How To Start A Movement In Six Easy Steps

Why of course that was a trap! There are no six easy steps to start anything, let alone a movement?!

But having initiated, built, lead, and sustained one in the largest democracy of the world over six years today, I have to admit, no one prepared me for this ride *whew*. No, really, I have learnt tremendously from watching my national (umm technically international) initiative grow, and as everyone else does, I think my tips are real gems. Here’s how I built www.IndianAces.org, and got recognized by the BBC as one of the world’s 100 most influential, inspiring, and innovative women. (Wait till you Google what obscure and unexplored subject I decided to spend all of my good years on.)

Here are six difficult pills to swallow that you might have to swallow nevertheless:

1. Don’t set out with the intention to build a movement.

   You heard me. Focus on the cause, the intent, and its impact instead.
   
   When I started Indian Aces, a collective for asexual spectrum people in/from India, I’d never sat down and planned it to become the movement it has become today. I saw a need, a gap, and I felt I could contribute to close it somewhat. I decided to do what I could. My motivation lay fully in the people, the community, and Indian Aces’ impact on their lives. I literally started with a Facebook page, which I thought would remain a page; I couldn’t have imagined what it has become.
   
   Actionable: Find a *cause* that holds meaning according to you, in and of itself.

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2. Teamwork? Walk alone.

   Okay, allow me to explain: Do not *wait* for other people to join you. Start regardless.
   
   I have been willing to go to absurd and unhealthy lengths to have someone lead the movement with me. But I will only allow someone with the same passion, commitment, and tender loving care near IA. Which looks unlikely. So hey, till the time I find my tribe, ekla cholo re is my anthem. If you think one person cannot change the world, you’re wrong. One committed person over a decade can mobilize more than a lukewarm team could in a year. Sometimes, it’s for the best.
   
   Actionable: Waiting for others to do something? Do what you can.

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3. Prepare for the naysayers, brickbats, haters, and poopers.

   You have no other option.
   
   Honestly, I struggle with this to this day. Especially the poopers. What’s a pooper? It’s somebody who comes along and casually causes DISASTROUS levels of harm to your cause, shitting all over the diamond castle you’d been building. And hey, they’re not alone. Their handiwork of damage to your labour of love will be completed by those who will laugh off your attempts, the curious cynics, the ‘neutral’ critics, and the basic plain haters. Remind yourself they will ALWAYS come, no matter your intentions.
   
   Actionable: Plan accordingly, so they can just pass through, causing lesser damage.

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4. Be an opportunist.

   As crass as that sounds, if you see your cause/movement/initiative as your baby, you will be able to go jump over your usual boundaries of shame for it.
   
   Between the years 2017 to 2019, there was probably not a single trip I took, anywhere in the world, where I did not try to also organize an Indian Aces/ Aces meetup, workshop, or an awareness campaign. Heck, I conducted a workshop on the day of my sister’s wedding reception because it was in a different city and the afternoon was free! You might be the person who never raised their hand in class, but like me, you will gain tremendously from creepily visualizing your initiative/cause as your child that you must nurture or it will die…
   
   Actionable: Push your cause to succeed, as you would your child.

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5. Consistency is overrated. Perfectionism is an escalator to failure.

   Again, hear me out: Commitment is more important than either, and yes, sometimes you do have to choose.
   
   If you’re one of the lucky ones who got yourself a team and ample resources to never have to choose, I might envy you, but hey, great! Me? I wasn’t.
   I’m more committed to my cause than to my previous tendency for perfection. My stance has changed dramatically, all thanks to Indian Aces and the choices I had. I couldn’t afford to be perfect. Now, I’d rather organize that campaign with the one little flaw than no campaign, and take a break in order to save me and my baby from a burnout.
   
   Actionable: One, do the thing. Two, take a break. Three, come back to the thing.

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6. Don’t have a long term goal!

   You don’t need to know ‘where you see yourself 5 years down the line’, because there’s a curve ball coming in anyway.
   
   This will have all motivational, HR, and corporate leadership gurus shunning my pearls of wisdom already, but when you’re entering uncharted territory, a.k.a driving alone on a pitch dark road on a moonless night, you can still go places with just your car’s headlights on. All you need to see is your immediate next few meters. Don’t get deterred if you don’t know the full width of the road, the number of lanes, and the turns and forks that might be coming in 200 miles, you don’t need to, and tbh, they get created as you go. A general sense of the direction and the purpose of the drive is enough.
   
   Actionable: They were on to something when they said ‘A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step’.

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Dr. Pragati Singh

You’re invited to a live interactive video chat on the journey, and the steps and missteps it involved, on 10 April, 2020, at 9 pm, on www.Instagram.com/IndianAces_