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The Lifelong Activist helps activists, volunteers, and others with a political or social mission be as productive as possible while avoiding burnout and leading a happy, healthy, and balanced life. The book offers easy and effective strategies for managing your mission, time, fears, and relationships.
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Hillary Rettig's Professional Biography
Hillary Rettig, author of The Lifelong Activist: How to Change the World Without Losing Your Way (Lantern Books, 2006), is a career/life coach and workshop leader who specializes in helping students, activists, artists, entrepreneurs and other “ambitious dreamers” overcome procrastination, perfectionism, fears, and blocks.
She honed her coaching strategy and techniques as head of two Boston-area microenterprise programs, where she and her teams assisted more than a thousand people from diverse backgrounds, including immigrants and refugees from more than thirty countries, achieve their business and artistic dreams. She also founded, and for many years ran, an Entrepreneurship for Artists program that won wide recognition, and has lectured on that topic at the Massachusetts College of the Arts and other venues.
Prior to entering the microenterprise field, Hillary founded and ran a successful technology consulting firm in New York City, and was also a technology and business journalist. In the latter role, she published hundreds of articles in magazines including Wired, Working Woman and Inc. Technology.
Hillary is a sought-after public speaker who has given talks at many nonprofit, activist, educational, and corporate venues. She has been quoted in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The San Francisco Chronicle and many other newspapers, and has appeared on WBUR public radio (Boston), WBAI community radio (New York), and many other radio broadcasts, as well as on CBS-TV network news and other television programs.
Hillary’s mission is to foster the happiness and productivity of – and prevent burnout among – as many progressive students, activists, artists, entrepreneurs and others as possible. She has previously worked in the labor, feminist and other activist movements, but her current focus is on vegetarianism and animal activism. She has also done significant volunteer work with Massachusetts’ refugee community, and is the foster mother of four South Sudanese refugees, all now adult and living independently.
Hillary is available to lead workshops on the topics covered in The Lifelong Activist, or for personal coaching, and may be contacted at lifelongactivist at riseup dot net. Her blog, which offers articles, advice and other resources for progressives, may be found at www.lifelongactivist.com.
About The Lifelong Activist
“Global warming, poverty, homelessness, or other pressing problems; take your pick—and then use the organizing and time-management tools in The Lifelong Activist to change the world.” —Adam Hochschild, author of Bury The Chains and King Leopold’s Ghost
“People often ask how I manage to continue devoting myself to progressive activism (such as the free software movement) for years without burning out. The best way I can answer is by recommending…The Lifelong Activist.” — Richard Stallman, founder of the Free Software movement and MacArthur Fellow
“If I had but one book to spend hard-earned cash on this year, The Lifelong Activist would be it, hands down.” — Review, Daily Kos, 12/4/06
The Lifelong Activist: How to Change the World Without Losing Your Way (Lantern Books, 2006) is a guide to living a joyful and productive life that includes a strong progressive mission. It offers simple and clear instructions that help you figure out the form your authentic life should take, and live that life with a maximum of joy and productivity, and a minimum of fear, guilt and shame. The book’s sections are:
Managing Your Mission (Figuring out your authentic mission)
Managing Your Time (Building a schedule that allows you to realize that mission)
Managing Your Fears (Beating perfectionism, procrastination and blocks to success, so you can follow your schedule), and
Managing Your Relationships (Leveraging your strengths with those of others)
The Lifelong Activist is aimed at liberal activists, artists, labor organizers, volunteers, students, teachers, human services workers, and entrepreneurs, but anyone can use it and learn from it. Young people at the beginning of their careers; those contemplating a career or path change; and those at risk for burnout will find it particularly useful.
To order The Lifelong Activist, visit the Lantern Books website or call 800-856-8664.