Ripple Resolution: Impact one person's life

Here at the end of January, it’s a bit late for a New Year’s Resolution. That horse, as they say, has left the barn.

But it’s never too late for a Ripple Resolution.

A Ripple Resolution is about resolving to do one thing in your life that creates positive ripples.

It can be easy to get bogged down in an approach to making an impact that is too big, unwieldy, and ultimately unsustainable. So today I want to narrow it down to a Ripple Resolution with one small single point of focus:

Impact one person’s life.

That’s it. Pick one person. Maybe it’s a co-worker who is finding her way early in her career. Maybe it’s a barista at the coffee shop who told you about his dream to write a book. Maybe it’s the neighbor who is going through a challenging patch.

Then pick a period of time. Maybe it’s for the rest of the year, or the next month, or the next week. Over that period of time, keep asking, “What does this person need? How can I impact this person’s life?”

There is an infinite number of ways we can impact someone’s life, some big, some small. Here’s a starter list of ideas to prime the pump for you.

Encourage them: Well placed words of encouragement can be both fuel for ongoing effort and a bridge over discouragement.

Believe in them: There’s something powerful in hearing someone say, “I believe in you. I believe in what you’re doing.”

Be a mentor: Share what you have learned with someone earlier on the path than you.

Make introductions: Connections create possibilities, whether professional or personal.

Open doors: Look for chances to open doors and increase the opportunities someone has access to.

Listen to them: Everyone wants to feel seen and heard. Listening attentively is an easy way to make someone feel good. It can even change how they see themselves.

Share personal insights and advice: Your own hard-won insights in a similar situation can be valuable to their journey.

Invest in them: Buy them a book. Pay for a course. Show them you believe they’re worth the investment.

Be vulnerable and share your struggles: Vulnerably showing your own human struggles can have a positive impact both by normalizing the messy, imperfect parts and sharing what you have learned.

Tell them the good you see in them: On a regular basis, tell them something you see in them that you admire, or something you see they’re good at, or something they did well.

Be a positive beacon: Negativity is all around us. Be a voice for what’s good. Make it a habit of sharing, “Here’s what’s good today.”

It benefits you too

Focusing on making an impact in one person’s life doesn’t just benefit them. It has the potential to benefit you as well.

When you start looking at something like opportunities to make an impact on someone’s life over an extended period of time, a funny thing often happens. It creates a kind of positive impact lens on the world. It affects the possibilities you see and the actions you take.

That one-person focus can turn into a learning laboratory of sorts. It becomes an experience to build on, shining a light on how it feels to do something like that regularly (hint: it feels good), and helping you notice even more possibilities. Not just with that one person, but with others you encounter.

The result is something that:

Feels good.
Makes a difference.
Expands the impact potential.

Try this: Pick one person and make a Ripple Resolution to make an impact on their life. Then sit down and brainstorm all the different ways you can think of to touch their lives positively. Use the list above as a starting point.

Then put it into play. You can tell them, or you could just make it your own little secret.

Start with the biggest period of time that still feels doable and enticing. You can always aim for longer periods of time as you get a taste for it. If you like it, do it again. And again. (And again.)