This year I have picked a word to define my year. If you have been listening my podcast or reading my blog post you probably would not be surprised with my choice.
My word for 2020 is IMPACT. Making an impact in every aspect of my life, in the people around me, in everything that I do is one of my biggest drivers and motivations. Is this word that inspired me to start the Leading Yourself podcast. Is my drive to make an impact what pushes me to be better every day and to help others do the same.
So I thought it would be appropriate to start 2020 with a post around IMPACT, what does is mean to me and how to go about making an impact in every aspect of your life.
The word impact and my personal drive and desire to make an impact in not new. I can't remember when it started or where it come from. Maybe it has already been inside of me or maybe it has been influenced by seeing others around me making an impact in me, others, their work and the world.
I used to believe that in order to make a positive and lasting impact I needed to do BIG things (yes BIG on bold and capital letters), like stopping world hunger or I used to believe that I needed to have a certain title or level in order to be able to influence and impact others. But I realized that we have the ability to BIG impact even with small things. We make an impact every day, whether we realized it or not, and our impact most of the times goes far beyond what we envision.
I was listening to a podcast with Tonya Dalton where she shared a statistic that really hit me. She said every person touches the lives of 80,000 people! As I was listening I was thinking to myself, "There is no way, not me. I am an introvert, there is no way I impact 80,000 people" but when she broke it down, it all made sense. She said, each person lives in average 78.3 years, so with the assumption that every person interacts with 3 new people every day (of course some days you might interact with more and some with less) and with the year having 365 days, it's simple math: each person has the potential to impact 80,000 people in their lives.
This got me thinking. If I am capable of impacting 80,000 people or potentially even more, what type of an impact I want to make? For me it's clear: I want to make a positive and lasting impact in others.
As part of my 2020 reflection I spent some time thinking about how can make an impact in 2020 and beyond and I came up with 15 ways to make a positive and lasting impact.
Smile more
Help others
Remember someone's name
Do something that will put a smile on someone's face
Send a thank you note
Encourage others
Share your knowledge and talents
Give more
Share your dreams, goals and passions
Find your purpose and live it
Be authentic and share your view points and opinions
Never settle in, always focus on what can be
Bring people along with you
Volunteer and give back
Leverage your network and influence
Learn more about these 15 ways to make a positive and lasting impact in episode 12 of the Leading Yourself podcast where I explain each of them and share some concrete examples around these 15 ways to make an impact, that can help you identify how you can implement these to make a positive and lasting impact in 2020.