The election is over and I suspect many, like me, are feeling lost and discouraged. The outcome may have you questioning whether our voices matter, if change will ever come, and if this fight is even worth fighting. Social impact work can feel like you’re running up an escalator in the wrong direction. This line of work is inherently disheartening, challenging, and exhausting. It seems like more and more people leave mission-driven work each year for more stable, lucrative jobs. At college, everyone comes in promising to change the world, yet somewhere down the line their path changes and they graduate with jobs in tech, finance, or consulting. In an environment like Brown it seems like everyone is “selling out”. In fact, I have heard people proudly call themselves a “sell out” like a title of some highly sought after selective club. It feels like “selling out” has become the norm and for those committed to social impact work, this is an isolating realization.
Amidst adversity and uncertainty is when your dedication counts most. Let your emotions– your hopelessness, your confusion, your anger– channel your passion and your motivation. Now more than ever is when your community and your country needs you. Staying motivated with so many challenges dragging you down is not an easy fight, but here are some tips to keep you motivated.
- Reconnect With Your Purpose
In times like these, it’s easy to feel lost and hopeless. Social good missions are never one foot after the other journeys. You will face obstacles and setbacks and there will be times when you feel like there is no way forward. It’s times like these, that it is absolutely critical that you ground yourself in your purpose. Why did you choose this path for yourself? Why is this work so important to you? Whether you’re advocating for civil rights or environmental justice or any social justice work, I would bet a lot of money that your purpose is rooted in your personal experiences and values. When it feels like time to abandon that mission, go back and reflect on your purpose.
I always find journaling or talking with someone who has inspired me along the way to be the most helpful way to reconnect with my mission. Reidentify the missions that mean the most to you, reflect on what you have done and what you could do, and envision where you want to be on that journey 5, 10, 20 years from now. Ask yourself, is my work here done?
- Surround Yourself With Like-Minded People
It only feels like everyone around you is selling out because everyone around you is selling out. Let me explain: If your entire social circle is leaving behind their passions to pursue the top highest paying jobs, then this will feel like the only option to you because it is all you are being exposed to. One of the biggest challenges in social impact work is feeling like you’re the only one pursuing this path. Having to constantly explain that your career choice and life’s mission is worthwhile is exhausting. Don’t let the feeling of being misunderstood drive you away. Instead, find a community of like-minded and similarly-motivated people to make you feel supported. Look for friends, classmates, mentors, and colleagues who share your passion and understand the challenges and rewards of this line of work.
I found that joining extracurricular activities focused on advancing the social justice initiatives I am most drawn to was the best way to build this network of supportive people. Brown has a plethora of social impact clubs you can find here. Also, even just reaching out to the people in your class can do wonders. Ask someone out to lunch or coffee and get to know their goals and inspirations.
- Give Yourself Grace and Boundaries
A word that gets tossed around a lot in social good work is burnout. Burnout is when social impact or mission-driven workers experience high levels of fatigue and cynicism due to resource and emotional constraints. The nature of mission-driven work as being time-sensitive and consequential pushes social impact workers to overextend themselves until they are utterly exhausted and feel like they cannot give anymore. Without proper self-care management, burnout can push workers away from their missions forever.
The key to avoiding burnout is to give yourself grace and set boundaries for your work. Be sure to give yourself time away from your work and engage in hobbies and interests outside of your social missions. If you need to take a step back that’s okay. Do what you need to do so that your social impact work still feels good to you or else those “sell out” careers will look even more enticing.
- Look For Career Support and Resources
One thing that has made me consider abandoning my mission-driven career choice and pursuing consulting or banking is that it feels as if there are little to no support systems or resources to help me find a job in social impact work after college. We can’t beat around the bush: money is important– you quite literally need it to survive. The desire for financial security is so valid and unfortunately social impact fields can be low-paying and hard to break into.
It can be helpful to explore practical strategies to work around this issue. Start by building a network of people who want to go into the same field as you and people who have the jobs you want after graduation. Connect with people on LinkedIn, go on coffee chats, and attend any social impact (called Careers for the Common Good at Brown) events hosted by the Career Center. Also, look for internships and fellowships which can be great ways to build your network and chances of having a job post-graduation. Here are some other career tips that can be applied to any field or industry.
If finances are a real concern for you, there are mission-driven careers that offer well-paying salaries. You can consider going into law or pursuing a career in a government agency. There is always a way when you put in the work to find it.
- Read
Stay inspired. Books, articles, essays, prose are what fuels the fire of our missions. They are what expose us to the great injustices of the world we have not had to see face to face. They let us see through the eyes of those less privileged than ourselves, deepening our empathy and urge to take action. Reading gives us inspiration and our education guides us on what needs to happen to mitigate the issues of the world. More importantly, it is a reminder that there are so many people before us who walked down the same challenging paths we have set out on. We can learn from their wisdom and find strength in their journeys. Here are some of my favorite pieces of literature that fuel my passion when I need it most:
- Freedom is a Constant Struggle by Angela Davis (anything by Angela Davis, really)
- The Uninhabitable Earth by David Wallace-Wells
- Mutual Aid by Dean Spade
- Black Power: The Politics of Liberation by Kwame Ture and Charles v. Hamilton
In the words of Kamala Harris “Sometimes the fight takes a while, that doesn’t mean we won’t win. The important thing is don’t ever give up, don’t ever stop trying to make the world a better place. You have power.” Find the full speech here.