Editor's Note: Self-Improvement Is A Never-Ending Project

Two simple words: Do good. 

I try to live by that motto. I’m sure you do too. In all honesty,
I don’t live up to it every day. 

While working from home, the Cleveland Magazine editorial team meets over Zoom every morning to set goals for the day, especially when we’re on a print deadline (which seems like every day, right?). 

Since we started working from home in mid-March, we’ve ended each morning session with an ice breaker question, sometimes silly things like, “If aliens landed on Earth, would you go with them?” to the introspective “What have you always wanted to learn how to do?”

While some staffers (I won’t name names) loathe this team-building and early morning group activity, I find it a way to stay connected, gain insight into co-workers I’ve known for years and break free from our routines. 

But it was this morning’s question that really got me thinking: “What is your 2021 New Year’s resolution?”

The answers were varied. Someone plans on taking up archery. Others are going to try to become morning people. Some, including me, don’t necessarily believe in resolutions. For me, I’m a work in progress all year long. And that’s why I keep coming back to those two simple words: Do good.

Sure, I could focus on losing weight or becoming a better cook. But what I struggle with the most is how to be a better person. It starts within my core — if I have an argument, criticize someone or turn inwardly when I’m having a bad day, I know my emotions affect others. 

But then it’s bigger than that. With everything that’s going on right now with a historic presidential election rife with discussions around the COVID-19 pandemic, social justice issues, a faltering economy and the future of our nation’s health care, it can magnify what makes us different instead of what we have in common. 

Bottom line: It’s been making me contemplate how I can really do good — for our nation, our city and each other. Where do I even start?

There’s hope — for me and for you. If you’re looking for a few rays of light or a direction on how to bring unity, then the stories of local do-gooders in “A Generous Helping” (pg. 46) will motivate you. From a teenager inspired to collect blankets for the homeless to a mother dedicated to helping Cleveland youth learn how to read, it reminds me that there are plenty of ways to do good. And that’s a resolution I intend to keep.