We Sit, You Speak; We Ignite, You Shine
Impact Making: A Key to Success
“Success is more what you achieve on the inside, not the outside.” Dr. Margaret McKenzie
Making an impact involves ignoring our world’s problems and making your contribution (no matter how small) towards a better future. It also means doing your part in supporting initiatives that offer solutions to pressing problems.
You can make an impact by using emotional intelligence through empathy and listening. We all have tough days. Maybe it’s family, work, or personal stressors. Being able to provide a safe space for other people through deep listening creates trust. Trust is the foundation of meaningful relationships and fruitful partnerships. When you create trust in your relationships, people feel inspired to share openly and respond positively.
Making a positive impact can also be as simple as taking the time to acknowledge and inspire someone into action. Taking time to acknowledge someone by letting them know you see their efforts, talents, or resilience informs them that they are valuable and appreciated.
Sharing your knowledge and strength is yet another way to make an impact. It fosters and inspires others to grow. When you share with others, you’re teaching them something special about you and your journey. This creates new ideas and opportunities for everyone. You will further deepen your knowledge and skillset as well.
You may think – my knowledge or skills aren’t that special. You have your own unique set of strengths, knowledge, and experience, because of the life you’ve lived. Think about all the lessons you’ve learned and how they might change even a single person’s livelihood. Sharing your knowledge with your community is a beautiful gift.
Ways through which you can make a positive impact on someone or people around you:
- Pay More Attention: Whether it is helping a colleague to work on a project, doing household chores you have been putting off for months or years, or spending quality time with your children. Learn to become aware of what is happening around you and what others are experiencing. This helps you to live more fully in the present.
- Always Wear A Smile: A genuine smile is contagious. A smile is a universal language that can change someone’s day. It boosts your mood, takes a moment of your time, costs nothing, and has an immediate positive impact on others.
- Help Others: Helping others gives a sense of connection, happiness, fulfillment, and meaning. Look for ways you can make a difference.
- Send A Thank You Note: Send a thank you note all the time to people who inspire you, have taught you valuable lessons, helped you grow and become a better person, gone out of their way to give you advice, or have simply been there for you as a true friend.
- Spend Quality Time With Your Family: There is no better time than right now to start increasing the quality of your relationships with those you love. Start by sitting at the table together to have a real conversation minus the technology gadgets – talk, laugh, and learn what happened throughout the day, organize a picnic on the weekend at your favorite park, or go on an adventure by driving to a new city or fun park.
- Nurture Your Business Relationships: Business success comes down to one’s ability to build and maintain extraordinary relationships. Those who excel at nurturing their business relationships are in constant demand, others are attracted to them like a moth to a flame due to their exceptional ability to develop a meaning and real connection with others.
Success in business and life, in general, is attributed to the connections we create with others and the degree to which we can give and receive.
“Recognize that every interaction you have is an opportunity to make a positive impact on others.”
