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That was wonderful.

The last few months have been filled with clarifying moments. And they culminated in the last 2 days with the Inauguration and Women’s March. Here we are. The road ahead is clear:

  • The most powerful weapon you have isn’t anger or violence. Your most powerful weapons are kindness, generosity and respectful dialogue. A generous word, a hug, a small gesture of humanity, a small donation or a banner held high in peaceful protest has never meant as much as it does today.
  • We still need to take more stock and understand how we got into this mess globally. Here is just one problem: we have, in addition to 7.5 million officially unemployed (a number that is closer to 15 million when all the hidden unemployment is accounted for), 23.5 million Americans aged 25-to-54 who reside outside the confines of the labor force. And at a time when job openings are at record highs.The problem is that unqualified applicants for these openings also are at a record high. The number of jobs available that are not being filled because the skill set is absent is at an unprecedented level. The question is what is in the policy playbook to redress this situation? What we need is a policy playbook that makes education, apprenticeship and training a major priority. Oh, and the robots are coming, climate change is happening, the world is unstable. Need I say more? We need to think these challenges through more.
  • We need to develop a vision for the future. The EU was founded on the ruins of WWII, ensuring such a conflict would never happen again. It had a moral center, a purpose, a vision. Today, people have forgotten about the vision, about its purpose. That’s the fault of technocrats, focusing on economics and regulations. The US had a vast moral purpose once: it was able to convince the world to follow its lead, to adopt first constitutionalism, then liberal democracy, then capitalism. America has been losing moral purpose for decades. An Iraq war here, secrets jail here and there, needless spying everywhere. That’s how you end up with a transactional Presidency. What we saw in the marches was an emotional connection that will help carry people through the future and give them hope. What we need now is an intellectual, policy-driven, philosophical, humane and imaginative vision for the future. It has to be much bigger than a party platform, much, much bigger than just resisting and fighting an administration. Because the EU and US have lost their moral purpose, they lost the most valuable thing of all: trust, faith and self-worth. And their soul, these constructs feel empty and hollow inside. We have to fill them with life and purpose.
  • You need to be the change you want to see: Some will run for office, some will be activists, some will create art, some will analyze and offer insights, some will help the ones left behind. It doesn’t matter what you are going to do but this is a good time to take a close look at your life: If you’ve always wanted to change the world by implementing an amazing idea, this is a good time to start. If you have a project you’ve been putting off for a long time, now is a good time to get to work. Changing the world seems impossible, there are so many processes and forces fighting against you. Changing the world doesn’t mean reversing Brexit or impeaching Trump. These are hollow discussions on social media, a waste of your time. Just doing one thing a week can bring enormous change: Joining a credit union. Learning a new skill. Stay away from social media for a day and read a book instead. Buy from responsible brands. Understand that spending hours on Facebook makes you part of the problem, not of a solution. Saying something nice to someone you’ve been meaning to say so. Start a diary. Start painting. Take care of your body and sleep.

I know, it sounds so silly and pedestrian. But change is not revolutionary, it’s evolutionary. Resolutions are useless because they rely on revolutionizing your behavior. Change comes in small steps, one at a time.

And, most importantly, take care of yourself and each other. I’m as Globalist as they come but the real change happens in your local community, at your house, in your family, with your friends, on the streets you walk and drive on every day. It’s not fancy, it doesn’t create headlines but it the most impact you’ll ever have.

Imagine your world and moral purpose. Because true change only starts in your imagination.