The act of the month, October 2026
Repair one thing.
Everyone is carrying one. The apology that is two years late. The thing you said in public that turned out to be wrong and never took back. The money or the favor you owe and have been letting quietly expire. This month, fix one of them. Then tell us, in one line.
That is the whole ask. No membership, no pledge, nothing to sign. One repair, done, reported. We count them and we publish the count, even when it is small.
Do the thing first.
Send the message, post the correction, pay the debt or write down what you owe. The report comes after, never instead.
Keep it to one line.
“Apologized to my brother for 2019.” “Corrected a wrong statistic I posted in March.” That is plenty. No essays, no names of the other person.
No repair is too small.
A returned library book counts. A two-sentence text counts. The point is the muscle, not the size of the weight.
Three templates you can adapt in ten minutes
Copy, fill in the blanks, cut anything that sounds like a lawyer wrote it. Each one does the same three jobs: say what you did, say what it cost the other person, say what you are doing about it. Nothing about your intentions. Nothing about how bad you feel.
The overdue apology
For the thing you did or failed to do, however long ago. Text, email, letter, or out loud.
I have owed you this for a while. In [month, year] I [what you did or did not do, in plain words]. It [what it cost them: left you covering for me, embarrassed you in front of the team, meant you heard it from someone else].
I am not asking you to say it is fine. I wanted you to know I see it, and I am sorry. If there is something I can do about it now, tell me and I will do it.
Cut the word “if” from any sentence that starts “I am sorry if”. Do not explain why you did it. If they do not reply, the repair still happened.
The public correction
For the claim, statistic, or story you posted or repeated that turned out to be wrong. Same platform, same audience.
Correction. On [date] I said [the claim, quoted]. That was wrong. [The accurate version, with the source.] The mistake was mine: [one clause on how it happened, if you know]. I have edited the original to point here.
Post it where the wrong thing was seen, not somewhere quieter. Link the source. Do not delete the original; add the correction to it. If the wrong thing traveled, tell the people who repeated it.
The debt or favor, acknowledged in writing
For money you owe, a favor you never returned, or a promise you let lapse. Written, so it exists outside your head.
I owe you [the amount, or the thing, named exactly]. I said [what you promised] in [month, year] and I have not done it. Here is what I can do now: [pay it in full on this date / pay it in these installments / do the thing by this date]. If that does not work for you, tell me what would.
Name a date. A repair with no date is a feeling. If you cannot pay in full, a smaller amount on a real date beats a larger amount on “soon”.
Then tell us. Three doors.
- The form below. One line on what you repaired. Initials and city if you like. Tick the box if we may show your line on this page.
- Bluesky or Mastodon. Post your line with #RepairOneThing, or reply to the month’s thread. We read every one and we answer.
- Email. hello@goodworkmovement.org, subject “Repaired one thing”.
We count by hand every Sunday and update the number at the top. It will say 3 before it says 300, and we will publish it either way.
Report a repairWhy this, why now
Because a standard is measured by conduct, not by agreement. Anyone can say they value repair. The measure is whether you did one this month. This is the first of a monthly series, one act each, all doable alone, online, in an afternoon: repair in October, correct in November, thank in December, ask in January.
It is the fourth commitment of the Accord: to repair harm when we cause it. You do not have to have read a word of it to take part.
Repaired
One line each, with permission, added by hand as they come in. The list starts when there are five.
We keep what you send us only to count it and, if you ticked the box, to show your line here with initials and city. No names of third parties are ever shown. Ask and we remove your line the same day. We never sell or share the list.