Choose the one that makes you happy

0:03Speaker 1:Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's tip is that in many cases, there are an infinite number of ways you could spend your time. When it comes to volunteering, there are numerous ways that you could give back, so you are best off choosing the one that is most sustainable for you, which is probably going to be the one you enjoy the most. Today's tip was partly inspired by this week's interview with the authors of Leave the Lights On. Elizabeth Dunn and Jaying Zhao argue that there are lots of things people can do to help the environment that are actually enjoyable. There is no reason to try to shame people into doing things that they don't enjoy. When people don't enjoy something, they won't keep doing it, and so then it won't happen.

1:07Speaker 1:It would be better for lots of people to eat chicken or pork more frequently rather than beef, since that is probably a sustainable dietary change versus asking people to go vegan. Most people are not going to stick with a vegan diet, so that change won't happen. Now you can argue over whether life should work this way, but it is pretty clear that it does. I think this insight is useful for how we spend our time. Broadly, many of us would like to give back to our communities.

1:43Speaker 1:Volunteering can be a meaningful way to spend our time, But there are lots of causes in this world, and even within our own communities. You could quickly overwhelm yourself by trying to address all the needs that you could address. You could also quickly talk yourself into a corner over which needs are most dire. You could be telling yourself a story that what's the point of focusing on after school tutoring when some kids don't get enough to eat, or some kids aren't safe in their neighborhoods. Shouldn't safety and food come before working on math homework. Well maybe in Maslow's hierarchy, but the world's needs are infinite. You could lean into hunger programs in one community, but then there will still be hunger in other communities, and probably in your own still as well. These are all extremely worthy causes. But if what makes your heart sing and what makes you excited to get in the car and go somewhere after a long day of work is after school tutoring, then you should do that, lean wholeheartedly into that one, doing it for years and getting better at it, and watching your mentees graduate from high school and go

2:59Speaker 1:on to do great things. You haven't solved all the problems in the world or in your community, but no one can. You have stuck with something that is good. Whereas when you try to do too many things, or try to get yourself to do something you are less interested in, you probably won't prioritize it. When life gets busy, you might not stick with it, and so you will do less good overall than if you do. This goes for monetary donations as well well. I think there might be some evidence that donating to causes in developing countries might enable more change than donating in already rich countries.

3:41Speaker 1:The truth is that the world has infinite needs. You and I don't have the funds to solve all the problems that we could identify. Even the biggest foundations in the world with billions of dollars to give away, find themselves chipping away at things, doing what they can. Since there is infinite need, you are best off giving to causes that most inspire you to be generous for many people. That tends to be nonprofits you can see and can be involved with that will inspire you to be more generous than causes that speak to you less, and so overall you will give more than if you don't choose the causes you feel most strongly about. Joy is a strong motivator. It is probably the strongest motivator there is.

4:33Speaker 1:We want to do things that make us happy, so when it comes to things we want to do more of, in general, we are best off focusing our time and attention on the things that do make us happy. That is sustainable in a way that trying to be more calculated probably is not. In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia, please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.