One week ago, I did something terrifying.
No, I didn’t wrestle an alligator. No, I didn’t go skydiving without a parachute. And no, I didn’t follow a Kardashian or Bieber on Twitter.
(Honestly, that last one is just plain crazy.)
What did I do? I interviewed people for a job.
It’s scary having that kind of power.
I held people’s futures in my hands. If I say no, I ruin their day. If I give them a thumb’s down, they’re going to hate me with the fiery passion of a thousand suns. If I pass them over, they have to go back to working at the coal mine.
Eventually, I realized I was looking at this situation the wrong way. Yes, I was going to disappoint a lot of people. But I was going to make one person very, very happy.
I was about to be the reason someone excitedly called their husband, wife, mom, or dad on the phone. I was about to be the reason they went out to dinner to celebrate. I was about to be the reason they bought several new outfits and a briefcase.
When I realized this, I stopped focusing on the negative. I focused on the positive: I was about to make someone’s day.
Of course, I don’t need to be a hiring manager to have the power to make someone’s day.
I already have that power. And so do you.
When we hold the door open for someone, we’ve made their day better. When we take the time to say hello to an older gentleman eating alone, we’ve made his day a tad bit brighter.
And when we email someone out of the blue and tell them we loved a blog post they wrote, we’ve given them reason to celebrate.
We all need encouragement. We all need to be noticed. We all need validation.
But, for a change, let’s try giving that encouragement and validation to people who don’t already have it in spades. Jon Morrow doesn’t need another blogger telling him he’s the bee’s knees. He gets that enough. So does Darren Rowse. So does Chris Brogan.
Right now, today, let’s reach out to someone who can’t benefit us. Find a blogger who is just starting out. Find a blogger who is struggling. Find a blogger begging to be noticed.
Leave them a nice comment. Email them. Send them a tweet.
Go make their day.
Creative Commons Image via Juliana Coutinho.
