Hacking at the Branches of Evil
"There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root."
–Henry David Thoreau
If you want the world to be better, the most effective place to direct your energy and attention is inward, not on the symptoms of a collective disease.
"Inward" means "pay attention to what you're doing." Be an objective observer of your actions, thoughts, and decisions.
Learn to learn better.
Your feelings and emotions are signals about how you're living. They do not tell you the objective shared reality, or the deeper truth about the world, but the deeper truth about yourself. If you find yourself blaming others, you are ignoring the cause of the signal: yourself. Only you can create things like anger, hate, and shame within yourself. Find out the real reason, which is within your own behavior.
If you are in chaos, your map of the world needs to be adjusted. Only you can do that. That means look for your beliefs in how you act, and see where they've led you into chaos. Find a better perspective of the truth that serves your progress.
Stop repeating your mistakes.
They will get worse until you learn from them. Don't feed the negative emotions that come with mistakes, but focus on what they teach you about yourself and what you can do to avoid it next time.
Break habits that might be hindering your growth, such as addiction to things that unbalance you. This is a decision you must make not once, but every time. To do that, you must be single-minded, not self-defeating.
Collect your parts and make them work together to become one. Pay attention to contradictions among your words and actions. Sort them out.
It's easier if you lower the probability of encountering your demons. Remove yourself from them, and focus on better things.
Learn to love who you can become by first accepting who you currently are.