You wanted to make a difference in criminal justice reform. The data and stories were clear: the system was broken, communities were hurting, and change was desperately needed. You decided to get involved with a nonprofit working on these issues, armed with ideas, passion, and that bright confidence that comes from knowing just enough to feel certain about the solutions.
Then you started getting more involved in the actual work.
The Learning Curve
As you got deeper into the work, you discovered layers of complexity that weren’t visible from the outside. What seemed like straightforward problems had interconnected causes. Simple solutions had unintended consequences. The clear narrative from news stories became much more nuanced.
You dove into research, attended meetings, and tried different approaches to help. Some efforts worked better than others. Progress felt slow and sometimes frustrating.
The wall you thought you could easily scale turned out to be massive, stretching beyond the horizon in both directions.
The Confidence Crash
This is when some people quit.
Your initial confidence crumbles, and that inner voice starts: “This is too complicated. You’re in over your head. Maybe you should leave criminal justice reform to the experts who’ve been doing this for decades.”
But here’s what you’re missing in that moment of doubt: your lost confidence isn’t a sign of failure. It’s proof of progress.
What You’ve Actually Learned
When you started, you had opinions about criminal justice from news articles and social media. Now you understand the difference between having opinions and creating change. You’ve learned what you didn’t know you didn’t know.
That overwhelming complexity you see now? It was always there—you just weren’t experienced enough to recognize it. The problems that seem insurmountable? They were invisible to you before because you didn’t have the competence to spot them.
You’ve moved from unconscious incompetence to conscious competence. It feels uncomfortable, but it’s exactly where you need to be.
The Real Enemy
The real obstacle isn’t the complexity of criminal justice reform. It’s the voice in your head that interprets difficulty as impossibility, that mistakes your growing awareness of problems for evidence that you should quit.
This voice is seductive because it offers relief from the struggle. But here’s what it doesn’t tell you: the solutions are still out there. They’re not simple, and they’re not quick, but they exist. More importantly, you’re now better equipped to find them than when you started your nonprofit.
The Choice Point
Every successful person working in criminal justice reform has stood exactly where you’re standing. They’ve felt overwhelmed by the system’s complexity, frustrated by setbacks, tempted to step back from the work. The difference between those who create lasting change and those who don’t isn’t special talent or perfect circumstances.
It’s the decision to keep going when the work gets hard.
Your community still needs your involvement in this work. The problems that sparked your passion haven’t disappeared—you just understand them more deeply now. That understanding, painful as it feels, is your greatest asset.
Moving Forward
The next time doubt creeps in, remember: losing confidence isn’t losing ground. It’s gaining wisdom. The wall is real and challenging, but you’re not the same person who first approached it. You’re stronger, smarter, and more capable of creating meaningful reform.
Your involvement in criminal justice reform may not look like what you originally envisioned. The path forward may be more complex than you imagined. But the solutions are still out there, waiting for someone with your hard-earned competence to find them.
The only thing that will truly stop your work in criminal justice reform is the decision to quit. Everything else is just part of learning how to make a difference that lasts.
If you want to increase the probability of a successful impact, joining our community could be a good start.
