Be
a Hero.
I
don’t mean go out and perform dangerous and daring deeds, rather become a hero
in the true sense of the word:
“A person who is admired for their courage, outstanding
achievements, or noble qualities” (Oxford Dictionaries)
Become someone who others look up to, admire, and want to
emulate.
If you think back to the post “The Footsteps of Giants” I
encouraged you to go out and seek inspiration from those you most admired
because when we find someone who inspires us it helps to motivate us, helps us
to overcome obstacles in our lives and gives us someone to relate to when we
hit times of struggle.
When you develop a goal in your own life and work on pursuing
it think about how you can, in your own way become a hero to others. You could
be a hero to your children or grandchildren, a hero to your work colleagues or
a hero to your friends.
There are endless debates about how we as humans learn best
yet the one aspect often overlooked is the fact that we learn most from the
behaviours of others. If you watch a toddler nowadays you will often see them
putting their hand to their ear pretending to be on a phone, nobody actually
teaches them to do that, they copy behaviour.
Think back to how you learned to do many things, did someone
teach you to turn a door handle or was it something you just picked up? Or are
there times now when you suddenly find yourself doing something a parent did,
again this was something you picked up rather than being taught.
On a grown up level you will often find bosses at work who
tell you to act in a certain way but act themselves in a different way, if you
look closely you find that their team will actually copy the boss’s behaviour
rather that act as they are told to.
If, as you follow your dream, also think about how that path
can influence and inspire others you add an extra level of motivation to
yourself.
There will always be difficulties and challenges in life and
following our goals will, at times, be hard as life and others things
intervene, slowing us down or temporarily diverting us. Yet if we can meet and
overcome these challenges with determination and success we can also inspire those
around us to meet their challenges in the same way.
Think about your heroes and what it is about them and their
life that has inspired you. What particular qualities do they have that really
resonate with you, it may be their dogged determination, or their calmness in
the face of adversity or perhaps their enduring pursuit of wisdom. Whatever it
is once you have isolated it apply that to your own life and use what inspired
you to underpin your behaviour so, in turn, you can pass inspiration on to
those around you.
By thinking about how what we do influences those around us
helps us think about how we behave and how we follow our dreams. It helps us
focus on that path rather than simply giving up because we can’t be bothered,
after all, is that the message we want to send to those around us? We motivate
ourselves when we think about how we motivate others, we are more able to stick
to our path when we know that others will be influenced more by our behaviour
and actions than by meaningless advice. Because advice and words are only
meaningful if backed up by experience.
The other advantage of knowing how our behaviour can positively influence others is that it helps build our own self-confidence and self-esteem. Imagine how good it will feel seeing others you care about following in your footsteps as you inspire them in achieving their goals.
Be a Hero today. Move on through your life knowing that what
you do is seen by those around you and by bettering your own life you know your
behaviour and determination with inspire others to better their own.
