The Many Benefits of Helping Others Succeed

Curt Rosengren

When it comes to pursuing your dreams, it’s easy to get caught up in “me me me!” It’s all about finding your clarity, and taking your steps, and overcoming your obstacles. Perfectly understandable, of course. After all, it is your dream. But if that’s all you do, you’re missing out on a great source of energy and inspiration: supporting others in their dream pursuit.

Have you ever talked with someone about a goal they’re passionate about, and found yourself getting caught up in their excitement? If you have, you’ve had a taste of the potential energy that can come from shifting your focus--even momentarily--from your own vision to someone else’s.

Watching for opportunities to support someone else’s dream also gives you a chance to engage with others in an optimistic, possibility-expanding way. And that can feed your own positive perspective. Not to mention the fact that it just feels good to help.

If those benefits aren’t enough to convince you, there’s always the “what-goes-around-comes-around” aspect. The more you focus on helping other people, the more likely that help and support is going to be there when you need it.

Keep your eyes open for opportunities to support others on the path to their dreams. That might be as deeply involved as becoming a mentor or as fleeting as simply telling someone that you love their idea, or that you believe in them.

Try this: Any time you meet someone who is pursuing their dream, run through a mental checklist of questions, such as:

• How can I help?
• What encouragement can I give?
• How can I validate this person’s efforts/abilities/ideas, etc.?
• What ideas or insights can I offer?
• What connections can I make that would help this person?

You just might be surprised how much you get out of giving.

After years as a professional malcontent, Curt Rosengren discovered the power of passion. As a speaker, author, and coach, Rosengren helps people create careers that energize and inspire them. His book 101 Ways to Get Wild About Work and his E-book The Occupational Adventure Guide offer people tools for turning dreams into reality. Rosengren's blog, The M.A.P. Maker, explores how to craft a life of meaning, abundance, and passion.