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One of my favorite movies is The Kings Speech. My favorite scene is when King Edward VIII and Bertie, his speech coach, are fighting. Bertie keeps asking Edward why he should listen to him. Finally, out of frustration, Edward screams, “Because I have a voice.” Bertie responds, ‘Yes, yes you do.”
I want to encourage you with those same words today. You have a voice, you matter, and it matters what you do. Here is what I know about you: You have the ability to influence a lot of people’s lives for good or for bad on a daily basis. It’s a fact that the average person will unintentionally influence 10,000 people in their lifetime. That is unintentionally. What if you decided to intentionally influence others for good? I want to challenge you to do that today. Be intentional about using your influence for good. Here are some things you can start doing today:
Create Something – What can you uniquely contribute to this world? Is it art? Is it a business? Is it your words? Your abilities? Whatever gifts God has put inside of you, decide that you’re going to use them to help people. Start creating something great today with the gifts inside of you.
Start a Podcast – Why not? I’ve listened to people that started podcasts on their favorite TV shows and ended up getting thousands of followers and making millions! Just go for it! If you speak somewhere, record it. If you like interviewing people, record the interview. If you’re passionate about a subject, TV series, a sport, you name it, you can gain influence in that market. Just go for it.
Use Social Media for a Purpose – Everyone uses social media. Few people use it on purpose. What if you created a purpose and a plan for how you’ll use social media to influence others for good? Look at some of your heroes, how do they use social media?
Start a Blog – I started one 4 years ago and it’s been one of the greatest things I’ve done! I’ve met people I would have never met and more importantly I help people I would have never helped if I didn’t blog. What you say matters to somebody!
Start a Business/Non-Profit – Have you had this in your heart for years to do? What are you waiting for? The world needs you to create what is in your heart!
Serve Somewhere – Volunteering is one of the most fulfilling things you can do. If you’re not currently volunteering anywhere, find a cause you’re passionate about and find out how you can volunteer your time and talent!
Mentor Someone – We can all point to people who have mentored us. The question is, who have you mentored and developed? Could you come up with a list? Write down a list of 5-10 people you could help right now by mentoring them. Schedule meetings with them! Serve them on a monthly basis.
Start a Coaching Group – What subjects do people tend to go to you for advice? Finances? Fitness? Health? Their spiritual walk? Whatever it is, put together a group of people you could coach. Give them homework! Take them somewhere they could never go on their own in the area of your expertise.
I know what you’re thinking. You’ve wanted to do one or more of these things for a while, but you’ve been held back by fear of what people will think. That’s normal. In fact, those thoughts come into my head everyday. Thoughts that I don’t have anything to say, I don’t have any value to add, nobody will listen to me, what’s the point?
It’s all non-sense! Just go for it! The worse that can happen is that you actually help 1-2 people!
Stop waiting. Act. Do something! The world is waiting for you.
Doug
