365 Ways To Change the World: How to Make a Difference-- One Day at a Time - Softcover

Norton, Dr Michael

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0743297784 ISBN 13: 9780743297783

Publisher: Atria, 2007

Synopsis

From the acclaimed author of The Ritual Effect comes an imaginative handbook of conscious acts of kindness for anyone who wants to make a positive difference in the world.

You want to make a difference in the world, but don't know where to begin. Now you can. 365 Ways to Change the World is a comprehensive guide full of exciting ways that are more personal and fun than merely writing a check. Packed with information, ideas, and tips for every day of the year, 365 Ways to Change the World is an approachable way to ultimately achieve something positive, without the need for special skills.

Some daily examples include:

-Observe a "Buy Nothing Day"
-Plant a "peace pole"
-Sew a panel for an AIDS memorial quilt
-Collect rainwater to water your plants

The suggestions cover twelve important areas in which you can influence change, including in your local community, as a consumer, making a cultural contribution, and addressing problems such as the environment, health, and human rights. You can go through the book day by day or use the index to flip to the issues that concern you most. Great to give as well as to keep, this is an inspiring, practical resource for making the world a better place—one day at a time.

About this title

About the Author

Michael Norton is the Harold M. Brierley Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School. He has studied human behavior as it relates to love and inequality, time and money, and happiness and grief. He is the author of The Ritual Effect and the coauthor—with Elizabeth Dunn—of Happy Money: The Science of Happier Spending. In 2012, he was selected by Wired magazine as one of “50 People Who Will Change the World.” His TEDx talk, How to Buy Happiness, has been viewed nearly 4.5 million times. He is a frequent contributor to such publications as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and Scientific American, and has made numerous television, radio, and podcast appearances.

Reviews

For the activist hunting down fresh inspiration or the beginner looking for a place to start, the founder of the UK's Centre for Innovation in Voluntary Action provides this practical, inventive idea-a-day guide that takes on big issues-peace, health, the environment and others-with the belief that "a lot of people doing a lot of little things could have a huge impact." Though it's hard, in a list of 365, to avoid rehashing some old tricks (as acknowledged in March 16's entry, "Plant another tree"), the majority is impressively fresh: the entry for February 11 explains how to get wood-working tools to Africans who need them; August 3 outlines the "Hello, Peace!" project, which provides free phone calls between Israelis and Palestinians who want to discuss peace; April 16 teaches readers how to use their computers to fight AIDS while they sleep. Some ideas are more involved (October 3, "Stay in an Earthship" advocates living or vacationing in a zero-emissions, recycled materials home), while others encourage critical self-examination (September 16's "Greenscore Yourself" and January 15's "Uncover Your Hidden Bias"). The approach is decidedly progressive, the research is top-notch and each entry is crammed with information, making this a great companion for those who want to start changing the world immediately. Illustrations.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Edition details

• Publisher: Atria
• Publication date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0743297784
• ISBN 13: 9780743297783
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 400