Small Ways to Make a Big Difference | A Meaningful Existence

It's easy to feel that making a difference requires grand gestures: founding a charity, donating large sums or devoting your life to a cause. Those efforts matter. But much of the good in the world comes from small actions repeated by many people.

Kindness is good for the giver, too

A 2018 meta-analysis led by Oliver Scott Curry, which combined results from studies on performing acts of kindness, found a small to medium positive effect on the wellbeing of the people doing the kind acts. The authors noted the effect was modest and that more high-quality research was needed. Still, the direction is encouraging.

Everyday kindness

Hold the door, offer your seat, help with a heavy bag.
Learn people's names and use them.
Thank people specifically: service workers, colleagues, family.
Check in on someone who's going through a hard time.
Give genuine compliments. Our challenge day on compliments explains why they matter.

Giving

Give a little, regularly. A small monthly donation to a cause you care about adds up and helps charities plan.
Round up purchases for charity where available.
Donate blood, if eligible.
Donate items to food banks, shelters or charity shops.

If you want your money to go further, charity evaluators such as GiveWell publish research on effective organisations.

Local involvement

Support local businesses when you can.
Join a community clean-up or garden project.
Volunteer an hour a month at a local organisation.
Attend local meetings to have a say in your community.

Teach someone something: a language, cooking, a computer skill.
Mentor a younger colleague or student.
Offer professional skills to a charity or community group.

Being a good neighbour

Introduce yourself to new neighbours.
Offer help with shopping or errands to elderly or unwell neighbours.
Keep shared spaces tidy.
Share surplus: garden vegetables, baked goods, books.

Speaking up

Challenge unfairness when it's safe to do so.
Support people who are being excluded or mistreated.
Contact representatives about issues you care about.

Environmental choices

Reduce waste: reuse, repair and recycle.
Walk, cycle or use public transport when you can.
Plan meals to cut food waste. Our challenge day on planning your meals helps.

Make it a habit

Rather than trying everything, choose one or two actions and build them into your routine. A monthly volunteering slot, a weekly check-in with an elderly neighbour or a standing donation can become part of who you are.

Involve others

Kindness is contagious. Invite friends, family or colleagues to join you. Children, in particular, learn generosity by seeing it.

Try this

Choose one action from each of two categories above and do them this week. Notice how you feel afterwards.

Sources and further reading

Curry et al. (2018), Happy to help? A systematic review and meta-analysis of the effects of performing acts of kindness on the well-being of the actor, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology

Questions people ask

Do small acts really add up?

Individually, small acts make modest differences. Repeated over months and shared by many people, they become a large part of what makes a community kind and functional. They also tend to lift the mood of the person doing them.

How do I involve children?

Let them choose a cause, help with a donation drive, bake for a neighbour or join a family volunteering session. Children learn generosity mostly by watching and doing alongside adults.

What's the easiest place to start?

Pick one everyday act, such as thanking people by name, and one regular commitment, such as a small monthly donation. Two habits you keep beat ten you forget.