Not nothing; just not everything

Like any good parent exposed to too much tech, we try to capture every funny and precious moment of our kids on camera.

Our first kid anyway… we pretty much caught every significant thing he did. Our second has far less footage, and I’ve had a weird guilt about it.

So tonight I mashed all the videos together, and after we watched them I was like “ok, so we don’t have nothing, we just don’t have everything“.

And it instantly connected to work in my head.

Specifically, adding to your business some “for-good-ness”, or “purpose” or “climate action” – or whatever you call it in your world.

When it comes to that, I feel like something is always better than nothing – whether you now bank ethically; strategically vet your suppliers; only work with companies whose mission you support; donate chunks of cash to a cause you believe in; or your-alternate-thing-here.

It’s better than nothing, provided that:

• Your “good” is truly impactful (ie, it’s not lazy offsetting, and it’s not greenwash)
• Your other activities don’t negate the good (in other words, you don’t use the “good” to divert eyes away from other questionable stuff you know your should be addressing)

Your not-nothing, with intentions in the right place, will be meaningful. And it’ll bring you closer to the next not-nothing, until you have quite something.

You’ll never do everything – no one ever has. And nor could I have truly hoped to capture everything with either of my kids.

Rack up the not-nothings – believe me, they’re wins.