It may feel like we are living in a world where people are in it for themselves. But as we’ve seen throughout the last 20 months, some people have shown their true colors and have been incredibly selfish, but there are others who have gone above and beyond and have been helpful beyond what was expected of them. Helping others is beneficial on so many levels. We can get the satisfaction of helping someone, it can give us more purpose in our lives, and it can be good for our health. Being helpful is the one habit that can make us better people. If you want to be more helpful each and every day, here are a few things you can try.
Give Your Time to Others
If you want to demonstrate your willingness to help people, donating your precious time is one of the best ways to give yourself to others without expecting anything in return. How you want to give your time is up to you, but many people like to volunteer their services in areas that they are passionate about. Take inspiration from resources like https://www.sunshinebehavioralhealth.com/colorado/loveland/ and potentially help people who are experiencing issues with addiction. Of course, Christmas is coming up, and you could volunteer at a homeless shelter as well.
Learn How to Be a Positive Influence
One of the hallmarks of people who think negatively is underestimating how their attitude impacts other people. Everybody’s attitude can impact others, which is why learning to remain positive can help others in ways you would not have realized. If you can learn how to be a positive influence in your immediate environment, you will start to realize that other people will gravitate towards you and engage with you. They may also seek your leadership. Helping others isn’t something that you do consciously, but it’s something you do unconsciously as well.
Do Not Take Things Personally
When we understand that everybody is going through their own emotions it can help us to realize that if somebody supposedly reacts to us unfavorably, it’s not to do with us. If we take things personally we start to unconsciously judge the other person. As a result, we stop seeing the bigger picture and this can be very detrimental because it forces us to start thinking in a more insular fashion. This becomes a very slippery slope. Learning how to stop taking things personally is not easy, but the guide on https://daringtolivefully.com/stop-taking-things-personally/ can help to get you started.
Focus on Others
We naturally gravitate towards what we think, rather than other perspectives. The problem is that when we start to think like this constantly, we create an invisible bubble around us. Being helpful is about learning to focus on others while not neglecting our innate needs. This can be a very difficult thing to get right because many people may believe that focusing on themselves, even for a second, translates as a selfish attitude. But in order to be helpful, we need to cultivate the skill of looking around us and seeing who needs a tiny bit of support. You don’t need to work hard to make a connection with someone else. Sometimes a simple “how are you?” will start the ball rolling.
If You Ask a Question, Stick Around for the Response
One of the biggest obstacles in trying to be helpful is actually being present. A lot of us believe that we are being supportive by asking more questions, but the reality is that we need to engage with the subject matter. If we give somebody the space to voice their opinions, if we shut them down consciously or unconsciously, they are not going to believe we are helpful. Being helpful actually means listening to others, not just with your ears, but with your posture and your eyes. If somebody feels they are being listened to, they will feel appreciated. A lot of people struggle with it, especially when we are so exhausted, but it’s a little skill that will go a long way.
Practice the Skill of Empathy
If there’s one thing that your loved ones and anybody you will come into contact with throughout your life will appreciate, it’s about showing people that you understand their plight. We all feel that we have to focus on what we have to do but we then don’t spend enough time trying to understand how the people are feeling.
Learning to be helpful each and every day is not about turning into some charitable entity overnight, but it’s about realizing that even the smallest things you do can make a big difference.
