Beyond Instant Gratification

Animal advocacy is not usually an "instant gratification" thing. Change is often hard and can take years. If you expect things to completely switch overnight, you will often be disappointed.

This is one reason why it's important for us to train our ability to work on important problems for long periods of time. If you want instant gratification, eat a candy bar. If you want deep purpose that changes the world in meaningful ways, you'll need to put in the effort over months and years.

This isn't to say that change can't happen quickly—it sometimes does. And sometimes, it's useful to give up a current dead-end project and switch to something that gets results more quickly. This is a key aspect of strategic thinking, research, and reflection.

But in 99 times out of 100, you're going to need to focus and work for a while to get meaningful results. Train this ability in yourself, and your advocacy will improve as a result.