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25 Ways to Make a Difference in the World

Every Day
By Lori Deschene

“The way to gain a good reputation is to endeavor to

be what you desire to appear.” ~Socrates
When I started Tiny Buddha, my main goal was to make a
positive difference. I think that’s a goal many of us share.
I’ve stumbled upon countless blog and books written by
people who say their purpose in life is to help people.
I suspect it’s how most of us infuse our lives with
meaning: trying to somehow leave the world a better
place than we found it.
I recently read a somewhat old blog post by ex-Microsoft
employee Scott Berkun that got me thinking about this
collective fascination with making a difference in the
world. He wrote:
“We rarely need big things. As soon as someone starts
talking about changing the world or radically reinventing
something odds are good he’s talking from his ego, not
his heart. Unless he’s working on bringing safety to the
scared, health to the sick, or opportunity to the poor, the
reinvention serves a want (or an ego), not a need.”
He went to explain how on his last day at Microsoft, he
gave a lecture and one of his colleagues thanked him for
the first time, saying he’d never expressed his admiration
before because he assumed it was apparent. According to
Scott:
“…it takes a better man to acknowledge goodness in
others than it does to merely be good oneself. Anyone can
criticize or accept praise, but initiating a positive
exchange is a hallmark of a difference maker.”
What a beautiful idea. I couldn’t agree more.
Still, I don’t know if it’s possible to completely relinquish
the ego, and I also don’t know if that’s a bad thing. I
suspect some of the people who invented or reinvented
“big things” to bring safety to the scared, health to the
sick, or opportunity to the poor were, at least on some
level, driven by the desire to be remembered for making a
difference.
It’s human nature to want to create some type of legacy—
to not just do good things but also be known for them.
There’s no need to vilify that type of desire when you
consider it’s primal in all of us.
So much is uncertain in life, particularly what happens
after we die. We can’t understand or control where we’re
going, but we can influence what we leave behind. Why
feel guilty for natural human instincts when those same
instincts contribute to a lot of the good in the world?
That being said, we can simultaneously make major
contributions to society—both to help other people and
feel good about our choices—while making a difference
in our everyday lives. We can do things both large and
small, for others and ourselves, every day if we choose to.
With that in mind, I recently asked on the Tiny Buddha
Facebook page. Some of my favorite responses include:
1. Wake up. ~Karen Maezen Miller
2. Make a difference in yourself, for the better. Such an
inward difference always has rippling outward benefits.
~Hansoul Kim
3. Remember there are three poisons: greed, anger,
and ignorance. Do not deny their existence but turn them
around and you have generosity, compassion, and
wisdom. ~Clifton Bradley
4. Make it a habit to respect everyone. ~Margarita
Medina
5. Consider the people you see each day. Sometimes I
get wrapped up in things I am working on— fundraisers
etc. But the coworker, family member, pet right next to
you are the people you can truly reach and touch. ~Amy
E. Moore
6. Operate from a place of love. ~ Erika Gonzalez
7. Be kind to others. In this busy world people become
self consumed and forget that kindness goes a long way. ~
Ana Stuckart
8. Acknowledge the light within myself and in others.
Not always easy to do but feels so powerful when I am
able to do so. ~Maria Thieme
9. Talk to someone that you think might be in distress.
You may make the difference of a lifetime. ~Alexander
De Raadt St.James
10. Simply show up. Just put your soul into it. If you
show up physically with the soles of your feet, the heart,
mind, and soul will have a chance to follow or catch up.
You may not want to be there in the beginning, but
showing up allows a committed chance at making a
difference everyday for the people you love, the people
you will meet, and the eventual person you will become.
Show up. ~Holli Grant
11. Smile. ~Seret Rafferty
12. Be more involved in the world. You can't be
spectator forever. ~Christina Breeden
13. Be the change you wish to see in the world! ~April
Spears paraphrasing Gandhi
14. Be gentle and practice sympathetic joy. ~Susan
Cross
15. Start really listening to the people around you.
Your family for example. People crave for attention.
People feel loved when given attention.. Give love. And
listening is an act of love. ~Leoni Erica Tayamen
16. Listen. Give. Do. ~Phyllis Fenander
17. Teach your kids by example; be caring, open
minded, have good manners and remember to smile.
~Paivi McKittrick
18. Look into your child’s eyes. Stop what you are
doing, sit down, and just look into them. Do that every
day and you will change the world. ~Noel Cocca
19. Be a true you…positive energy attracts. ~Jane
George
20. Love. ~Stephen Kreins
21. I quote the great Horatio Lee Jenkins: “Don't
worry—everything is going to be awesome!” ~Carl
Dangers
22. Find someone that needs a smile and give them
that smile, once a day for the rest of your life, and like a
ripple in a pond it will be carried onwards. ~SoulLife
Searcher
23. Speak without saying a word. A lot can be said
without words. ~Ralph Rocha
24. Learn to be aware of all the wonder we have
around us, let the past be in the past and not part of the
future. Choose life every day, be grateful for whatever
you have, and most important share, share, share—spread
as much love as you can. ~Lula Insfran
25. Hakuna mattata, one love, pay it forward. ~Kerin
Colby
How are you making a difference in the world?