I am not everybody’s cup of tea, and that is okay. (Trying to be everybody’s cup of tea makes me a weak cup of tea.)
Nobody cares if you have good ideas. You have to actually do the things.
Many times nobody will believe in your vision until it’s right there in front of them.
Present changes you want made as solutions to problems of people in power.
Powerful people often have fragile egos. Use prudence and observe what they are unsure about. Learning to strategically coax egos can get you far. (Yes, this is charisma.)
To make friends in a new place, find something to attend regularly where you see the same people again and again. Let people become familiar with you.
Tell people when you enjoy their work. Keep it to yourself when you don’t. (This includes social media content.)
No single piece of work will define me for the rest of my life. Most people who have a large amount of good work also have duds.
Narrative is a life skill—that is, to be able to determine what qualifies as a beginning, middle and end.
Anybody who is informed is qualified to write political commentary. You don’t need to be an expert. You do need to be well-informed. Read a lot of journalism, especially long-form.
Political posts are often driven by people wanting to believe something about their own identity.
Villainizing people who disagree with you isn’t helpful. It is much more effective to guide them so that they eventually feel they’ve arrived at your point on their own. Finding something—anything—to affirm with them on is a helpful way to get them to listen (e.g. “I think you’re right to be concerned about [x]. What is it about [y] that you think is causing [x]?”)
When somebody proves they just aren’t willing to hear you, they are no longer worth your time and energy. This applies to individuals, not groups.
When asking somebody a sensitive question, it can be helpful to couch it in language that suggests pattern without assigning pattern. Examples: “A lot of times when someone experiences [x], they [z]. Do you [z]?” // “Often when we hear of [x], we think [z]. Do you think this is true/we should be making that connection?” // “Some people might think this looks [x type of way]. What would you say to that?”