Impact Globally By Impacting Locally

"It's stunning to me what kind of an impact even one person can have if they have the right passion, perspective and are able to align the interest of a great team." -Steve Case

Have you ever stopped to consider the impact you have on others? Stopped and really thought how your words and actions can change lives?

It happens each and every day you get up from your bed. The way you tell your wife and children good morning can set the tone for their day. It can set the tone for your day. The way in which you interact with people that come in and out of your day impacts them and you in subtle and not so subtle ways.

Impacting people globally

The idea of how we can have a positive effect upon others came up in a recent conversation. I was being asked about two people my wife and I know. These two people, Dave and Annie, are moving to Brazil in order to greatly change the lives of people in that part of the world.

Both of these people are young retirees from the normal everyday jobs that all of us take on in life. It wasn't a lottery winning that prompted them but opportunity for change. They grabbed at this change which now places them on a path to have a huge impact in Curitiba, Brazil and many other parts of Brazil. It is a global reach beyond our own doorsteps here in Atlanta.

The Jewish Rabbi, Harold Kushner is quoted as saying, "Caring about others, running the risk of feeling, and leaving an impact on people, brings happiness." It is my belief that doing these things simply provides us with the side benefit of happiness. Not only happiness for ourselves but also for those we touched. Reaching out beyond your own door and into the lives of others is what creates a great life.

Impacting people locally

So going back to the discussion I was having, this person questioned the impact oneself could have. The global impact Dave and Annie are going to have is something they could not fathom in themself. It reminded me of a phrase I have heard in various forms most of my life. "Where ever you are, there you are. So it is, you can have an impact anywhere you are."

You see the location of where Dave and Annie are going to be is but one small part of the world. Where they are going to be is where they will be impacting lives. The same can be true right here in Atlanta, down the street at the grocery store, at work, and even in your own home. "Where you are is where you can have impact on others."

Impacting people collectively

I was asked why do we call it a global impact then? How is it that what I do locally here have an impact around the world? The answer comes in the ripples of life that connect all of us. I have written of this before in how your life touches others in ways you may never realize.

The ripple of a stone dropped in the water creates a wave that washes a sea shell upon the shore to brighten a childs day when found. That child is filled with excitement and wonderment. The child is spurred to discover more about the ocean, becoming a famous marine biologist such as Jacques-Yves Cousteau.

Your impact here, locally, becomes a part of the collective wave around the world. Your impact ripples to points that will touch the ripples created by Dave and Annie. It is the collective nature of these waves that have a global impact. That is how we have a global impact when we impact people locally.

So keep doing good things locally, wherever it is that you are...for that is where you impact globally. Stay inspired my friends.