even if you aren’t 100% certain you’ll succeed. After all, failure is one of life's greatest learning tools and can be proof that you are thinking big. (In fact, if you haven't failed in a while, ask yourself if you need to take on bolder challenges!) Think Like an Entrepreneur Move through your life and your career with an entrepreneurial spirit, and apply the focus, energy, and positivity to founding your social impact career that you would apply to founding a new business or organization ... posted on Jun 11 2013 (67,266 reads)

really, really savor them. Slowly. Create a morning ritual. Wake early and greet the day. Watch the sun rise. Out loud, tell yourself that you will not waste this day, which is a gift. You will be compassionate to your fellow human beings, and live every moment to its fullest. Stretch or meditate or exercise as part of your ritual. Enjoy some coffee. Take chances. We often live our lives too cautiously, worried about what might go wrong. Be bold, risk it all. Quit your job and go to business for yourself (plan it out first!), or go up to that girl you've liked for a long time and ask her out. What do you have to lose? Follow excitement. Try to find the things in life that ... posted on Jul 28 2013 (298,216 reads)

Patterns will emerge and you will see that, for whatever reason, you are drawn to delve deeper into this particular issue. They're personal. The moments are very often personally meaningful. They are connected to your own experiences, or the experiences of people you care most about, the way in which Socheata's moment of obligation was. They take hold. Finally, they just won't let you go. They scream for your attention, creeping into your mind when you are minding your own business — sitting on the couch, watching TV, or trying to get a good night's sleep. Everyone is moved this way from time to time, but what sets those who help solve the world's bigge... posted on Jul 23 2013 (23,763 reads)

have fixed notions about the time course of success and the nature of talent that encourage us to write off the very people who are most likely to (eventually) change the world. "This is you," the elderly school psychologist said as he pushed up his horn-rimmed glasses and pointed to the left side of what looked like the outline of a camel's hump. I sat closer, trying to make sense of what I was being shown. "And this," he said, moving his finger toward the far right of the hump, "is gifted." Leaning forward, I patiently explained to him that maybe this was me, at age 11, but 6 years later, it was no longer me. "You see," I ex... posted on Sep 24 2013 (36,873 reads)

to impart some perspective. According to Yahoo, he and wife Mehrnaz thought feeding the homeless might do the trick. Thus, the family and Alec's friend Luke Trolinger set about wrapping 54 egg-and-cheese burritos one Sunday in November and handed them out. More than 130 Sundays later, their nonprofit Hunger 2 Help is rolling in good will. It has grown to seven Burrito Boyz and other volunteers, all of whom help make hundreds of tortilla-wrapped meals. They operate out of Johnson's business, Long Island Mike's Pizza, and distribute the food to a neighborhood in need. "Anything can happen if you take the first step," the dad told Yahoo. "I’m shocked at... posted on Aug 22 2013 (39,771 reads)

portal that’s dedicated to acts of kindness, usually random acts of kindness. On the site there’s the capability for any of the users to share the stories about any of the acts of kindness they may have done. And people can comment on the stories. You can also order smile cards, so you can actually leave a card when you do an act of kindness. It’s really—it’s almost like a kindness community. RW:  Okay, and what is a smile card? It’s the size of a business card, right? GN:  Yes. It’s pretty simple. On the front it just says, “Smile. You’ve been tagged.” And in small print, it says, “Experiments in anonymous... posted on Sep 10 2013 (24,069 reads)

(what Klein refers to as "creative desperation"), and when they gain an insight, encourages them to act on it right away. This is frequently how chess grand masters try an unusual move that ends up being successful and winning the game for them. "The problem with too many organizations is that they don't feel any pressure to act on the insights they've had," says Klein. "They act like they have all the time in the world and then they end up going out of business." ... posted on Sep 8 2013 (107,911 reads)

me so much as a child. I am as passionate as I ever was about protecting the nonhuman world from the increasingly violent excesses of our civilisation. But the environmental movement I once considered myself to be part of has in many ways moved in directions I don't feel comfortable with. Technocratic, staid, too afraid to challenge narratives of technological progress and economic development, and too willing to buy into a notion of 'sustainable development' that often looks like business as usual with fewer carbon emissions, the mainstream green movement looks to me like it has veered off course. Three years ago, I tried to explain my feelings about this in a long essay en... posted on Nov 7 2013 (25,614 reads)

"Up" documentaries have followed 14 people from ages seven to 56—and in the process illustrated recent discoveries about the science of a meaningful life. The film critic Roger Ebert famously called the “Up” series “an inspired, even noble, use of the film medium.” It started, accidentally, in 1964, when the British TV program World in Action profiled 14 seven year olds with the aim of discovering how social class shaped their worldviews. There was no intention of going beyond that one episode, called Seven Up! Symon has faced the death of his mother, the births of his children, unemployment, divorce, and re-marriage (to Vienetta, at righ... posted on Nov 4 2013 (36,211 reads)

landed on the moon, so I don't really have that as a guidepost. But certainly the shuttle program in the 1980s when I was in high school really, really, of course, it touched us all. We all got that bug of exploration and, you know, I saw that as just the most exciting job anybody could possibly have on planet Earth. So I think that that was the backdrop. Ms. Tippett: I like the way you — I've seen you talking about how you got into science. Didn't you start out studying business in college? Is that right? Ms. Batalha: I did, yeah. Ms. Tippett: Yeah, and that you took a physics class and that you weren't actually very good at it, which is comforting. I think... posted on Jan 29 2014 (26,620 reads)

