“You don’t have to be a “person of influence” to be influential. In fact, the most influential people in my life are probably not even aware of the things they’ve taught me.” - Scott Adams
Our lives matter. This is indeed life-giving news to each of us. Deep down, we all want to live lives that make a difference, create an impact, and change the world around us. We were designed to live for something greater than ourselves. And each of us were born with an ingrained desire to accomplish that.
As a result, our world cares about influence. We pay for it, fight for it, and study how to get more of it. Our world measures it, ranks it, and ascribes it to people for foolish reasons. But in our constant struggle to attain influence, we often miss out on one very important truth:
We already have it. Each of us is already an influencer of others.
In fact, to live is to influence. If our lives interact in any way with other people (at home, at work, on-line, or in our community), we have influence. We change lives. We affect people every single day with every word we say and every action we choose. In short, our lives already matter.
And it would be wise for us to stop always asking how to acquire more and instead, start asking what to do with the influence we already have.
Because the influence we already have in this world is both a great and challenging opportunity. After all, it can be positive or negative. It can add value to the lives of others or it can take value away. Our influence can become an important agent for change or it can further cement the status quo. It can make our world a better place to be or a crummier place to endure. There are no neutral contributors in this world.
So let’s make a special effort to be a positive influence in the lives of others by…
- Modeling for others - living exemplary lives of character, integrity, and morality.
- Celebrating others - affirming their uniqueness and motivating them to celebrate it too.
- Encouraging others - steering others towards true life and convincing them to receive it.
- Inviting others - offering a better way to live life and giving them the tools to embrace it.
- Challenging others - pushing others towards positive life change.
- Mentoring others - intentional relationships of life-change giving our lives to another.
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