When the going gets tough or the problem seems too big, remember: you are building the future. Together, we as animal advocates are building a better future for animals. We didn't start caring about this issue because it was easy, or because it would be solved quickly. We
One thing we can do to increase our impact for animals is to improve our overall health and productive habits. When we become healthier, more capable people, we can utilize that high-impact energy for our work for animals as well. In my own life, I'm currently exploring the
Many people crave perfection: the perfect decision to a tough question, or the perfect choice about what to spend time on, or the perfect solution to a problem. This craving for "perfect" has a few effects. First, it can push us to think more strategically, not being satisfied
Entrepreneurs and business owners drive progress and innovation in their industries by adapting to new challenges and creating fresh opportunities. If you are an entrepreneur, you’re bold enough to take risks and create new businesses. If you are a business owner, you’re inherently a leader. Whether you have
In the United States, and in many places around the world, animals are at the center of the dining table. So, when you stop eating animals as a vegan or vegetarian, your perception of once familiar foods can shift. Our society normalizes the consumption and exploitation of nonhuman animals, and
The suffering caused by factory farming doesn't just matter because of the animals who exist today; it also matters because countless future generations of animals will continue being born into this system for years and years until we stop it. Factory farming didn't really exist before
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
In his book Four Thousand Weeks, Oliver Burkeman points out an important paradox that I hadn't considered before: by trying to get everything done, we can actually end up doing mostly small, easy, unimportant things while neglecting the larger, more challenging things that are truly important to us.
Pro-animal books can be powerful vehicles for creating change. Many people have credited Peter Singer's book Animal Liberation with kickstarting the modern animal rights movement; and Singer was himself influenced by a different book titled Animals, Men and Morals: An Inquiry into the Maltreatment of Non-humans. Books can
When faced with a problem or injustice—like animal farming—it's common to want to fix it perfectly and completely, or to want to know the perfectly right thing to do. If we can't find a perfect solution or action, it's easy to become
Being a teacher is a demanding yet incredibly rewarding profession. You're tasked with educating young people and preparing them for the future, which involves substantial responsibility. From lesson planning and classroom management, to grading papers and managing classroom dynamics, you have to juggle numerous tasks daily. But what
Between long shifts, unpredictable customers, and the feeling that your hard work goes unnoticed, retail work can sometimes be draining. And if you're someone who cares about animals, knowing how they're treated in factory farms can make it even tougher. Maybe you're vegan or
Short Thoughts
When animal advocates get together, there are sometimes conversations that go like this: "Is anyone working on animal issues in X space? It would be really high impact if someone could work on animal issues there. Someone should do that." "X" could be anything: a specific
Short Thoughts
Someone has to be the first person to reach out, to initiate contact, to send the invitation. Someone has to be the person to set up the weekly dinner with other veg folks, with other animal advocates. Someone has to be the person to bring it up in the friend
Short Thoughts
I realized at some point a couple weeks ago that I had become rather addicted to consuming content: news, books, audiobooks, articles, videos, etc. etc. Not only was it entertaining and engaging, but it also frequently felt productive, especially when I was consuming nonfiction books or articles related to work,
Short Thoughts
It's much easier to take action if there is a guidebook and a guide—someone to show us the way, and to encourage us and teach us and hold us accountable. For example, it's easier to learn to paint if you're part of a
Short Thoughts
Do you have space in your life to think about how you want to be involved in animal advocacy? In today's world, it can feel like we need to keep adding, adding, adding—stuffing our lives with more events, more media, more hobbies, more work, more people. But
Short Thoughts
In the chapter titled "The Trouble with Too Much Grit" from the book Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World, David Epstein talks about a concept known as "match quality". Match quality is how good of a fit you are for the work that you&
Short Thoughts
Our actions have immediate consequences, but the effects of our actions don't stop there. The effects of our actions then become the causes of additional effects, on and on in a chain of cause and effect that continues forward into the future. The immediate effects of eating cake
Short Thoughts
Some people have the ability to create more of an immediate impact for animals than others. For example—if you have a lot of influence at an organization, or a large audience, or a lot of money, then you may have the ability to make a bigger difference sooner than
Short Thoughts
Here are some benefits of attending animal advocacy conferences that you might not usually think about: 1. Inspiration and deeper commitment. One of the most valuable things I've gotten from attending conferences through the years is developing a deeper commitment to helping animals. We may know something intellectually,
Short Thoughts
Connecting with local animal advocates is a strategy that I would recommend for anyone moving to a new city—or for anyone, honestly, who hasn't connected with their local pro-animal community. Here are some strategies that I use for connecting with people in a new city: * Look through
Short Thoughts
There are certain things that we are unable to do, unwilling to do, or simply don't want to do. Sometimes, we can view these as complete blockers from taking action: "I'm not comfortable having a 1-on-1 conversation about animal ethics with my father, so I
Short Thoughts
Each of us has the opportunity to influence the people in our immediate social network for the benefit of animals, should we choose to invest time and energy into doing so. And, most people do care about animals (to some extent) and want to avoid causing unnecessary suffering, which means