A Selfish Plan To Change The World: Finding Big Purpose in Big Problems by Justin Dillon
This is an inspiring book about finding a cause and creating change.
In the first and second parts of the book Dillon delves into the psychology of creating meaning in our lives and why helping a cause which we are passionate about is actually selfish. He discusses how many people are tempted by comfort and entertainment and putting 'survival and control' over meaning. This is because lots of us want to actually contribute to a cause by using our skills instead of just donating money.
He tells his own story about why he decided to start a campaign against slavery and he provides many examples of people who also found their passion in helping others. These include Billie Holiday who sang a famous song about lynching of African Americans in the Deep South and William Blake who who wrote poems about the terrible poverty of nineteenth century England. He also gives modern examples. These people found what Dillon calls their 'riot' (the cause to which they want to dedicate their lives) and found what they were 'born to do'.
The problem with this book, I felt, was that the last part was rather vague about how to use your talents and education to carry this out. It's probably easy enough for most readers to find something which they really want to change but it's difficult to start a charity or a foundation or even make people more aware of important issues. I didn't really feel that this part of the book helped me that much.
I received this free ebook from Book Look Bloggers in return for an honest review.
In the first and second parts of the book Dillon delves into the psychology of creating meaning in our lives and why helping a cause which we are passionate about is actually selfish. He discusses how many people are tempted by comfort and entertainment and putting 'survival and control' over meaning. This is because lots of us want to actually contribute to a cause by using our skills instead of just donating money.
He tells his own story about why he decided to start a campaign against slavery and he provides many examples of people who also found their passion in helping others. These include Billie Holiday who sang a famous song about lynching of African Americans in the Deep South and William Blake who who wrote poems about the terrible poverty of nineteenth century England. He also gives modern examples. These people found what Dillon calls their 'riot' (the cause to which they want to dedicate their lives) and found what they were 'born to do'.
The problem with this book, I felt, was that the last part was rather vague about how to use your talents and education to carry this out. It's probably easy enough for most readers to find something which they really want to change but it's difficult to start a charity or a foundation or even make people more aware of important issues. I didn't really feel that this part of the book helped me that much.
I received this free ebook from Book Look Bloggers in return for an honest review.
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