When I began blogging in 2012, I wanted to create a space where research could meet reality. My hope was to make complex ideas about education, justice, and policy understandable and useful for everyday people. What started as a simple blog became something more over time. It evolved this year into a daily practice of reflection and conversation, a space where readers, educators, policymakers, and communities could explore how systems might change. The longer I’ve produced the articles, the clearer it became that this work was not only about scholarship; it was about how people everywhere learn to face challenges, find purpose, and sustain hope in the midst of change.

The foundation of my approach rests on a framework developed by Harvard Business School professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter. Her “Six Keys to Leading Positive Change” speak not only to those in positions of power but to anyone striving to live a purposeful life. Kanter describes change not as a heroic performance but as a disciplined practice. Her six principles—show up, speak up, look up, team up, never give up, and lift others up—are guideposts for how we navigate the uncertainty of the world with clarity and compassion. These principles have become the scaffolding of my public scholarship, and they continue to shape how I think, teach, and live.

What I have discovered is that these principles extend beyond leadership or activism. They apply to the way we raise children, care for friends, pursue goals, and persist through difficulty. Every person, regardless of profession or position, can live these ideas. They are not instructions for perfection; they are reminders of humanity.

1. Show Up: Presence Is the Beginning of Purpose

Every meaningful effort begins with presence. To show up is to cross the boundary between thought and action, between wishing for change and becoming part of it. It is easy to stay at a distance, to comment on what should happen without ever entering the space where it must. To show up is to take the risk of proximity, to stand near the problem instead of watching from afar. In education, this means walking into classrooms, communities, and schools where policy meets reality. In life, it can mean showing up for a friend in pain, a family member in need, or a cause that feels bigger than you.

The old saying reminds us that half of life is showing up. What that phrase captures is the quiet power of presence. It is not the act of grandstanding or spectacle but the decision to be where it matters. Over the years, I have learned that scholarship means little if it exists only in journals. Research becomes real only when it listens to lived experience. My blogging was never meant to exist in isolation from the people it discusses. It is, at its heart, an act of showing up, an attempt to stay close to the truths that statistics alone cannot tell.

Showing up also means doing so consistently. It is not about a single moment of attention or outrage but about remaining steady when excitement fades. Anyone can care for a day; commitment is measured over time. The people who truly change their communities are not those who appear once for applause but those who keep returning long after the cameras are gone. In this way, presence becomes a practice of faith—a belief that showing up, even without immediate reward, still matters.

2. Speak Up: Voice as Everyday Courage

To speak up is to turn observation into accountability. It is the act of giving shape to what we know to be true, even when the truth is uncomfortable. Silence often protects power better than anything else. In education, silence allows inequality to persist behind the language of policy. In daily life, silence allows unfairness to settle quietly into our routines. Speaking up interrupts that comfort. It brings what has been hidden into the open.

Courageous speech is rarely loud. Sometimes it sounds like a simple question asked at the right time. It can be a parent advocating for their child, a student challenging an assumption, or a colleague naming what others avoid. In my experience, clarity carries farther than volume. Speaking up requires restraint as much as passion; it is not about shouting but about shining light where others have turned away. The truth, spoken steadily, has a power that anger alone cannot sustain.

Speaking up also builds connection. The purpose of voice is not to dominate but to invite dialogue. When we speak honestly and respectfully, we open space for others to share their truths. In a polarized world, that act becomes revolutionary. I seek to speak with, not just for, communities. In every life, we are called to use our voice not to elevate ourselves but to widen the conversation.

3. Look Up: Vision Restores Meaning

When life grows complex, people often forget to look up. They become absorbed by the next deadline, the next demand, or the next argument. Looking up means remembering the larger purpose behind our efforts. It means lifting our gaze from the immediate to the enduring. In education, this means remembering that schools are not factories of achievement but laboratories of humanity. In everyday life, it means grounding ambition in meaning and reconnecting our tasks to our values.

Looking up restores perspective. When setbacks accumulate, vision keeps us from mistaking a temporary failure for a permanent truth. The story of change is always longer than the chapter we are in. Purpose is the thread that carries us through discouragement. It reminds us that even small acts of integrity fit into a larger design. In this way, looking up is an act of imagination, it allows us to see possibility even when surrounded by difficulty.

This principle also shields against cynicism. People who remember their vision do not become defined by opposition or bitterness. They are clear about what they stand for, not only what they stand against. Looking up keeps us human when fatigue threatens to harden us. It allows us to choose hope without denying hardship. It teaches that faith in the future is not naïve; it is necessary.

