You want to – but how? (Photo: axiepics)

As of Monday, I am now officially a Board Member for the Friends of the Ridgefield Wildlife Refuge. After thinking about this for sometime, I wanted to retrace my steps on how just one year ago I moved here, not knowing a soul other than family, and now knowing just about my entire community around me.

When I first moved to Ridgefield, I had just graduated college days before and was full of ambition, but also full of a “I’m gonna relax for a little while and then conquer the world” attitude. After helping out my family for a few months, reading tons of books, and while doing side jobs here and there I decided that it was time to get my entrepreneurial attitude and do something with it. So that’s when I decided to follow a passion of mine and start Graticle and stop talking about theory and start doing. (I always keep this quote from Albert Einstein in the back of mind “Reading, after a certain age, diverts the mind too much from its creative pursuits. Any man who reads too much and uses his own brain too little falls into lazy habits of thinking.”

What I also started doing was noticing what people twice my age were doing with their lives (basically the retired). I mean if anything was more important to look at, it is in my opinion, this. People this age are finally getting to do what they want to do (after grueling through 30+ years of their lives), and I thought recreating this in my own life it probably an important step. What I noticed first, was that people wanted to be a part of something and make a difference beyond their own life. This comes in different forms of course. You don’t have to be a full fledged advocate for a cause, only a simple voice that expresses their opinions at an outing with friends and family (there are always extremes but it’s important to note the stuff in between as well).

So what I noticed a lot of people doing, were joining organizations or becoming board members for a non-profit, profit, or otherwise.

Shortly after observing this, a note came in the mail that said there was an annual meeting for the city of Ridgefield, where you could get an overall update for what’s been happening and what will be happening in the community. So I thought what a perfect event for me to attend, since a) I knew no one outside of family and b) I should know what’s going on in the community. So I attended the meeting and realized I actually did know a couple of people from the community — from the bank that I have my business and personal bank accounts at. So at the door I already felt welcome and very interested in seeing what’s going on. During the meeting they announced they were looking for volunteers for a Ridgefield Junction Neighborhood Association and thinking about standing up, I chose otherwise. That is until the manager at the bank that I had met before announced that I should stand up and give it a shot. So I stood up, explained who I was and sat back down. The Board had a vote and next thing I know, I was on the Board and people were coming up to me left and right to introduce themselves. I was completely in awe and very excited to be part of the community since I had just moved there a few months prior.

During the same time I was also doing some research on the community and came across the Friends of the Ridgefield Wildlife Refuge’s website. I knew from the past from non-profit college classes and actually volunteering for a handful of non-profits (including the Fresno Comunity Food Bank and helping with their website) that non-profits are always in need for more help. And by the look of their website (and hopefully without offense) this was the case.

So I sent an email to the Friends and explained who I was was and wanted to help with their website. I got an email back from the Director explaining that she would like to meet with me to discuss this further. So another person and I completely re-designed their website (which you can view here) while I still continue to create and maintain it. I volunteered a ton but had a great time, met some great people, while also learned a lot about myself and even more about the community and the refuge.

After months of volunteering and the vacancy of a Board position, I was invited to see if this would be something I would be interested in. After attending a few meeting (and basically knowing most of the people) I decided I would like to ask that I be considered to join the Board. So this Monday I attended a meeting and was voted in as a Board member.

—

So what can you take away these events in my life?

1. Find out what you want to do (business, lay on the beach etc.) and spend some alone time with yourself to see what you’re going to need to make this goal a reality. This is easier said than done. Some people (like me) need a wake up call, or something in their life that says “alright, you’ve wasted enough time – now do something.” Fortunately for me, this came in mid college rather than ten years later down the road.

2. Start making baby steps toward that goal. For example, do you need to send an email to someone to get the ball rolling? There’s nothing more powerful than being held accountable for an action from another person. Also, don’t think about all the steps it’s going to take, only the next step. As famously put by Martin Luther King Jr.: “Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”

3. Work hard. There’s no remedy here. Work your butt off.

Posted on February 12th, 2010