The Problem

Be helpful, thoughtful, spread joy and good will to man. These are the kind of messages advertisers and brands are promoting. They want us to like their brand and buy their products in the process.

But most of the year we focus on ourselves first and others next. Of course I am generalizing and this is not true for everyone. There are many people who genuinely want to help others and actually do it.

But if this was consistently the case in general we would have a much different world than what we do. How many of us live everyday thinking of how we can help our co-workers do the best they can? How well do we listen to others and empathize with the way they feel?  How often do we appreciate vocally and through actions those we love? How often do we recognize the talents of people we work with?

And what about the planet? It is common knowledge today that the way we live and consume is destroying the air we breathe, the water we drink and a host of other things. Man is sawing away at the branch of the tree he is sitting on.

The Solutions

Funny enough the solution is right here right now. It always was and always will be. It begins with changing our perspective of life and ourselves. How do we do that?

We just make the choice to do it and become conscious of ourselves, of what we are doing and saying and the impact it has on others.

It is about seeking to collaborate, support, coach, recognize those we love and care about. I am not saying we should become completely selfless and disregard our own needs and well-being. If we did we could easily be taken advantage of and get hurt.

The Big Dream

Picture a team of employees coming to work every day seeking to help each other do their best job and giving high fives and regular kudos. Imagine people seeking to understand each other first and developing the ability to listen and respond with that purpose in mind. Envision the relations that would be created and the level of trust that would permeate such a team.

This all may sound like a pipe dream but yet we all know it is possible. We see this kind of thing in high level sports where team members never like to take the credit personally but are always shouting out their team members.

What loftier goal could there be for a leader of an organization, for a team, for an employee?

At this time of year when we start to look back and think of what’s to come, consider these solutions and how you can make good cheer and good will to man a reality for each new day to come.

The best part of all is we’ll feel better about ourselves and life in the process.