Look, 2016 has been a pretty crappy year in a lot of ways, and a lot of us are concerned (to say the least) about what 2017 will bring. The world is changing, and not always in positive ways. As a global human society, we’ve made a lot of progress towards universal respect in the last hundred or so years, and things are happening all around the globe that threaten this progress. The thing about progress is that it’s always a battle: we’re fighting entropy.
This, relatedly, is my line sometimes when I’ve had a day at home and my husband gets home to a house that looks essentially as he left it that morning, and I’ve not achieved anything else tangible. “What have you done today?” (Always as a polite engagement re: hey, how was your day, not, what the hell have you been doing all day with accusation, bless the wonderful man – he is nicer to me than I am re: my ability to be superwoman). “Fought entropy,” is the line.
Those of you who regularly do the at-home-with-children thing, or even the children thing, or even just the at home thing, know that entropy is the default state. If ignored, the house will inevitably descend into ever-deepening chaos as things walk from their designated places, dishes and clothing accumulate, the floors become mysteriously sticky (actually not so mysteriously CHILDREN I AM LOOKING AT YOU ha I love you really promise) and so on and so forth. Und so weiter, as one says in German. Because why not.
Anyway. Chaos. Entropy. It’s the default state of the universe, whether our universe is our room our house our town our country our world our solar system our galaxy the whole of plausible time and space. And so we fight on.
In 2017, we are called to set up. To stand in the gaps. And often, that can mean grand and glorious action (What did you do today? I SEWED A RHINOCEROS. I BAKED MULTIPLE CAKES. I CLEANED OUT THE ENTIRETY OF THE KITCHEN PANTRY AND I NEARLY DIED.). But just as often, it means small steps, controlling the only thing we can: ourselves.
Sometimes, it can feel overwhelmingly like we have no talent, like we have nothing to contribute. But you know what? Here are 10 things you can do to make the world a better place that require absolutely zero talent. (Sadly I’ve no idea what the original source is for this – there are a billionty million different permutations all over the web. If you’re the creator, or know who the creator is, please let me know so I can give credit!)
Replicated for accessibility:
- Being on time.
- Work ethic.
- Effort.
- Body language. (Although I’d argue there can be a talent component to this one, beyond basic positive/negative.)
- Energy. (No *talent* required, though many other factors can influence this obviously.)
- Attitude.
- Passion.
- Being coachable/teachable.
- Doing extra.
- Being prepared.
So there you have it. 10 simple things you can do to ‘level up’ your own personal corner of the globe in 2017 that take zero talent whatsoever (generally speaking). Personally, I need to work on number 1!! I am notoriously 5 minutes late for everything except paid employment, no matter how early I start trying to get ready, no matter how prepared I am. It’s mostly because I’m constantly trying to do too much (though having a 4 yr old and a 1 yr old doesn’t help matters much either), so yeah. Trying to work on that one.
Leave a comment and let us know: Which one of these is something you think you could focus on for 2017? 🙂