When someone does something nice for you, solves your problem, makes an introduction or otherwise helps you out how do you feel?

More importantly: How do you respond?

I’m going to guess your response is something like this: “Thank you!  How can I help you?”

Why Wait?

Unfortunately many of us wait until someone helps us to reach out to help them; we stay stuck in a reactionary position.

We all have things we have to get done, checklists that need to be crossed off and goals that need to be achieved.  We’re all facing some kind of problem or challenge no matter how small or how big.  We all need help from time to time.  If that’s true: Why wait to help other people?  The best way to get help is to give help first.  Think about it…

What if you reached out to just one person each day and asked them “How can I help you?”.  A better way to zero in on exactly what they need would be to ask: “What are you working on today?  Who could help you with that project or what resources do you need?”

Sit back and listen.

Then offer to help connect them to someone that can either 1) solve their problem or 2) help create an opportunity for them.

When You Give Help You Get Help

When you start doing this each day – watch what happens to your life and your challenges.

People will probably respond by asking you something like this: “Thank you!  How can I help you?”

By reaching out to help others solve their problems an an amazing thing happens: People actively reach out to help you solve your problems and find ways to create amazing opportunities for you.  It creates a circle of solutions and gratitude.

Give it a try – who can YOU help today?