Listen up! Your friends might have some great ideas.
(photo courtesy Shutterstock)

Over dinner one night on a recent trip home back East, a friend asked me what I was up to at Idealist these days.

I told him I manage a blog that helps people turn their good intentions into action. He gave me a confused look.

“Well, what do you want to do to make the world a better place?” I said.

I had asked him the question hoping to clarify the nature of my job, but it occurred to me in that moment something more profound was happening.

In all my nine years of working for social good, and lately, talking with Idealists about all the great things they’ve done, I realized I’d never asked my friend that before. Or any of my friends for that matter. Same with my family.

“I don’t know,” he said. “Write children’s books, I guess. I want to give them some new morals to think about. I already have a draft of one written.”

My husband Craig was sitting at the table. For months, he’d been penning songs about hippos with high self-esteem and proud penguins for our year-and-a-half-old daughter.

“Awesome! Did you know Craig has been writing kids songs with the same goal in mind?” I said.

He didn’t. They spent the next 20 minutes talking about what they were working on, and just like that, a connection was made. All from asking one question.

Everyone has something in the world they’d like to see get better. So next time you’re with your friends or family, try asking them about it. You might be surprised to find their dreams are no different than yours.

—

What’s one thing you want to do to make this crazy world of ours more livable and lovable? Let us know in the comments!