There are many ways to live life. Sometimes this can involve focusing on how you can encourage people, manage your emotions or even develop a purpose.
Some individuals take this step by pursuing the following approach. They simply ask: “How can I help people?” They may then aim to translate their ideas into action and get positive results.
Imagine that you want to follow this approach in your own way. If appropriate, you can use it in the following situations.
You can sometimes encourage others
by asking ‘How can I help people?’
This is an approach followed by some individuals who want to encourage people. One person expressed this in the following way.
“Looking back, I have been helped by many people in my life. My parents were generous and loved giving to people. My father was like a Mensch and my mother was like a Caring Matriarch.
“My parents taught me to give to others. They said this was because the giver often gets as much joy as the receiver. At the same time, however, they said it was important not to become a victim.
“Bearing this in mind, I try to encourage people. Waking up in the morning, I ask myself: ‘How can I help people today?’ I then try to do things that can encourage people in their lives or work.”
People who follow this approach are often generous. They may also sometimes experience the helper’s high. But this is not the aim, it is simply a by-product of giving to people.
You can sometimes manage your own
emotions by asking ‘How can I help people?’
Some individuals follow a variation of this approach to manage their feelings in a positive way. Whether they feel up or down, they ask: ‘How can I use this feeling to help other people?’
Feelings are the material of life. The way we choose to use these feelings can have consequences for both ourselves and other people. It can therefore be useful to manage the feeling rather than let manage us.
Imagine that you have a feeling. You may feel happy or sad, valued or disappointed. have had a success or a setback. Bearing in mind the feeling you have, you may focus on the following questions.
How can I use this feeling? How can I use it to help myself or other people? How can I use it to learn from? How can I build on what I did well? How can I do things better in the future? How can I use the feeling to shape a positive future?
Let’s return to your own life. Can you think of a situation when you may want to experience a certain emotion? How can you use the feeling in a positive way? How can you use it to help yourself or other people?
You can sometimes develop a purpose
by asking ‘How can I help people?’
There are many ways to develop a sense of purpose. Different people do this in different ways.
Some aim to follow a spiritual faith, a moral compass or a sense of vocation. Some work towards their personal or professional life goals. Some aim to build on their strengths and achieve a certain picture of success.
Some people take another approach. They focus on the principles they want to follow in their life and explore the following questions.
“What are the principles I want to follow in my life? How can I follow these principles and help people? What are the positive things I want to give to people during my time on the planet?”
People who follow their principles can find that it gives them a sense of purpose. They then aim to do their best each day and help other people in their lives and work.
Let’s return to your own live and work. Looking ahead, can you think of a situation where you may want to ask yourself: ‘How can I help people?’ If so, how can you follow this approach in your own way?
If you wish, try tackling the exercise on this theme. This invites you to complete the following sentences.
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