How can we improve?

It makes sense to me that it is tough for anyone individual to know what is best for society. We can understand what is best for ourselves at any given moment. We can project what we think might be best for our future self and aim at that goal. We can work to improve conditions in our direct sphere of influence. Outside of that, we might not have much control or know-how. After all, how many times in history has someone known what we should do to have it turn out to be some debacle that created more problems than existed before the imposed solution? If we each improve ourselves, then society can begin to experience change on a larger scale.