The GOOD 30-Day Challenge: Become a GOOD Citizen

Distilled to its most basic form, GOOD is about the various ways, big and small, people give back to their communities. One wishes that the sort of human kindness we herald would come naturally, like breathing or yawning, but we understand how difficult it can be to give a damn. If caring about this stuff were easy, there wouldn't be an entire nonprofit sector designed to winning your money and consideration.

Owing to this internal struggle between selflessness and selfishness, our GOOD Challenge for February is to snap you out of the selfish habits into which we all sometimes fall and make you a great citizen—for a month, at first, but hopefully for ever after come March. To do this, we've partnered with Eric Liu, author of Gardens of Democracy, and Liu's Guiding Lights Network, an organization dedicated to promoting civic engagement.

---

Each day this month, we'll ask you to do a different task. It could be something as simple as supporting a local business instead of a chain, or yielding in traffic. Other, more time-consuming tasks will ask you to register to vote if you haven't already, or sign up for a library card. Nothing will be unmanageable, and everything will put you on the path to becoming a better citizen, regardless of where you live.

As usual, consider this post an open invitation to join in the challenge. Check GOOD.is at 8:30 a.m. EST every day of February to see that day’s task. Or, sign up for the challenge newsletter below. On Twitter and Facebook, we’ll be using the hashtag #30DaysofGOOD to keep you abreast of our progress, and we hope you’ll use it to let us know how you’re faring as well.

We're looking forward to seeing you in March, when we'll all be brighter, more informed, and friendlier people.

Propose an idea to promote GOOD citizenship in your community, and you could win $500 to make it happen.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJMiUUoPdkM