Three Ways to Increase Your Impact
If you’re like me, you feel you are spinning your wheels, without getting traction. Or, you’re running in different directions, never making progress. You want to make a difference, but you don’t know how. And really, it’s easier to coast.
Earlier this year, I happened to catch the Oscars. As actress Allison Janney walked to the podium to accept her Oscar as Best Supporting Actress for the movie “I, Tonya,” she took the award and simply said, “I did it all by myself.” It was classic. It was refreshing.
If you saw the show, you might remember her line. The audience loved it, and memes were instantly created. But after the laughter, she confessed, “Nothing further from the truth.”
And she’s right. None of us can do it alone. If you are one of those people who feels like you have to do it alone, it is time to stop. Lay that burden down right now. Give it up.
We were created for relationship, for connection. We were created to support and encourage each other.
Consider these three ways to increase your impact in the world:
1.) Show up. Stop putting off what you know you are called to do. Has God has placed a passion in your heart that you cannot shake? Then listen to it and lean into it. It is there for a reason. Step out and take the risk. It will be worth it. Stop putting off the excuses and jump in.
2.) Embrace a team. We can’t do it alone. I bounce ideas off of my trusted friends and family. I have a photographer and web designer to pull together my marketing. I have an editor to help me get blog posts out. (You wouldn’t want to see my unedited version!) I rely on other people to help me see my blind spots and point out areas for growth I would otherwise miss.
3.) Use your strengths. We all have unique gifts—a sweet spot, if you will, where our inner genius comes out. Find yours. Own it. Use it. And don’t forget to encourage others to find and use their gifts. Over time, I’ve found my “zone,” the magical niche where I am both good at what I am doing and loving it at the same time. I’ve also learned to notice when I’m out of step with my authentic talents and interests. For me, the zone is anything to do with big picture plans, relationship building, dreaming, developing others, or encouraging. Out of the zone would be anything that includes details, structure, project management, accounting, numbers, or data. I would be an accounting firm’s worst nightmare!
Mother Theresa said, “I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.”
Be the stone. Create the ripples. The world needs you to show up and do what you can. It doesn’t have to be perfect. It just has to be something uniquely yours. Start today!
