Perhaps the single most powerful way to succeed in life is to have more concern for our fellow human beings. Normally, we are overwhelmingly concerned about ourselves, driven by our own personal motives and ambitions. However, the happiest people literally lose themselves in the feelings, thoughts, and aspirations of others.
Are you ready to "forget yourself" and be genuinely interested in the welfare of others? Are you willing to be tolerant and kind to others, listen attentively and silently to their words, and be non-judgmental and open to their opinions and points of view? If you are, you're an excellent candidate for great success in life, not to mention an ever-increasing personal happiness and joy.
Try a little experiment. When you meet with others, immediately put yourself in their shoes. Think only of what they want. Listen carefully to their thoughts and feelings, and show genuine concern and empathy. Do this for the entire meeting. Now watch how the interaction goes. Watch how the energy level of the other person increases. The other individual becomes more animated and involved.
In addition, if you watch closely, you may notice some interesting things starting to happen. An unthought-of point of view or perspective may be raised in the conversation. New ideas or fresh new insights are suddenly revealed. Or, a new interesting idea, project or event might suddenly come out of the discussion. This all happens because you have shifted your concern toward the other person.
But there's more. If you pay very close attention, you'll see that there might be an added "response from life." For example, during the conversation, someone might call in a great new project to you; or a dramatic new development might arise in some area of your work. This is life itself "responding" to your concern for another person. It is a hidden power that we have witnessed dozens of times in the past.
Here are a few examples:
- Out of concern for the success of his people, a manager decided to train his illiterate workers. As a result of this they became so happy and energized. It permeated the business. Even the machines they were trained to work with on started to suddenly work better even though no improvements were made to their operation!
- A tried to fix the computer keyboard of B. A did not succeed. However B felt a degree of gratitude for his effort and offered to compensate A for his efforts. Though thankful for A's thought, A wouldn’t accept money from B. A few days later B’s computer went dead and it would not start. So the next morning B called A and asking him for urgent help to repair the computer again. A took it and very quickly was able to discover that the problem was the electrical adapter, which A managed to replace very quickly within 24 hours. B was very happy about this quick solution to his computer.
- A sales representative was having trouble getting an electronic payment for a product that was purchased from a client because the client had problem using the web-based payment system. The rep decided to give the individual the product before payment anyway. The client was grateful. The client then pointed out the dramatic fact that the phone number at the site was wrong on the main web page! The sales rep was very happy that the client caught this error, potentially preventing the loss of considerable business in the future. The client's finding of this error was a life response to the earlier givingness of the rep to the client.
Whenever you shift your perspective from yourself to others, your energy increases, conditions of accomplishment, success, and positive outcome reveal themselves, life responds suddenly, positively, and abundantly, and one feels a great joy. The more real and heartfelt the positive feeling toward the other person, the greater the energy, success, joy, and happiness.
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