Being better - SmartBrief

Being better

How do you define improvement? How will you show it at work, in your community and with other people?

2 min read

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What does it mean to be better?

Better for me means being a more supportive friend, relative or colleague. Being there without being asked. That is, where there is a need to pitch in without being asked. Do things to make people happier.

It could be as simple as smiling more, or offering to hold the door for someone.

Do so in a spirit of openness, not obligation.

You might define better as involvement. Pick your topic and put yourself into it. For example, look at your job. If you are deficit in an area, bone up on it, either through study or by asking others for help.

In your community, look around you at areas of need. What could you do to make things better for just one person?

Adding steel to the spine of better, let’s include the admonition: no whinging. It’s a term the Brits use for whining. I saw the two words paired together in something I read recently that made me think, yes that’s a good thought.

Notably, we will fail many times this year, either at being better or at something else, but it we focus on a positive like “better,” we will be pointing ourselves in the right direction.

John Baldoni is an internationally recognized leadership educator and executive coach. In 2018, Trust Across America honored him with a Lifetime Achievement Award in Trust. Also in 2018, Inc.com named Baldoni a Top 100 Leadership Speaker. Global Gurus ranked him No. 22 on its list of top 30 global experts, a list he has been on since 2007. In 2014, Inc.com named Baldoni to its list of top 50 leadership experts. He is the author of more than a dozen books, including his newest, “MOXIE: The Secret to Bold and Gutsy Leadership.”

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