You often hear that you should ask if you want to get something, because then you are likely to get it, from one person or another. This is certainly the case, and asking others for help is done much less than would be assumed by common sense, because most don’t want to ask, but still want the assistance. Although their not asking doesn’t help their cause much, you can use this predicament to have a large impact. If you are the person that fulfills another person’s interest without them having to ask you for it, you will likely become their “person of the day”.
Help A Confused Classmate
The easiest way to do this is to see a weakness or potential future problem area someone has, and fill in for it. If you see a classmate who seems to not be understanding the new material, and you give them some pointers to get them caught up to speed before the next test comes up, they will appreciate it as heavily as you would if you were seeing yourself getting behind, and were then assisted back to parity level.
Provide Business Advising
If you are a business owner, and see that your friend’s business is faltering because they are not aware of a certain marketing tactic, your informing them of it is the substantial type of help that would lead them to later send multiple customers of theirs to your establishment. Sometimes people don’t want to ask, and sometimes people don’t even know what they should ask, or what they are missing. We don’t know what we didn’t know until we know it.
Teach A Bit Further
For a teacher, you would want to offer supplementary material to a few students that seem either advanced or confused during class. Students always remember these teachers for how they provided extra help where it was thought there was nothing like that in place. I had a teacher named Mrs. Brady who gave me an advanced math book when I had the class concepts down, and not only have I not forgotten that, but support and appreciate good teachers that much more.
Help Others Get Out Of Cycles They Can’t See
Sometimes you are stuck in a situation or cycle where you aren’t very efficient. You eventually get out of these cycles, but when you are in them, you know that time and energy is being lost until you get out. Therefore, when you are not in one of these cycles and have the opportunity to help someone else get out, your assistance will save them much potential lost time and energy, and they will be sure to return the large favor accordingly.
There Are Answers In Your Past
A lot of life’s lessons like this are to be found in your own past experiences. When you figure something out, you soon forget what it was like to not have it figured out, but just like I have read in a few articles, including what is said in number 4 of this one, going back to quickly provide someone a head start means the world to them, and only takes a little of your time. Their response will then more than make up for your small loss of time.
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Great post and great point. So often we consume ourselves with what we are trying to accomplish and the challenges in our lives. I think as you pointed out, we should expand our focus so that it includes helping others in whatever way we can. Everything seems to just function that much better in our own lives when we are genuinely and sincerely trying to help others. Thanks for the reminder…
Thanks for that. External focus just might bring us more results than is achieved by only internal focus. It is good to hear your thoughts.
Good post. The strategy of helping others or ‘under promising and over delivering’ is an excellent lesson for anyone in business (and/or life, I guess). It is Utopian misconception to think that every effort you make will be rewarded, as some people expect, but thinking of the ‘action of helping’ someone as a reward in itself, the fact that you are capable of providing such help, should give people ample reason to go above and beyond…
That is true. Speaking of that concept about under-promising and over-delivering, I would say it is not too difficult. If we are able to not say all that we plan to do, and hold a little bit back, and then do it all, it can have a large effect. If I tell someone I am going to bring some snacks to a potluck, and then bring a blackberry pie, that would have a positive effect.
This is a great virtue you have stated here. I wish everyone could be more helpful than being advantageous of others.
Walter: The few that are helpful are the ones who ‘get it’. The others tend to work to catch up later.
Thanks for your comment.
It is a honor for life coaches like me to help people see what sometimes they can’t see, and provide coaching and motivation. Feels good!
Matthew: It provides a cool perspective to be able to do such an activity. When you give people a view about what to do, you can jump-start their action weeks before it would have come out on its own. Good connection there.