As it seems we’re always so busy that we never find time to get everything done, or so busy that we can’t find enough time to do the things we want to do, I’ve recently reminded myself how important it is to find time to help those even if you know there is nothing they are going to do right now to help you in return.
I came across a quote the other day, not by anybody famous, but that I had written down in a notebook when I was 24 years old. It said, “Never forget how important you can make somebody feel by going out of your way to help them if they deserve it.” Recently, I’ve started putting that into practice with very little things. Not all business-related, but helping people in various aspects of their lives. From the smallest thing like giving a small gift, or paying somebody more attention than you typically would, to very large efforts like trying to find friends or former employees a job to help them out. By doing this, it has given me a very renewed sense of appreciation for how many people helped me along the way. How many people helped me when I was just getting started and nobody was lining up to help me. How important it was to me the first time I got a big break, and there were people standing around willing to help me.
The moral of the story is to take time when things come at you completely out of nowhere to make a difference by being extra special to somebody who needs your time more than you do at the moment.