4. Team Up: The Power of Connection

No lasting progress is achieved alone. The myth of the lone reformer or solitary hero overlooks the truth that change depends on community. To team up is to recognize that leadership is distributed, that strength multiplies when shared. In life as in work, our greatest transformations come from partnership. Collaboration does not dilute individual impact; it magnifies it. Even in the Marvel universe, the Avengers remind us that no single hero can save the world alone. The call “Avengers assemble” captures a universal truth: progress demands cooperation, trust, and the courage to bring our distinct gifts together for something larger than ourselves.

This work is thriving because it became a collective project rather than a personal platform. Readers, teachers, students, and community members have shaped almost every post I’ve written. Their comments, emails, texts, contributions, and collaborations have turned it into an ecosystem of shared learning. Teaming up is not only about strategy; it is about humility—the recognition that wisdom grows when it is exchanged.

Connection also sustains resilience. When progress slows or criticism rises, allies renew courage. In personal life, the same truth applies. The friends and colleagues who walk beside us in hard times give us the strength to continue. Teaming up is both a practical and moral commitment: to share responsibility, to celebrate others’ successes, and to ensure that no one carries the weight of hope alone.

5. Never Give Up: Persistence Through the Middle

Professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter calls it the “miserable middle”—that long stretch when the initial energy fades but the destination is still distant. Every meaningful project, every dream worth pursuing, passes through it. The middle tests endurance. It asks whether belief can outlast exhaustion.

Anyone who has raised a family, built a career, or tried to change a system knows this terrain. It is the space between promise and proof. Yet this is where transformation takes root. Muscles grow under resistance, and so does blogging. To never give up is not to deny hardship but to interpret it as evidence of motion. Difficulty is a sign that something is shifting.

Persistence also means caring for the spirit that sustains effort. People who endure longest know how to rest without retreating. Renewal is part of resilience. The goal is not endless exertion but steady devotion. When we understand that, perseverance becomes less about grinding forward and more about remaining faithful to what we know is right.

6. Lift Others Up: The Multiplication of Hope

This final principle completes the cycle. To lift others up is to transform personal progress into shared momentum. It is the recognition that our greatest measure of success is how many people grow stronger because we existed. Every act of generosity becomes an act of continuation, carrying hope beyond the boundaries of our own effort.

In my work, lifting others up means using visibility to make others visible. For example, each time I am able to amplify voices through the Uppity Minority series, it extends that same purpose, to highlight those who challenge convention and speak truth from the margins. The series exists to honor the courage of people who rise, often at high personal cost, to confront systems that prefer their silence. Their defiance is a form of generosity; it reminds others that resistance and integrity can coexist. In our daily lives, lifting others might look like mentorship, encouragement, or simply listening with full attention. These small gestures multiply trust and belonging, reminding us that courage is not the absence of fear but the decision to act despite it.

This principle reminds us that justice is not only about tearing down barriers but about building networks of care. The energy of compassion sustains longer than the energy of anger. When we lift others, we ensure that hope does not end with us. Change becomes a relay rather than a sprint, each person carrying the torch a little farther.

Living the Six Principles

These six ideas—show up, speak up, look up, team up, never give up, and lift others up—form the heartbeat of my public scholarship and the rhythm of a meaningful life. They are reminders that change begins not with perfection but with participation. They are habits of hope, small enough for daily life yet strong enough to reshape entire systems.

For anyone charting their own path, these principles offer direction. Show up for what matters. Speak up for what is right. Look up when the world feels heavy. Team up when the work feels impossible. Never give up when progress seems slow. And lift others up so that the light you carry can continue after you.

The pursuit of opportunity, like the pursuit of a good life, is never finished. It asks us to bring presence, persistence, and partnership to every moment. Between showing up and lifting others up lies the long, beautiful work of becoming fully human. That is the journey I continue to explore, and the invitation it extends to all who are willing to devote their time to the enduring work of reflection and renewal.

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Julian Vasquez Heilig is a nationally recognized policy scholar, public intellectual, and civil rights advocate. A trusted voice in public policy, he has testified for state legislatures, the U.S. Congress, the United Nations, and the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, while also advising presidential and gubernatorial campaigns. His work has been cited by major outlets including The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times, and he has appeared on networks from MSNBC and PBS to NPR and DemocracyNow!. He is a recipient of more than 30 honors, including the 2025 NAACP Keeper of the Flame Award, Vasquez Heilig brings both scholarly rigor and grassroots commitment to the fight for equity and justice.