Ripple Action Monday -- A Progress Report

Tina, a loyal reader of my BLOG and self-proclaimed fan of The Ripple Effect, was kind enough to send me a mid-week status report on the challenge I put forth on Monday. With only three days into the challenge, Tina remarked how much closer she has become to the two people she most wanted to impact.

Day one, Monday, was spent strategizing on what she could do to make the impact and what she would do each of the days. She decided to leave both of them two fantastic voice mails telling them each how thankful she was to have met them . They both received the voice mails on Tuesday and each of them picked up the phone and called her to thank her for the great "start to their day."

Despite talking to them both on Tuesday, she made some simple yet creative cards and hand delivered it to their offices on Tuesday afternoon. Though she didn't share the exact message with me, she said it was an appropriate spring time poem that she herself had written along with a personal message to them both.

Yesterday, day three, she really got busy. She hit the phones and drummed up no less than two new connections each for both of these individuals. She coordinated a "joint" happy hour in which she committed to bring everyone together in a "spirit of friendship and mutual collaboration." She believes that the ripple of her action now has put her in the good graces of not only the two people she is focusing on this week but four additional individuals as well. Awesome!

With a little time and a little ingenuity Tina says that she has made more of an impact in three days then what she had previously done in the past year. Pretty cool don't you think? Can't wait to hear what Tina does for the last two days of the challenge.

So you see....don't sit idly by and let the Tina's of the world be the only ones out there making the Ripples. You can do it too and it doesn't take a lot of time or effort. Just a little creative thought and the right intention and trust me....you can be making some signficant inroads into the people you most want to impact too.

Hey...it's just five days. What do you have to lose?

Ripple On My Friends!!!!

Steve Harper

P.S. If you have a progress report, please share it with me at steve@therippleeffectbook.com

Ripple Action Monday

One of my readers recently asked me to give a simple definition of the "ripple." Excellent idea my friend and let me take that one step further and not just talk about it but pose a challenge to all of my readers.

First....In my mind, a ripple is an action....a cause set in motion.

Often times the actions we take, big or small, seldom mean much to us but can have a profound and imporant impact on the people around us.

It can be something as simple as holding a door open for a woman (or a man) and looking them in th eye, smiling and giving them a hardy "good morning" greeting. It can also be something as little as a compliment to a co-worker about how "fantastic they look today." It could be agreeing to pick up that extra day of carpool for kids' ride to school. The point is...it's something! It's an action you take on behalf of someone else.

It is easy to put the positive effects of the ripple to work for you today. Here's your challenge... Why not start this week with a plan. Decided to do something extra-ordinary for two people that you most want to make an impact on this week. The challenge is to do something positive and unique each of the next five days. I contend that at the start of next week, if you do something each of these next five days, you will find that the relationship you have with these two people will be forever changed. Trust me!

So what do you do? Oh that is the challenge!

If you are really struggling with something to come up with here are some simple, yet effective suggestions:

• Bring in a cup of coffee with a short hand written note wishing the person a "Great Day."
• Leave a voice mail on their office/cell phone letting them know you are "thinking about them."
• Agree to help the with a special project around their house or at the office.
• Pick up the phone and invite them to an early evening dessert and spend the whole time talking about them.
• Determine someone that you know the person should get to know and make an introduction on their behalf.
• Send a handwritten card
• Make a donation in their name and let them know about it

The opportunities are endless and these are just a few basic examples.

To be clear....the goal is to do something each of the next five days. It doesn't have to be life altering or some massive action. It's the effort that makes this work and you will be surprised at how even the smallest of actions that you take on someone's behalf can create the biggest of ripples!

Let me hear from you and what kinds of ripples you start!

Have a fantastic week and as always....

Ripple On!

Steve Harper

P.S. We still have spots let for our April 4th 8 Minute Ripple. Please sign up at www.therippleffectbook.com