10 Things I Learned From Being An Advocate

10 things I learned from being an advocate, that I wanted to share with people who are interested in advocacy:

1) You have to focus on a specific niche. You can't spread yourself too thin by getting involved with every cause, because you'll burn out. The more specific you are, the more effective you can be in enacting change.

2) Decide if you want to concentrate on legal reform, social change, education, awareness, etc. You can't do it all. Everybody is good at something. Some people are better at social media, some people are better writers, and some have a talent with the spoken word. You need to figure out what you are good at and concentrate on that.

3) You need to be assertive, yet polite and professional. If you are too aggressive, or you curse, or dress like a bum, no one is going to take you seriously. People get turned off when someone is in their face. You need to find a good balance between passive and aggressive and constantly re-evaluate your approach. 

4) You cannot respond to the haters. You can spend your entire life arguing with people who oppose you, and get so caught up that you don't have time to focus on your cause. Ignore the negative comments. It's soo hard, but you can't get sucked into that trap. You don't see politicians arguing with negative commentors on their statuses, so why should you? Don't waste your time!

5) You need to make sure that your cause is a 'hill you are willing to die on'. That means that you are willing sacrifice everything for your cause, including your safety. This is not an exaggeration. Sometimes people will be extremely opposed to your cause and will seek to harm you. Hot topic issues bring out the crazies. Sometimes speaking about your cause will land you in legal trouble. You need to make sure that this is a cause that's worth putting your life on the line for. If not, don't get involved. 

6) If you don't fully understand a cause, and  you cannot look at it objectively, do not get involved. Sometimes a cause looks really good on the surface and you passionately rally for it, but then to your horror you find out that there was a hidden agenda and by that time it's too late. Remember, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

6)  You need to be trustworthy. If you are untrustworthy, you have zero credibility. Never gossip, carelessly share others secrets or screenshot conversations you had in confidence. If you do, you will lose people's trust. No one is going to trust you because they will be afraid that will do the same to them. Some professions are bound by privacy laws, but as an advocate I always stress that confidentiality is of the utmost importance. I need to trust the people around me, and they need to trust me. I pride myself on having a reputation as a trustworthy person, and only surround myself with trustworthy people. Years ago I lost my best friend because she accused me of breaking her trust. I maintain my innocence to this day, but I never stopped mourning that loss, and committed to being super vigilant going forward.

7) Agree to disagree. Sometimes people will not agree with you. Attacking them and harassing them in order to change their mind is not going to help your cause. It's just going to alienate them and create ill will. Leave them be, and focus on growing your supporters.

8) Admit when you're wrong. Sometimes I'm wrong and I admit it. There is no room for ego in advocacy work. It's not about you, it's about your cause.

9) Learn to communicate effectively. Your message needs to be clear, concise, and easily understandable in 3 seconds. Work on cultivating your "elevator pitch". This means you should be able to completely communicate your entire message in a short amount of time. If people don't "get it", they're not going to care.

10) Lead by example. When you have a platform, people look up to you. You have a responsibility to be a good role model. Strive to become the person that inspires people, and people want to emulate. Never stop refining yourself.

If I were to summarize this list, I would say that your time and energy is not limitless. You need to focus on doing the best you can in a short period of time, because eventually you are going to get tired and slow down. If you have the momentum, USE IT! ...but use it wisely.