Others-Centered Living

When I was a young engineer, 19 years old, working for Hughes Aircraft Company in Torrance, California, I worked alongside a veteran engineer named Ed. Ed was nearing retirement, and I didn't realize how fortunate or rare it would be to have someone pour into my life at such a young age. Ed shared all sorts of things with me. We talked about engineering. We discussed planning for my retirement (yes, at age 19) and many other things. One of the best lessons I learned from Ed was observing him invest in the lives of others.

Imagine taking five minutes to write down everything you know about your professional craft at this moment in time. What if you decided to view these things, these skills and experiences, as a type of currency?

We all have an option with the things of value to us.

1) We can invest in them with the possibility of seeing them grow.

2) We can hide them so no one can ever take them away from us.

3) We can ignore them and move on to our next thing.

We each have options to decide what to do with the currency and value of our lives. Do we use them to better others or keep them all to ourselves?

Maybe this has stirred you some today, and you want to make a difference in the lives of others. So how do you get started?

Here are a few ideas that you can implement right away.

• Find someone less experienced in your craft, grab a coffee, and begin to get to know them. Authenticity is essential in relationships. Do it because you want to get to know them and allow time to lead to authentic sharing.
• Demonstrate the ability to be teachable. Nothing is more powerful than an individual showing they don't know everything. Knowing everything is impossible, but it's rare to find someone confident yet humble enough to demonstrate this by example. Be the example.
• Live with intentionality and focus. It's easy for all our time to get consumed with business. Have the wisdom to assess what's consuming your time. Focus on things that matter, others, your family, friends, and yourself.

Please feel free to share how you've decided to bring some change to your life. It takes guts to walk out the beginning steps, but it brings a great sense of satisfaction when we begin to live others-centered.

Greg Paskal