I was in country Victoria recently where I was excited to be able to offer my first-ever open to the public seminar. It was a fantastic night and ‘Tom’, one of the great men I met, was really enthusiastic about my message, he really wanted to take on board what I’d said, have a good look at himself and be the best he could be. In fact, he was so fired up he immediately wanted to share his enthusiasm – and he bought two copies of my book and gave one to each of his daughters, both in their 20s.
One of his daughter’s, ‘Karen’, had been in and out of hospital for 18 months suffering from depression. But because Tom cared enough to share a message of encouragement with her, he made an incredible impact on his daughter’s life. Here’s some of what ‘Karen’ shared (there’s a theme here, isn’t there?) with me via email:
“I can’t thank you enough for the inspiration I received after reading your book . . . I read it cover to cover within two days and immediately I began to develop a more positive outlook on life. Motivation was a large element of my life that I was lacking at the time, however I knew I wanted to do something that would make a difference in the world. Since being discharged, I have been volunteering at the Salvation Army . . . This has helped me to become more positive and appreciate the little things in life . . . Thank you for having such a positive influence on my mental health and passion for life.”
Her email blew me away – her act of sharing really encouraged me! What an amazing result! Look what happens when you tell someone that they’re worth something, that if they truly want to they can see past the so-called negatives in their lives and make a positive difference to themselves and others.
Karen’s experience is an incredible example of the value of believing in people and the power of sharing our gifts: I shared a seminar in a public forum, Tom took my message about having a positive outlook and made it his own by sharing my book with his daughter – then ‘Karen’ took that gift and passed it on by volunteering with the Salvos!
Her story really shows again that it isn’t the stories we hear, the information we take in that changes us, it’s when we commit to the change that those stories are showing us we can make if we choose to. ‘Karen’ chose to look past her perceived barriers and saw that there was something she could do – give some of her time to the Salvos. Let’s face it, she could have taken her Dad’s gift of my book and said, ‘That’s nice Dad’ and stuck it on her bedside table. But, no, in gratitude she accepted her Dad’s gift, gave it a go, and not only did it change her, it is now changing the lives of the people she meets through the Salvos. What’s more, there’s now greater harmony in her family – Tom’s act of sharing has also brought his family closer to together.
If you really value those around you – your family, your corporate team – you want them to feel valued. And the way they will feel valued is if you share with them the gift of yourself and the things that I know you value, like the one-percenters, the fact that you focus on what you can do instead of what you can’t. Being the best you can be is absolutely connected to sharing the message that others – your family, your corporate team – can be the best they can be, too.
I hope you find ‘Karen’s story as inspiring as I do. And please, please share with me the stories from your life when sharing a positive message has changed the lives of those you value.
