We all want to make a difference, but we can’t wrestle with our place in the world all the time — we have lives to live. Responsibilities, distractions, and the mind’s inevitable drift toward comfort keep us from exploring our inner revolutionary. Understandably so.
And yet, we all move through the systems around us every day. Whether we like it or not, our energetic fingerprint lingers in every room, conversation, and relationship.
The fact that we're shaping culture—subtly, constantly—just by how we move through our lives makes personal evolution the most practical and accessible form of activism.
So, the question becomes: What kind of person do we need to be? What attributes move culture forward even when we’re not trying to?
Because while we do need people doing different things, we mostly need people being different things.
create-a-player
When I was a kid, playing whatever sports video games were available, I was always drawn to "create-a-player" mode. A chance to customize the attributes of a given player (naturally named Jay Barrow) — to craft their skillset from the ground up. Granted, there wasn’t much customization; it was just me toggling every attribute to its maximum level. Speed: 99. Stamina: 99. Awareness: 99. Strength: 99.
That's the frame we're employing today.
If we were creating the ultimate culture-shaping archetype for the world ahead, who would they be? If ambition, hustle, and bravado are tired, what traits still matter?
building the archetype
Curiosity: Making sense of this moment and our individual place in it is an ongoing process. There are no simple answers, no fixed solutions. Cultivating curiosity means staying relentlessly open to new possibilities, new paths forward for ourselves and the collective. It means being humble enough to change our minds. To form strong opinions but hold them loosely. Because complexity is an invitation to explore, not an obstacle to avoid.
→ Read the article you’d typically shy away from, see where it leads
Service: Rigid individualism was a bad blueprint from the start. We aren’t separate from the whole — we’re embedded in it. Service is about remembering that we exist for each other and that cooperation is our superpower. Acting out of self-interest is natural; we all do it. But the goal is to blend ‘me’ and ‘we’ — to grow as individuals, with others in mind.
→ Assess the communities you’re a part of, and find a new way to contribute to them
Imagination: It’s easy to spot what’s broken. Seeing what comes next takes work. Imagination isn’t naïve; it’s a hard-earned skill to exist outside the status quo. The future belongs to people willing to picture something better, even (especially) when cynicism or detachment feels easier. Fresh thinking is gold in these uncertain times — but it’s in short supply. We need to be the ones who see beyond the cracks, and challenge others to see what we see.
→ Do the thought exercise: What does a post-chaos world look like? Dream a little bit.
Balance: The most consistent contribution we can make is being the steady hand in our communities. We need people who are bold and grounded at the same time. Present — refusing to get lost in distraction, anxiety, or mental noise. Resilient enough to stay rooted in turbulence. It’s this steadiness that creates space for others to find their own footing.
→ Take inventory of the things that ground you and make them non-negotiable
Courage: The hardest one. It’s easy to hold good intentions, tougher to act on them. Courage means putting something on the line — risking being misunderstood, rejected, uncomfortable. It means doing the inconvenient thing, operating outside the expected norm when necessary. We’re looking to create a better future than the default, and that depends on bold action from people willing to lean into discomfort — always has, always will.
→ Have the hard conversation. Post the content. Do the thing you know you’re here to do.
your corner of the world
The question isn't if we're leaving an imprint — it's what shape it takes.
We live in relation to each other — to the good, the bad, and the ugly of modern society. There's no opting out. Even as we're drawn toward comfort, detachment, and the belief that "it's all just too much,” we have a responsibility to engage in making the world better.
But that invitation isn't to overhaul our lives or become some public crusader. It's to recognize that becoming the kind of person who carries curiosity, service, imagination, balance, and courage into their corner of the world — that's its own form of activism.
So let's commit to looking closely at the attributes we bring to the table — and keep tuning them closer to ‘99’. For ourselves, sure. But mostly for each other.
We don't have to save the world. Just steward our corner of it, with the quiet understanding that it matters more than we think.
If not us, who?
J