2 min read

How to Make an Impact

I’m not sure what I want to do, but I know I want to make an impact.

Many of us are lucky to have our primary needs met to such a degree, that we have time to think of self-fulfilment and contribution.

And thank God for that.

Because there are big issues that need to be solved in today’s world, and solutions will not appear out of nowhere.

We need more people than ever to make a dent in the world.

What impact do you long to make?

Let’s start by talking about what impact actually means.

In an Instagram-filtered view of the world, it’s easy to look up to others and feel bad that we haven’t yet built that shelter for orphans… or created this cool startup that changes everything for everyone…

Impact, as its core, does not have to be  mind-blowing.

It can be trying to turn around education system, fight for gender equality or raise a happy and safe family.

But it can also be about smiling to a stranger, giving someone a big hug or being there for someone. Whenever we look deeply at what we want to do, we realize that we don’t have to play as big as we think.

Three Important Truths About Making an Impact

1) Decide what impact means to you

It’s silly to set goals, if we don’t know why we set them.

Or know where we want to go.

Just like success can be defined in a thousand different ways, we all are meant to set out to change the world and impact on it, in many different ways.

Get curious and figure out your own definition of impact.

The options are endless…

  • Having kids and creating a loving family?

  • Express yourself through art, and by being yourself allowing others to do the same?

  • Donate 5% of all your earnings into an important project of choice?

Everyone’s idea of an impact is different. Make sure to define your own.

Don’t copy-paste someone else’s dream.

2) It’s not for you to judge the value of your impact

I used to be stressed that I wasn’t reaching enough people. It wasn’t enough that I had meaningful coaching sessions, I felt a need to reach more, do more, “impact” more.

One day, I had a realization.

Who am I to decide a value on the impact I’m making?

We can’t know what a smile can do…

How much-needed encouragement can change the course of someone’s life…

What kindness means, or how a hug on a bad day can save someone’s life.

We can not judge the impact we’re making. Because we simply cannot know. It is a ripple effect that is not under our control.

3) Your future impact is in your present effort

No one can predict the future. We can guess, at best, but many trends and future events are impossible for us to know.

Think about passion for a second…

We don’t find our passion, we go out and create it.

Same thing is true for our impact. It is not something that simply happens, it is something we create for ourselves and others.

So how do we create impact?

We focus on creating in the now. Only what we do right now.

Here are some questions to start with:

  1. What cause will you support today?

  2. Who will you speak for, stand up for?

  3. What action will you take – even if you don’t see the results right away?

Your impact will not show up in the future. It will be a natural result of what you do today.

Forget about the impact that you so much long for.

Instead focus on your most valuable next step.