentious, important community ventures in which you might get involved. And lay out a couple of next steps in the next week.

Damn few of us, age 16, 26, 36 or 66, are entirely happy with our efforts to "give back" and help our communities. Don't lose the current Momentum of Civic Virtue! Let's get going on that "next local step"—more or less right this minute!

(The behavioral sciences are clear: If you don't follow up on something, like a useful seminar, with concrete actions in a matter of hours or a couple of days at most, you never will follow up. Hence, every minute is critical: Follow up on your newfound, if it's so, community-mindedness ASAP!)

Tom Peters posted this on 11/04/08.