Look for the Good

How important is it to you that you make an impact on others? For many of us, this is something we strive to achieve. Helping and serving others, enhancing their lives and experiences, is fulfilling and can give us a sense of purpose. Sometimes, though, when we are dealing with extraordinarily active schedules and pressure to do so much with limited time, it can feel difficult to focus on our more altruistic endeavors in the way we would like.

How then, can we make an impact on others in the day to day? In the midst of meetings, appointments, projects, deadlines - what can we do to serve the hearts and minds of those around us?

One thing we can do in all of our interactions, while seemingly small but actually quite impactful, is looking for the good in those around us.

Think of one or more times where you have achieved success, where you overcame obstacles to improve your situation or your life. Who are the people on that journey who believed in you? How did their encouragement affect your motivation and ability to find the strength within yourself to keep going? It is likely that encouragement from the people who had faith in your abilities had an impact not only on your success, but also on your own belief in yourself. What kind of impact could you have if you shared more with others your belief in their potential?

Seeing the good in others, and then encouraging them to see this in themselves, starts with shifting our own mindset from judgment to belief, from criticism to appreciation. Think about the people that you work with day to day. Are your thoughts about their behaviors and their work typically critical or generous? Do you generally assume positive intent, or are you more often suspicious that people have questionable motivations? If you have a tendency to be more critical of others, this may not only be impacting the way you interact with them but even impacting your own enjoyment of your work and relationships.

Building the habit of looking for the good in others, then, can make both a positive impact on the people around you and in your own life. Some ways to start shifting your mindset to seeing the good in others include:

“Assume the best intent in others around you. You will often be right, and even when you’re not, people can rise to your view of them. Not always, but enough to be worth it.” - Sally Krawcheck

• Work on assuming positive intent. When you start having a critical thought about someone, ask questions such as: What positive values or goals might this person have that is motivating them? How can I find out more about what they care about? What might be causing them stress and how could I help?
• Challenge yourself to be a “good” spotter! What we focus on is what we see. Set your intention to not only look for the good but to be eager to learn what good others have within them. Before meeting with someone, remind yourself to look for at least one or two positive qualities in the individual that you appreciate (patience, kindness, diligence, etc.). Take this a step further and ask yourself how you might learn from this other person in respect to their positive qualities?

Once you get in the practice of seeing the good in others, you will be able to take the next impactful step of sharing your view with them. Telling others about the positive qualities you appreciate in them and the aspects of their character and ability that inspire you can make a significant difference in how they view themselves and how they show up in the world. Remember how good it feels when others have faith in you! When you can share this kind of faith and encouragement with others, you build their confidence, you increase their ability to grow and succeed, and you make an IMPACT.

If you are looking to make a difference for others in your day to day, seeking out and recognizing their strengths and potential is a great way to start. With a bit of practice of shifting your mindset, you can start to more often recognize the positive qualities in those around you and encourage them to be their best. This is a win-win for you and those you support!

Challenge yourself in the upcoming week to see more of the good in the people you work with and meet. Feel free to share in the comments what you learn!