Monday, May 04, 2009

Three Rules For Ripple Success

Every once in a while I get someone who asks, "How do I implement Ripple into my life?" To be perfectly honest the question tends to always be asked by someone who holds a pretty heavy skepticism for the concept but somehow I've managed to pique their interest. You can see it in their eyes, they want to believe but their often cynically challenge brains won't quite let them see themself benefiting from a concept like Ripple.

As you can imagine I love the challenge of those conversations and could honestly have them for hours. However implementing Ripple into one's life can actually be boiled down into three easy rules. Follow these every day without fail and watch as the positive Ripples you create out there in the world won't somehow magically come back to you in some way shape or form.

Rule # 1 - Create at least one positive action for someone every day. Whether it be your co-worker who needs help with that project or the desperately disconnected guy standing behind you in line at the coffee shop. Do something for someone! Stay after work and help your teammate get their project done. Tell the cashier I've got this and whatever the gentleman behind me is having. Take one positive action every day to make an impact on someone else and soon the Ripples of your actions will wash back upon your shores.

Rule # 2 - Connect at least one person per day. Connecting is one of the most powerful things we can do as humans and is one of the top ways to live a Ripple centric life. The problem is in today's society we aren't very good at it so we have to get good at practicing it every day. So rule #2 is rather simple. Practice! Every day take the opportunity to connect with a complete stranger. Smile at them and bid them a good day. Open a door and comment on someone's bright eyes or poignant smile and watch them light up. Pick up a police officer or someone from the military's lunch order and go shake their hand and thank them for their service. Reconnect with someone from your past that you've lost touch with and tell them you miss them. Pick up the phone and call that first boss, that elementary school best friend, that high school teacher and tell them what they have meant to you and your life. The bottom line is we all have a plethora of people we can choose to connect or reconnect with on a daily basis so just go do it and watch how far those Ripples take you.

Rule # 3 - Take a step towards your goal every day. In order to create the great Ripples in our lives we must constantly be in a state of motion. What I mean is every single day we need to be taking action to further the goals and aspirations we hold for ourselves. That requires us to take steps every day to further our objective. Tell your friends, family, your business colleagues or a complete stranger about your dreams, your passions and your deepest desires and watch as the world rises up to help you take those steps towards achievement. Continual every day focus will insure you Ripple your way quicker to the achievement of whatever it is you want to accomplish in life. However as a famous quote by Lao-tzu says, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."

So there you have it...three simple, but I believe profound, rules for living a Ripple centric life. The real question is will you just read them and say to yourself, oh now that makes sense, or will you start following those rules for your life? As I challenge most people who come up to me and ask me about how to implement Ripple for their lives, all the rules in the world no matter how many or how few, don't make a bit of difference. You see unless you are truly committed to following through and creating your own Ripples out there in the world then these rules are meaningless.

So the real question becomes are these rules you can implement and live by? If the answer is yes then a world full of Ripples awaits!

Ripple On!!!

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