Vijaya is the Founder and Executive Director of Resolve Network and an adventurer. Ever since she learned to love failure and embraced the struggle, she's gotten victories she didn't think were possible.
https://twitter.com/thakuraine
http://resolvenetwork.org
16. #7: Identify
Your Excuses
1. Itโs not possible to strike at the root yet: no political will
2. The public doesnโt care about human rights
3. Symptoms are all we can get right now, weโll get to the
roots next timeโฆ(and never do)
4. Grassroots isnโt big enough โ too โbasicโ and small for
someone as smart and talents as me.
5. Maybe if we start with token measures, itโll grow into
something more substantial
18. #8. Evolve:
Identify Guiding Principles
1. Be honest with yourself. Keep your worst fears
upfront.
2. Identify the core of your goals, separate it from the
frills
3. Be dogmatic, uncompromising about shaping your
actions to achieve your mission
4. Embrace uncertainty, embrace the struggle.
5. Find a way or make one. Donโt ever accept
someone elseโs Kobayashi Maru.
20. #10. Get to work.
Be like Encyclopedia Brown,
โno case too small.โ
21. What do you resolve?
#IResolve @Thakuraine
@ResolveNetwork
vijaya@resolvenetwork.org
Hinweis der Redaktion
Start with a Big Deal Problem. Boy did I do this one right. I even had the right setting: weโre talking horrifying, straight-to-DVD movie, sobbing outside the Senate kind of moment.ย โWhy, Vijaya?โ you might ask. โWhat could possibly excuse public crying โ nay, full on heaving sobbing
in the one city where you never reveal vulnerability?I had just realized I was making genocide worse. ย Alright, big problem: check.
I donโt even remember what happened next. Somehow, I got home, drew the curtains, turned off all the lights, sank into bed, and just let go. For days, I didnโt eat or anything โ just lay there, going between crying, sleeping, waking, and staring blankly.
I didnโt even feel like I existed anymore โ and this is key. ย Sometimes, weโre afraid to fall apart because we want to know weโll come out on the other side. But itโs really important that you go all in, because otherwise you wonโt trust it โI wouldnโt have. I needed to admit the worst was true, or Iโd feel like the real breakdown was still lurking beneath the surface, and Iโd still be scared.
My uncle came by with ice cream and tried to get me to go out. I just told him that I had violated the biggest rule: first do no harm. I had failed at the only thing I ever cared about, Iโd hidden my own failures from myself for years, and there was nothing left for me.
Nope, no going out for me. Instead, I curled up in my PJs, figured out an effective Cherry Garcia delivery mechanism while maintaining the fetal position, and settled in to watch Gandhi on repeat.
He said if we got independence the wrong way, weโd be setting ourselves up for failure: we couldnโt possibly build the nation we wanted to be if we used the wrong means to get there. I had known that my approach wasnโt workingโฆ why hadnโt I had the courage of my convictions? Ah, I was ready to dissect.
This is the most important part. Chart out the entire process of your failure: how you failed and the steps that got you there. And do it with no agenda, or it might bias your analysis โ I didnโt think I was ever going back, but I needed to understand. ย There will be layersโ start with the facts, but keep peeling till you get to the emotional core of your failure.
For the five years leading up to this, I was living my dream working on genocide intervention policy and peace negotiations. I thought I was pretty awesome โ a DC Hotshot saving lives. But underneath that bravada, Iโd had this sick feeling in my gut for years that I had been afraid to look at too closely.
I knew that [it] wasnโt working. No matter how many victories I stacked up on the Hill, it never seemed to reach the people most affected by conflict. In fact, their lives were getting worse. Why?ย All the data, implementation studies
said #1 cause for project failure was a lack of connection to the grassroots. I had turned into a legislative contortionist trying to find ways to make GR fit into the existing model. But it didnโt work. Why?
We treat genocide like an event, not a process. Means we donโt strike at the root โ just symptoms. Maintained through structural violence โ is about power and access to resources. Donโt work at that, and not enough to do token GR work โ have to counter structural violence.
My work : I celebrated when my headache went away after taking 4 Advils, but I ignored the fact that I had a brain tumor and let it keep growing. Then, underneath these layers, I got to the real question. I had known all this. Why did I stay? That brings me toโฆ
For me: 1. I grew up thinking that policy was the only way to create systemic change.2.Said not possible to strike at root yet: political will, etc. Symptoms all we can get right now, will buildโฆ and then never do.3. Grassroots not big enough โ to really deliver results at the grassroots, would have to work at the grassroots. Too โbasicโ and small for someone smart like me. Plus, donโt get the glory of DC.
But the really big one : Grassroots was too scary: no real path. I was scared I might fail.That was the big one. I realized I had no excuses anymore. I knew what I had to do.
1. Be honest with yourself. Seek outโฆ 2. Identify the core of your goals, and separate it from the frills3. Be dogmatic, uncompromising4. Embrace uncertainty, embrace the struggle5. You canโt be half a person.