Making a Difference: Can You See the Impact that You Have?
Sarah McVanel, MSc, CSP, PCC, CHRL, CSODP
Chief Recognition Officer | Canada's Recognition Expert | Professional Speaker | Coach | Author | 'FROG Lady'
Last year, my hub Mark called me while I was on the road. “The 5-year countdown is on!”
What countdown? I must be jet-lagged.
“Babe, what 5 years?”
“Until retirement!”
“Oh no, that means you only have five years left! Over twenty are gone, and now you’re on a ticking clock! Oh no!”
This likely wasn’t the reaction he was expecting. Should I not be thrilled that he’ll soon be available to travel with me, not have to fight through gruelling traffic, and, dare I imagine it, make me lunch?
No! My hub is a darn good teacher, and the world needs his greatness.
We need great teachers!
“Mark, every day, given you don’t have much time left, so starting today, I will ask you at the end of each day what impact you had. Tonight, when we talk, I look forward to hearing about the impact you had today.”
Do you think Mark wanted to play along? Was he thrilled at that moment that he was married to a professional coach and motivational speaker? I don’t think so (but to be fair, I was on the other side of the country and madly getting ready for a tech check, so I might have made a few assumptions.)
That first night, it was like pulling inspiration teeth. The next night, it was not much better. By the third, he had resigned himself to not getting off the phone until he told me.
And then it all changed.
He started to come home with an experience he couldn’t wait to tell me about, and not just like a checklist item but a story—a teacher, a student, a project, a former pupil. Suddenly, when he looked around, he saw just how many people depended on him daily, not just to teach a class but to be their person.
And the other teachers needed him too.
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He used to be surprised when former students would drop by. Now, he knows that his impact lives on.
He used to think he needed to be stern the first few weeks so the kids would take him seriously. Now he knows classroom management comes from his kids loving being in his class.
He used to be shocked when students would give him a gift or bring him a coffee or, most recently, a few athletes who “miss being in your class” brought Mark flowers.
Our impact is easy to miss. We need to catch it before we write it off (if we even notice it at all) as just another thing we do in our busy days.
Having an Impact
Impact is the extraordinary things you do in your ordinary day. They’re visible to everyone but you unless you start to look for them and their reactions.
And then you do it more with even greater intention. And that’s when impact grows momentum and energy.
Do you practice asking yourself daily, “What impact did I have today?”?Do you ask that of a friend who’s struggling? An unsure partner? A child that’s figuring out their way? Everyone has an impact, and it’s never too early to start a practice of reflecting on the impact we had that day. Can you imagine if that started in kindergarten? We’d be perspective savants by the time we hit adulthood!
This was one of 9 things I taught impact personified professionals in childcare in a webinar. Feel free to share the recording and tools if you or someone you know is in this field.
May you never doubt your impact and your value for one second. The world needs your greatness. You Are Already Greatness?!
And hey, why not share this with someone that you know has a huge impact and tell them why you thought of them when you read this? Inspire them to notice their own greatness and spread it with even greater intention and confidence!
Check out these past delectable tidbits to learn how you can have an impact on others:
Disclaimer/Humble Brag Moment: 100% of this content was human-generated (by us folks here at Greatness Magnified). We are committed to authorship integrity and will inform you what percent, if any, is AI-generated.