The barrier to action is definitely a big thing. When I was a student, I avoided donating money. I told myself I’d start donating when I got a job and started making good money. Then, when I did get a job, I procrastinated for another two years.
The thing that convinced me to finally do it was joining a different online group where I tried to do a good deed every day. When I got that down, I got into the habit of doing good, which made me rethink EA. After some thought, I committed to try giving 10% just for a year. A month later, I made the Giving What We Can pledge. After I’d made the commitment I realised it wasn’t that hard, and I felt a lot better about myself afterwards.
If I could go back in time, I think what I’d ask my past self to do is not to commit to donating 10%, but to commit to donating just 1% for a year. 1% is nothing, and anyone can do that—but once you start intuitively understanding that A) You feel better donating this money, and B) You really don’t miss it, it’s a lot easier to scale up. Going from 0 to 1 is a bigger step than from 1 to 10.
I still don’t have a full solution, but I think that might be a place to begin.
The barrier to action is definitely a big thing. When I was a student, I avoided donating money. I told myself I’d start donating when I got a job and started making good money. Then, when I did get a job, I procrastinated for another two years.
The thing that convinced me to finally do it was joining a different online group where I tried to do a good deed every day. When I got that down, I got into the habit of doing good, which made me rethink EA. After some thought, I committed to try giving 10% just for a year. A month later, I made the Giving What We Can pledge. After I’d made the commitment I realised it wasn’t that hard, and I felt a lot better about myself afterwards.
If I could go back in time, I think what I’d ask my past self to do is not to commit to donating 10%, but to commit to donating just 1% for a year. 1% is nothing, and anyone can do that—but once you start intuitively understanding that A) You feel better donating this money, and B) You really don’t miss it, it’s a lot easier to scale up. Going from 0 to 1 is a bigger step than from 1 to 10.
I still don’t have a full solution, but I think that might be a place to begin.