What can you do in five minutes that will change somebody’s life?

September 28, 2017 3:39 PM

Creating a value inventory can be frustrating and uncomfortable exercise.

Especially if you’re too humble to turn off your modesty filter.

But if you’re willing to engage your imaginations, own your authentic power and honestly appraise that which your bring to the table, there’s no telling what you might accomplish.

I have a friend who loves to ask his clients:

What can you do in five minutes that will change somebody’s life?

It’s an extraordinary question for several reasons.

For starters, it contains the verb do. This stimulates an action oriented, interpersonal, skill based response. It forces you to think about past experiences in which you expended emotional labor and had a profound impact on another person.

The next element is the time constraint. By only giving yourself five minutes, it challenges you to concentrate your value into a practical, tight package. One that allows the person on the receiving end of your value to imagine the full scope of your power.

And finally, there’s the element of changing somebody’s life, which is the kind of thought experiment the average person doesn’t give themselves permission to conduct. And so, it’s just grandiose and audacious enough to empower the belief in your own value, while envisions impact of the receipt of your that value.

What can you do in five minutes that will change somebody’s life?

I’ve had numerous moments like that in my own life, on both sides of the equation. People and friends and mentors and clients have made observations, given feedback, asked questions and imparted strategies that literally altered my trajectory forever.

Conversely, I’ve also been able to sit down with people on a number of occasions and offer that same life changing gift to them.

Both of these highly human experiences make you feel fully alive, full present to the possibilities of life. And the exciting part is, each one of us can take part.

But only if we’re willing to accept and deploy the love that makes it possible.

Hoff explained it best in his translation of the ancient eastern scripture:

No matter how useful we may be, sometimes it takes us a while to recognize our own value.

If you want to gain a better sense of your highest abilities, ask and answer the question.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

What can you do in five minutes that will change somebody’s life?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…

For the list called, “99 Ways to Think Like an Entrepreneur, Even If You Aren’t One,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

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Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.