Global Changemakers

A few months ago in preparing for a speech, I was thankfully asked if I could break from my normal stump being delivered in multiple iterations almost daily at the time. Instead, my hosts wanted me to specifically create a list of principles to help guide young people becoming active in their communities.

Extremely busy at the time, I remember waiting until the train ride to the venue to actually write the list. In my defence though, my best ideas and writing have always been on public transport of some description: organisational plans, my highest scoring university essay, even arguably my most poetic love letters or thank you cards!

At first, I reflected on one of the best bits of advice ever given to me: “always speak in threes” a good friend and professor of mine once told me.

He was referring to speaking to politicians and bureaucrats at the time, who have a fetish for learning three points about any one topic that they can easily memorise and rattle off in interviews. Apparently if you can’t think of a third point as well, you should just turn around the first one and chances are nobody will notice.

Realising it was impossible to condense the lessons I’d learned on my journey in youth affairs into three key principles, I sought out inspiration for the length of my list from other sources. Using the wisdom of Goldilocks, it quickly became apparent that if three were too few, then ten would probably be about right.

If that wasn’t enough, Moses of course also delivered Ten Commandments, the Patron of the Global Changemakers Program lives at 10 Downing Street, and my dear Mum use to always tell me to count to ten to calm down for some reason…

So ten it was!

I hasten to add, I personally have never found much use from these sort of “how to” guides across the spectrum of life. Things are often much more flexible and contextual than they would make appear. So I encourage you to read them as lessons I have personally learned along the way, and hopefully they will be of some use to you in framing your own journeys.

See you on the tarmac!

Ten lessons of becoming active in your community:

1.    Set your vision
Work out what it is you want to do. Not the specific details, just the broad principles. And why!

2.    Break it down into tangible steps
Pull it apart as much as you can to work out exactly how you need to get there and by when. Set goals, but be flexible. These steps will change constantly, but you need to get started.

3.    Be prepared to challenge yourself
Don’t be scared of breaking with the norm. Expect to challenge yourself. Thrive off it!

4.    Reach the people you need to succeed
Work out who can help you with what – celebrities, CEOs, Prime Ministers & Presidents, etc. Get to them. Leverage the audacity of youth and your positive mission to get there. Be annoyingly persistent.

5.    Forge partnerships and share your vision
Communicate and broadcast what you are trying to do. Start to build a network and movement of people who want to share your journey with you.

6.    Mould to your environment
Be a chameleon. Know your audience and don’t be afraid to wear a suit in the boardroom or wear jeans in the classroom. Be aware of who you are speaking to and why. By wearing a suit you don’t make yourself not look young anymore, just professional.

7.    Don’t give up
Appropriately placed at number seven. It is tough. Extremely tough. One of the toughest things you will ever do, it has been for me.

8.    Always allow yourself opportunities step back
Give yourself an outlet to get away from the details and lose your identity somewhat. Go overseas. Be grounded with your friends. Spend time with a girlfriend or boyfriend and just be a teenager or young person. Get back to the original ideas state of mind you were in when you thought of it and you will only get more good ideas rather than concerned about the minutiae of operations.

9.    Surround yourself with good people
Or nothing will happen. Critical. Both professionally with a team but also personally – find mentors (think big, people you admire), have a good support network, always thank people, actively spend more time with people who you don’t talk about community activism with.

10.    Always look for the next thing
Don’t get complacent. It may be time to pass the baton if it isn’t challenging anymore. Look for the next thing that challenges you and makes you go further. Particularly at our ages.

Thom Woodroofe, 20, is a Global Changemaker from Australia currently living and studying in the United States. In Australia, he is the founder of Left Right Think-Tank and the 2009 Young Victorian of the Year.