Throughout out life and career we meet a lot of people. And we leave an impression on them.
It doesn’t matter if we are the kid in the mailroom, the person behind the cash register, the doorman at the hotel, or the executive in the cafeteria.
Each time you have an interaction, whether it’s in person, on the phone, or digitally, you are affecting someone. Yes, they will walk away with an impression of you, but I’m not talking about that.
My post from yesterday, about winning, got much more commentary than I expected. I’m not just talking about the comments on the post, but also feedback off-line.
It affected someone.
Want to know something funny?
About 75% of the time I finish a blog post and think “that was a dud. Boring, cliche, not much to it.” I think this comes from the fact that I read the post and think “man, how do I really get my message across?” Sometimes words seem so inadequate.
And those are the posts where someone let’s me know how much they loved it. Not “oh, you are such a great writer,” rather “that post really had an affect on me today.”
I guarantee that you are affecting people today. Your responses, the respect you show, the actions you take to show someone you care about them or their issues… somehow today you are going to affect someone.
You’ll never know how you affect them, and how many people you affect.
Can you think of something… one thing, that you can do today that will have a positive impact on someone?
I should say that this is good for your career and your personal brand, and it’s a great way to network, etc. etc. That’s all true. But for me, it’s much bigger than just having a stronger network. We all have a chance of changing the world for the better, even if it’s just one person’s world.
What can you do today to affect just one person?
That’s a great observation. And you affect people, even when they won’t tell you. I bookmarked your post yesterday under “best,” but didn’t comment… You often make a difference without knowing it. This is a good reminder to tell others when they affect you so that they will feel appreciated and won’t get burnt out.
It’s a big responsibility to take this message to heart. But when you think about it, you have the power to affect people positively or negatively. A lot of times, we only hear about it when it’s negative. Positive change doesn’t really get a lot of press most of the time. So I think one big way you can impact someone positively today is to tell them how they have impacted you!