Categories: Articles

Do Some Good. Right Now. Today.

I’m a parent. I’ve got two kids. Life changes when you have kids.

The truth is that life changes when you become an uncle (or an aunt) or when you have kids in your life. Prior to that experience, you tend to see kids screaming or having meltdowns in the airport and you think to yourself, "I’m glad that’s not me." Now, when I see kids having a meltdown I feel for the parents and I want to help out in any way possible. Have you ever been to a children’s hospital? That’s when reality really kicks in. Being a parent has changed me… dramatically. I used to love watching boxing and UFC, but I can hardly stand violence or anything combative (this includes violent movies, etc…). I’m a sucker for a good story, and where I used to think that I was dead inside, I now shed a tear for some of the most inane things in life.

Suffering sucks.

With those emotional changes comes a complete disdain for things like war and strife. Our world is a very unbalanced place. For the amount of wealth and prosperity that many of us see, the majority of human beings on this planet struggle with access to the most basic of things (like clean water and medical attention). If you’re reading this Blog – no matter how much money you have in the bank – you have hit the genetic lottery. You won. You have access to things like heat, shelter, food, water, etc… As much as suffering sucks, kids suffering sucks more… in fact, it sucks the most.

$20 is all that I am asking of you today.

I know that times are tough. I know that the job market is unstable. I know that you have bills to pay. I also know that you can – without a doubt – scrounge up $20 to save some children’s lives. It is not a big ask and I never really ask this community for anything, but I am asking for your help and support today. Today is End Malaria Day. Kids are dying from malaria simply because they don’t have a malaria net. They’re cheap, easy to manufacture and they know who needs them. All we need is your help to make this happen.

What if I gave you hundreds of dollars in value for your $20?

This isn’t just an ask to make a blind donation to a good cause. In fact, it’s not a donation at all. I was asked (along with 60+ other authors) to contribute to a book called, End Malaria (and it comes out today on Seth Godin‘s new publishing imprint, The Domino Project). The book is filled with gems from people like Seth Godin, Dan Pink, Chris Brogan, Charlene Li, Jeff Jarvis, Gary Vaynerchuk, Sir Ken Robinson… and the hits just keep on coming. The book costs $20 for the Kindle edition and $25 for the paperback. So, I’m asking you to buy a book (or 5 or 10 or 20 or 100 copies) that is filled with golden business goodness (and yes, I’ve read it and there is TONS of good stuff) and in doing so, all of the money ($20 from the sale of every copy will go to Malaria No More). How often in life can you buy a book with this many great thinkers and actually save lives at the same time?

I’ll ask that you look at this differently.

You can do some good. Right now. Today. It’s twenty bucks. In making that happen, you will get the End Malaria book as a souvenir to remind you not just of your good deed, but that kids (young kids, babies) are helpless and they need our help. A strong society is always judged by how we treat our most frail and vulnerable. These kids are our kids.

Will you help and be a true game-changer in our world?… and don’t forget to kiss your kids tonight.

Here’s how to buy the book…

End Malaria – Kindle Edition.
End Malaria – Paperback Edition.

Mitch Joel

Mitch Joel lives at the intersection of technology, business transformation and consumer culture. He is the Executive Director of Next Era Institute, a strategic intelligence platform helping leaders understand the forces reshaping business, technology, culture and society. The Institute identifies which shifts matter, explores their wider significance and translates them into strategic direction and momentum. Mitch is also a globally recognized keynote speaker. He has delivered thousands of presentations across both B2B and B2C industries to organizations including Google, Walmart, LEGO, Shopify, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble and Unilever. Strategy Magazine has called him “one of North America’s leading visionaries.” Mitch built his career by working directly inside the waves of change that reshaped modern business. He founded and built a digital marketing agency that worked with some of the world’s largest brands and was later acquired by WPP, where he served as President of a firm operating in 25 countries with almost 3,000 employees. Mitch is the bestselling author of Six Pixels of Separation and CTRL ALT Delete, and the host of Thinking With Mitch Joel, one of the longest-running business podcasts in the world. His writing and commentary appear in outlets including Harvard Business Review, Fast Company and Inc. Magazine. He is a member of Dr. Marshall Goldsmith’s 100 Coaches and was named to the Thinkers50 Radar. Mitch also hosts Groove – The No Treble Podcast, documenting the oral history of electric bass players. Mitch is also Co-Founder of ThinkersOne, a platform that enables companies to bring personalized thought leadership from world-class experts into meetings, events and off-sites in focused 15-minute bursts.