Child and women abuse has diminished. A lot still needs to be done, but a lot has been done already. We can encourage the decrease of violence… We all know the factors related to the decrease of violence and we could encourage this idea: women social status, democracy… Let’s take Europe for example. In the 14th century, there were 5000 political entities in Europe; under Napoleon, there were 250, and, nowadays, there are about fifty, which are all democratic and make business together… The risk that Belgium starts a war against Italy is zero. Countries in conflict with other countries have a dysfunctional democracy. Undoubtedly, humankind has evolved and we... posted on Jan 27 2014 (7,900 reads)

resilience project? Mr. Zolli: Yeah, it sort of got going in 2007. And just with the idea. Remember 2007 we were on an upward trajectory and everything was fabulous. And remember the stock market was booming. Ms. Tippett: I vaguely remember that, yes. Mr. Zolli: Yes, exactly. It's hard. It's amazing how quickly things fade. But, so in 2007 we could start to see the patterns of this new frame begin to emerge. And then at the beginning of 2008, I had my business partner and the person who was my kind of closest working collaborator at the time he got sick. And we thought he had a cold and actually he had a brain tumor. Ms. Tippett: Was he als... posted on Dec 5 2013 (22,863 reads)

It was a meditation class and he was the instructor. This past fall, that same class enrolled 603 students and took place in one of the largest lecture halls on the UC Berkeley campus. A philosopher, author and lecturer of peace studies, Americ slips through all of these categories. Serendipitously he became the acting CEO of a company in a field for which he had no formal training. He's taught an unlikely mix of university classes (philosophy, religion, leadership, finance, business and information systems), developed several virtual companies, directed the Innovation Center at Golden Gate University, and held the first podcast at UC Berkeley in 2005. Today, he co-t... posted on Nov 12 2013 (29,358 reads)

widely viewed as possessing wisdom—an accomplished group of civic leaders, theologians, scientists, and cultural icons. They compared these wise people with a control group of professionals who were successful but not nominated as wise (including lawyers, doctors, teachers, scientists, and managers). Both groups answered questions that gave them a chance to demonstrate their wisdom. For example, what advice would they give to a widowed mother facing a choice between shutting down her business and supporting her son and grandchildren? How would they respond to a call from a severely depressed friend? A panel of experts evaluated their answers, and the results—along with sever... posted on Nov 20 2013 (57,838 reads)

becomes sustainable only when at least a third of the faculty are engaged and committed. "If nothing exists in isolation," writes famed essayist Wendell Berry, "then all problems are circumstantial; no problem resides, or can be solved, in anybody's department." Even if problems defy solution by a single department, school districts are often structured so that responsibilities are assigned to isolated and unconnected divisions. Nutrition services may report to the business manager, while academic concerns lie within the domain of the director of curriculum. To achieve systems change, leaders must cross department boundaries and bring people addressing parts of ... posted on Dec 12 2013 (32,977 reads)

Manuela goes to see Hussein and has a little pile of money to give him. And on the third day, something incredible happens when Hussein is able to secure a storefront in a dilapidated building adjacent to his shop. No electricity, no running water, but there is potential in this spot. Manuela and veterinarian Dr. Osman come by to help with the painting and clearing of rubbish while electricians and plumbers make all the necessary connections. In less than two weeks, the barber is back in business again, his whole world restored through the kindness of strangers. And as for the cats, Manuela reports that the barber shop’s smallest customers are doing just fine. They are among the... posted on Dec 17 2013 (186,740 reads)

Laura Lavigne, life holds the magic of a treasure hunt. A keeper of small moments, a spreader of joy, a mother, a dreamer, a doer, not to mention a French baker, Laura is a bright splash of color on any canvas. And she’s walked down quite a multifaceted road along the way. In this Awakin Call conversation with Afreen, she shares stories and lessons from her experiences working as a make-up artist to turning down corporate sponsorship, tossing out her well-rehearsed TEDx speech for spontaneity’s sake, and, time and time again, meeting strangers from the heart. Afreen: What drives you? Laura: I think it started when I was really little. I remember telling my parent... posted on Jan 11 2014 (28,651 reads)

about himself, his family or the work he does. Extremely reticent, he sticks to his schedule of opening his tea shop on the Ponmeni Narayanan Street in S.S.Colony at 4.30 a.m. sharp and serves the day’s first round of steaming chai to about two-dozen watchmen who do night duty in the area. He runs the shop till 11 p.m. selling over 300 cups of tea, coffee and milk besides biscuits, cakes, laddus, murukkus and other savouries. Communication with customers is restricted to business only. Yet the Meenakshi Coffee Bar which he runs with his two brothers in S.S.Colony is popular. Not for the knick-knack items it sells. Not even for the hundreds of cups of tea and coffee... posted on Feb 15 2014 (27,904 reads)

capital” in those entrepreneurs—allow them to experiment, fail, fight bureaucracy and the status quo and corruption, and build real solutions. Any money that comes back to Acumen, we reinvest in innovation for the poor. We’ve been able to invest about $90 million in seventy-five companies in India and East and West Africa. In turn, those companies have been able to raise additional funds and bring 100 million people services and create 60,000 jobs. It’s this kind of business approach to social problems that differentiates us. It’s a very powerful way to create real change in the world. GM: You started out in the traditional banking world. Why did yo... posted on Feb 6 2014 (22,685 reads)

was a bad time to be older and to be a woman trying to get into medicine. It was just before the wave of feminism hit. So that's a long introduction about how I decided to take care of HIV patients. I was in training at San Francisco General, which was the world center of the HIV epidemic, in terms of the United States in 1983.   RW:  Right, Right.   Grace:  So most of the patients I got were HIV infected. For example one day I ran the Bay to Breakers race. I had no business running it, because I had not trained a minute for it and I'd been on call the night before. So I got up and went to the starting line where I started to cry. I knew I was never going to ... posted on Dec 31 2013 (26,863 reads)