Questions That Difference Makers Ask Themselves

Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

h/t to Dr. Shanon Brooks of Monticello College for these questions

When it comes to making a difference, most of us tend to envision ourselves heroically rising to the occasion. 

Then we encounter genuine opposition, the kind that hurts; that makes us question whether or not we really believe what we say. 

This is where most people quietly step back into the shadows.

Can you blame them?

Here are a few questions that anyone who wants to make a difference must be willing to ask:

• Is there anything, beside my family, for which I’d be willing to risk my livelihood, my personal freedom or my life?

• How bad would things have to get before I would be willing to act without permission?

• Is it possible to make my stand while remaining socially neutral?

• Is there anything that I could be doing that is more important, with the possible exception of my family, than what I’m doing right now?

• What is my line in the sand that marks the point of no return where making a stand for what I believe in requires that I break with normal society?

• Is there a role that I must play in standing up for the truth, as I understand it, and, if so, what is that role?

Each of these questions brings us closer to the kind of personal clarity that a hero must possess.

They require a greater love of one’s principles than of one’s self.

Difference makers ask these questions of themselves, thoughtfully answer them and then make the world a better place.