The Power of Consumerism

Mind

Recently Daniel spoke at TEDx on the power of consumerism. His talk was about how we all have a responsibility to make choices and take actions that reflect our values and create the world we want to see. I wanted to share some of the takeaways from his talk, and how we can all start implementing these steps in our lives. I’m also excited for when his speech is released online for everyone to see, but until then here is a little preview and some ways to start taking action now.

Attending TEDx was an incredible experience. Every speaker there shared ideas and stories that helped shift my perspective and gave me new lenses to look through. Daniel’s speech focused on the power we all have in how we spend our money. This way of thinking has made huge changes in our lives, and has made us adopt the idea that every dollar your spend casts a vote for the type of world you want to live in.

Daniel’s talk has really made us focus on what we’re supporting with our purchases and it has made us get into the practice of double-checking that our choices are reflecting our values. Especially with us moving, we really had to reconsider all our purchases from furniture, to household cleaning products, to our food, and even our toothpaste.

His talk focuses on how we have the power to create a truly sustainable world by living our values and becoming a conscious consumer. How spending our money is one of the most positive and impactful things we can do to make a difference. He highlights four actions steps to help us be a Changemaker and be the difference we want to see in the world. By choosing companies and industries that we support, and making choices that are inline with our values, we shine brighter and live more authentic and happier lives.

Here are ways to implement this way of living into our lives:

Step 1: Define our Values

Before we make conscience decisions of how we spend our money, we should probably know what we value supporting. There is a single piece of advice that comes up from countless world-renowned CEO and top speakers: identify your values and use your values as a filter for all decisions you make.

I think it’s so important to sit down and really look at our values and if the decisions we are making are inline with them. What do you value? The environment, friends, family, animals, love, food, community, joy, equality, respect, education, and etc. Identify your values and how the purchases you are making can reflect them.

Step 2: Set an Intention

It’s up to us to take ownership of our actions. We can set an intention to educate ourselves about our choices and shift our buying habits. We can challenge each other to set an intention to live our values in all the decisions we make.

This is lofty challenge, but I think it’s something we can view as a practice. Something we work hard at doing and we see as a chance for us to chase our potential and gain greatness. When we set out with the intention of aligning our values with our purchases and choices, we live lives filled with purpose, happiness, and authenticity.

Step 3: Create an Awareness

We have a choice to become an aware citizen. And it is truly is a choice, information is more abundant than ever. We can choose to really educate ourselves about our choices and have an awareness of their impact. We can dig deeper and research the effects our decisions have. We can develop a critical awareness and curiosity about the impact our choices make on our community, our loved ones, the environment and the world at large. We can look at how we consume products and question our habits from how we eat to where we shop.

We need to create an awareness of the power we have as consumers to change the world and the responsibility that comes along with it. For us to embrace our greatness, we must choose to become aware of what we value and how we can live a life that represents those values.

Step 4: Shift our Habits

Shifting our habits can be very difficult, but it’s our responsibility to ourselves and to each other to live lives inline with our values and that make the world a better place.

Aristotle once said, “We are what we repeatedly do, excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” Living our values and making a difference, is not an act, but a habit. It is a practice that we must live and commit to in everything that we do.

This can be definitely challenging but we need to remember that pioneers choose and embrace struggle. They avoid comfort for long-term gain. By challenging ourselves we are choosing personal growth, by aligning with our values we are choosing happiness, and by practicing conscious consumerism we are choosing to create a better world for people, the environment and generations to come.

Daniel’s speech challenges us to shift our way of thinking and empowers us to make choices inline with our values. We have a choice in how we spend our money, and it’s up to us to be aware of the positive and negative impacts of our decisions. We need to step into learning and developing an awareness regarding our purchases and the businesses we support. We need to get curious, ask questions and do research. We need to put our values into everything that we do. Let’s come together to challenge each other and support one another to make this happen.

With love,

Lucy

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1 Comment

  • Reply Lydia le Loux December 11, 2015 at 2:26 am

    Very well said Lucy. Thank you.
    We’re ooking forward to the release of daniel’s Ted talk.
    Love lydia & Fred

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