Issue #1: Doing Big Things in Small Ways.

Start from where you are. 🤗

I stayed up late on Saturday night to write this. I had read so many essays in the past two weeks I was not sure which one to share. The essay I’ll be sharing today was one I read last week while I was trying to declutter my Twitter following. At the time, it did not yet strike me how important this essay is and the message the writer was trying to pass across. It was not until when I listened to Chimamanda’s words on influence and impact while watching her interview with Moussa Mchangama during this year’s International Author’s Stage event - it was not until I heard her words that I remembered this essay and knew I had to share this with you. 

In the essay titled Cycle of Influence, Allen Akinkunle talks about an encounter he had while he was driving through the Lekki-Epe expressway and how this encounter opened up thoughts about influence and impact. 

Akinkunle’s story is one I can relate to. When I had just moved to Lagos last year, I used to travel from Iyana Ipaja to Ikeja GRA every day for work. Initially, I took Bolt rides. But with time, it dawned on me that this was not something I could afford. I had to learn the art of taking public transport in Lagos. If you know anything about Lagos, then you’d know the total madness that is public transport. But then, that is not my focus.

My point here is this: during that time, I saw a dark side of Lagos. The side of Lagos that we don’t often see on Instagram. We know it exists but we don’t often acknowledge it. I saw people with all sorts of deformities being placed at various corners in Ikeja every morning so they could beg for money. It was an eyesore. There was a day it rained and these crippled beggars remained in the rain, unable to move to shelter and no one could move close to them to help. It felt like…an abomination. 

I often think too much about things I can’t control. Like World hunger, like Global poverty, like people begging at corners on Ikeja Along every morning. And the big question is always this: what can I do? Should I feel guilty for not dropping Fifty Naira? What will the Fifty Naira do? 

This is why I am sharing this essay - because it answers this question. It talks about the difference between what you are concerned about and what you can influence, and how to differentiate both and also do something impactful. Taking some tips from Steve Covey, Akinkunle talks about two circles: the circle of concern which refers to the many things you are concerned about such as gender inequality, world hunger, and female genital mutilation; and then the circle of influence, which are the things you can actually influence or do something about. 

In today’s essay, Akinkunle wrote:  Oh, how I wish I could snap a finger like Thanos and poverty, homelessness, and pain would disappear. Oh, how I wish. But I don’t have such powers. My powers are limited, but limits don’t mean they are useless. I can still change a lot of things.

This is the truth: there are many things we cannot change or even influence. It sucks to be powerless. But then, there are things we can change and influence. They may seem inconsequential in the grand scheme of things but they are not. They are important too and most importantly, they matter because you can actually do something about them aside from the regular lament and concern. You can take action that matters. And because of this possibility to effect change, to do big things in small ways, those little concerns matter. 

Here is to doing those things - to understanding that you can’t stop female genital mutilation but you can donate to organizations working to educate local communities to stop the practice; or that you don’t have the money to build a library in Lagos, but you can donate your novels and storybooks to secondary schools and even to your friends. It’s not the same as having the power to do things the way we’d like, the big way; but it matters because it creates an impact. And sometimes that’s all that matter, whether big or small: creating impact is all that matters. 

To read the complete essay by Allen Akintunde, press here. 

If you have some thoughts to share or an essay you think we should read, you can write back to me by replying this email or tweet about it using the hashtag

#TheERClub so we can find it. 

Before you go, here is an unrelated quote from my readings last week:

"Incredible things are happening in the world. Right there across the river, there are all kinds of magical instruments while we keep on living like donkeys.”

- One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

Cheers to an impactful week! 🎉