Making A Difference

Are you MAD?

Do you know the impact you make?

Are you making a positive difference?

There is a lovely Dr. Seuss quote that reminds people, “To the world you may be just one person, but to one person you may be the world.” I have always loved this. People often struggle to see their inherent value, to see what they bring to the world and what a difference they make. This can often come from “comparison disease”, where we look to the greatest influencers and artists, sports people and personalities and feel that we have nothing in comparison to them. Comparison is “the thief of joy”. 

It does not take much to make a positive difference. There are many YouTube video clips of people doing small random acts of kindness and the ripple effects that occur as a result. One kind deed leads to another and another and another. This was beautifully illustrated in 2013 with a craze around the western world of people paying for coffees for the person behind them. Connecticut Starbucks reported a 3 day record-breaking pay-it-forward spree as more than 1,000 customers cheerfully agreed to pay for the customers behind them.

My opening question in this article, “Are you MAD?” is a playful use of an acronym standing for “Making A Difference”. In my experience people need to know that they matter, they need to know that they make a positive impact. In 2012, Google’s Project Aristotle set out to answer the important question of “What makes teams successful?” The name comes from the Greek philosopher Aristotle's quote – “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” Among their findings they discovered that engaged and productive people need to have meaning in their work and know the impact they make. 

When people feel like their efforts are positively impacting the people and the world around them it is energizing and engaging. How do you use your natural strengths to improve your environment? Are you deliberate in looking for opportunities, big or small, to make a difference? This can be as simple as a warm smile, a genuine compliment, picking up some paper and putting it in a bin, through to making large donations to a good cause and joining committees and volunteer groups.   

Helping others is one of the foundational recommendations for people looking to improve their mental health. Studies have shown that using our skills, resources, abilities, position and strengths to help improve the lives of others and the world around us has personal health and mental well being benefits. What do you enjoy doing that makes a positive difference? In the wonderful words of Bigweld from the movie Robots, “See a need, fill a need!”

Where could you use your strengths today?