"People who add value to others do so intentionally. I say that because to add value, leaders must give of themselves, and that rarely occurs by accident."
John C. Maxwell
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It being the end of the month I was hoping to have something insightful to write. Something aspirational. However, I’d like to note, and this is a reminder to myself as well, to acknowledge the people around you that inspire you or that, by whatever thing they’ve committed to, great or small, causes admiration.
Somebody that I admire said that I inspired them, and I felt very humbled. I’d shared a few ambitions and things that I’ve started doing some months ago, and it’s only now that this comment was made. It threw me off guard but I was humbled nonetheless. And even at the nail salon, a positive comment left me feeling…. seen. It was both odd and satisfying; odd, because I didn’t expect to feel that way, and satisfying because I felt joy.
My takeaway from both situations is to see people: their contributions, acknowledge their presence, and if you’re inspired by something a person says or does, to let the person know. Accept a person’s sincerity. A little acknowledgement can go a long way. It’s not something that I do often with everyone, but I’m going to try to exercise it often.
At a recent seminar, one of the gems that I took from it was to have intentional conversations with the people that you meet. I haven’t put this into practice— truthfully, I’ve just remembered as I am writing this. It was noted that “it’s wisdom not to overlook people.” It has become easier to overlook people because of 1) familiarity 2) they may not look the part 3)they are not part of your usual circle, amongst other things. But I think intentional conversations can be illuminating. I will say, though, that it can be tough to do this when you perceive someone wants something from you that’s unrelated to the reason why you are attempting to connect. I suppose that’s another topic for another day.
All this to say, I feel inspired by the people that I encountered. Even someone admiring me, I feel compelled more than ever to do my best and be my best. I think of the people that I admire, and my admiration is because they make effort. They are not perfect, but in their hard work, their focus, their ambition, I too am inspired to be my best.
