Similar to @newptcai, I have found that engagement with the world around me is the biggest motivating force for me. I have cultivated a diverse array of global news sources between podcasts, newsletters, and social media and like to keep up with happenings around the world. Though regularly consuming information about war, poverty, and death can get very tiring (and it’s important to take mental health breaks from news too!), it helps me retain perspective by forcing me to regularly confront my privilege and ask myself if I am doing the best I can to put that privilege to use in helping others.
Beyond current affairs, I have also found reading fiction to be a really powerful way to expand the horizons of my empathy (only superseded by actually interacting with other people). This especially includes sci-fi and historical novels—I love looking at an entirely different world through the eyes of characters that are nothing like me.
And lastly, staying engaged with the EA community in whatever capacity works for you is also helpful! Since graduating from college, I have been in a job where people around me aren’t necessarily super socially minded all the time. In the midst of this the EA community has been a helpful reminder that they are many people constantly thinking about ways to do good as well and, more importantly, acting upon those instincts in their day-to-day lives.
Similar to @newptcai, I have found that engagement with the world around me is the biggest motivating force for me. I have cultivated a diverse array of global news sources between podcasts, newsletters, and social media and like to keep up with happenings around the world. Though regularly consuming information about war, poverty, and death can get very tiring (and it’s important to take mental health breaks from news too!), it helps me retain perspective by forcing me to regularly confront my privilege and ask myself if I am doing the best I can to put that privilege to use in helping others.
Beyond current affairs, I have also found reading fiction to be a really powerful way to expand the horizons of my empathy (only superseded by actually interacting with other people). This especially includes sci-fi and historical novels—I love looking at an entirely different world through the eyes of characters that are nothing like me.
And lastly, staying engaged with the EA community in whatever capacity works for you is also helpful! Since graduating from college, I have been in a job where people around me aren’t necessarily super socially minded all the time. In the midst of this the EA community has been a helpful reminder that they are many people constantly thinking about ways to do good as well and, more importantly, acting upon those instincts in their day-to-day lives.