10 Tips to Becoming An Advocate

The following tips are from Transition Magazine Spring/Summer 2007:

1. Volunteer - participate in boards and other community groups to get involved.

2. Educate yourself - learn about advocacy, go to meetings, attend seminars on advocacy, etc.

3. Find people who inspire you - talk to them, ask questions, find out what works for them.

4. Become knowledgeable about a topic - become passionate about a topic/issue and research, find out the information, talk to others, etc.

5. Be a problem solver - look at issues from all angles and develop the best course of action.

6. Be positive - find 'win-win' scenarios and try to stay focused on the positive even when it's hard to see the positive.

7. Listen!

8. Be patient - change can be slow, but it's worth the wait so enjoy the journey and learning along the way.

9. Don't quit!

10. Take care of yourself - burnout is common with advocacy so take care of yourself, have lots of support...don't do this alone because you don't have to.