The world is broken. Good 👍

Go make yourself useful!

24 October 2025

“The good thing about everything being so fucked up is that no matter where you look, there is great work to be done.” — Derrick Jensen

That line from the last chapter of Meditations for Mortals has been stuck in my head all week.

It’s something I’ve pondered for a while… With so much wrong with the world, why are so many people struggling to find meaningful work? If the problems are everywhere, shouldn’t the opportunities be too?

Maybe the answer is to stop waiting for the opportunities to come along and start diving headfirst into the problems that need fixing.

Making yourself useful

In June, I talked about learning by doing. Why’s that so effective? Because direct, hands-on experience beats theory (almost) every time. Reality don't lie!

But there’s a way to make this idea even more powerful: learning by helping.

Pick a skill you want to learn and use it to help someone immediately.

It’s still hands-on learning, but with an altruistic twist. You’re not practising in a vacuum – you’re solving real problems for real people. That accountability makes you show up, and the selfish part of it all is that it’s the fastest way to improve your skillz.

The Infobesity Trap

Many people learn in ways that look productive but lead nowhere. We sit through courses, binge tutorials, and scroll through endless “how to” content, convinced we’re improving. But all we’re really doing is stockpiling information. We’ve become morbidly infobese – able to explain concepts, unable to apply them.

Learning by helping is the antidote. You stop hoarding information and start doing something useful with it.

The Feedback Loop of Reality

Here’s what happens when you learn this way…

🤩 You get out of your head and into the world.

🤩 You turn theory into practice – learning with skin in the game.

🤩 You create evidence: results, feedback, and proof you’re improving.

🤩 You stop being a perfectionist, because someone’s counting on you to deliver something real.

🤩 You build relationships that matter – allies, mentors, and future collaborators who see what you can really do.

🤩 You stop wondering whether you’re ready and start discovering how fast you can adapt under real pressure.

That’s the power of accountability. Suddenly, that skill you’re learning has real stakes. When someone’s relying on you, you can’t hide. You apply what you’ve learned, right now, in the mess of reality. It’s uncomfortable, sometimes humbling, but it builds momentum. You start seeing what works, what doesn’t, where your gaps are. And every mistake tightens your feedback loop.

Start with the problem & work back

I think we’ve built education backwards. Schools teach skills in a vacuum, then test whether you can solve problems that have already been solved. Meanwhile, the world is burning…

What if we spent time tackling stuff like this?

Helping people reconnect – running local meetups, shared projects, or spaces that get humans off screens and back together.
Tackling waste by turning what’s already around you into something useful – fixing, reusing, or redesigning instead of throwing away.
Helping small businesses or freelancers tell their stories so good ideas get seen.
Teaching real-life skills where school never did – things like financial literacy, creativity, or confidence.
Building small systems of care that make it easier for people to stay mentally and physically well.
Using art, writing, or storytelling to bridge divides and help people feel connected again.

If you’re at a crossroads – unsure about university, stuck in a dead-end job, or need a reset – forget the linear path. Learning by helping flips the system: begin with a real-world problem and work backwards. Learn only what’s needed to solve it. That’s how I think education should work – problem first, skill second.

I realise I’m being extra over-the-top idealistic this week, but it feels like a strong guiding principle for the WIWILAS project. It takes creativity and courage to learn this way. I’m still figuring out how to do it myself.

But it doesn’t need to be world-changing. Our collective obsession with “impact” stops most people from making any. Small, local, quiet acts of service still count. That’s how things actually change!

What skill do you want to learn? And how could you learn it by helping someone?

3 Questions with… Anjeanette Carter

Solopreneur coach, 7-figure copywriter & agency owner

1- What do you wish you’d learned at school?

Going to twist this around a little. I wish that schools taught money management. I was fortunate to have an entrepreneur father who taught me financial education from a young age. It’s such a crucial skill that everyone needs, and not everyone comes from a family that knows how to best navigate finances. You can’t tip toe around how important money is to survival, and schools should be teaching this at every level!

2- What’s a lesson you had to learn the hard way?

So many, I don’t even know where to start! I’d say one that stands out the most is that success does not come overnight for most. I kept thinking I would wake up every morning and be successful. Efforts compound and slow growth is more common than explosive growth. Slow and steady wins the race…but I always still wish I could find a way to fast-track it.

3- What advice would you give someone just starting out?

The best advice I can give is to work more on your confidence than your skills. If you have confidence, you have everything. Skills can be learned, and most people are smart enough to pick up the tools they need to succeed. The ingredient that changes everything is confidence. If you don’t have it, find a way to fake it. Most people will question themselves, or dwell without taking action. Confidence is the one thing that will propel you to success.