Anna + Anne said it…

When you come across an idea that smacks you square between the eyes twice in under 12 hours, from two different sources, you tend to take notice. And I have to share it with you, so you can benefit from it, too. Three weeks in and 2020 has brought us some hard headlines and a whole bunch of heartache. I’ve kept my head down and thought a lot about what the world needs, and how we can start.

You see, we were happy at our house on January 1, when Charlotte and I went to see Frozen II and cheered for cartoon sisters taking courage. At the risk of sharing major spoilers with you in case you haven’t seen it - 2/3 of the way through the film Anna is alone in a cave in the depths of some pretty dark grief and feeling afraid (like many of us have felt over the last few weeks). She sings a song. As you do. She says, “Just do the next right thing. Take a step, step again. It is all that I can do. The next right thing.” And there I was holding Char’s hand in the theatre, grinning and tearing up because that’s basically been the premise of all the great world changers, since forever.

Later that day, reading by candlelight, I stacked Anne Lamott’s books on the edge of the bath to randomly select her essays, which is my tradition ringing in a New Year. Something about her irreverence makes me remember not to take life so seriously, and the detailed way she finds meaning in the moments of her life reminds me to pay closer attention to the small things (because those are the big things). And halfway through an essay on the joy and challenge of raising her teenaged son as a single mom, there it was again. “I sat on my floor and after a while the dog came over and gave me a treatment. Somewhat revived, I tried to figure out the next right thing. It suddenly came to me.”

The next right thing.

In my last note of 2019, I admonished us to pursue a life of significance as we started a whole new decade. Maybe you, like me, have seen an inbox flooded with details for taking on the next ten years. Tackling a 5-year painted picture. Your annual goals and intentions, a six-month strategy. Have you done that? That’s good. There’s a catch. When you’re world changers like we are, the goals can be so bold, so beautiful in their reach and truth, plenty of us get stuck in the starting, in the small steps that lead to big changes. Where do we even begin?

But the famous world changers, the ones we all know about, who are written into the history books, didn’t start at the end. Take that in for a moment. They, brave creators of change, began at the beginning. The way we all do. They may have been motivated by radical, catalytic change, for the climate like Greta, and freedom like Mandela, and justice like RBG, equality like MLK. They chose, each day, to do the next right thing. Against the odds. From prison cells. In spite of setbacks. After making mistakes. When they were (and are) ridiculed. Still. They did the next right thing, over and over again, so often and consistently, they became known for righting wrongs. And it’s likely we won’t be written into history ourselves. Probably not. But we are the author of our own stories, and day by day, we tell them like Anne, bringing them into existence.

It’s pretty uncommon, so unusual, to build a life this way - to build a business this way - that a great chance stretches out before you. To be good and true. To make something of you. Something of what you do.

So, whiteboard your ten year visions, set five year goals and six month strategies. And then, start today, even in this moment to narrow your focus. Take a deep breath. Close your eyes (well, after you finish reading this, ha). Be one of the bold ones, singing it like Anna, even if you feel like you’re in a dark cave. Especially then.

Go ahead, ask and answer, how will I do the next right thing?

Have an answer for that? Comfortable enough to share it? Join us over on the blog in the comments on this post where I outline my next right thing(s) here at the impact agency. Community makes courage feel less lonely, and that’s something we all need in our lives.

Here’s to being brave,

Angela Wallace, Founder

Sing it in your Anna voice

“In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.” — Theodore Roosevelt